Isaiah 42:23
in Isaiah 42Who among you will pay attention to this? Who will listen and obey hereafter?
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Who is there among you that will give ear to this? that will hearken and hear for the time to come?
KJV
Who among you will give ear to this? who will hearken and hear for the time to come?
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This verse in Isaiah 42
Commentary
7 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Who among you will give ear to this? - Who is there in the nation that will be so warned by the judgments of God, that he will attend to the lessons which he designs to teach, and reform his life, and return to him? It is implied by these questions that such ought to be the effect; it is implied also that they were so sunken and abandoned that they would not do it.
This site's exposition
Who among you will pay attention to this?
on Isaiah 42:23-25
The chapter closes with a question to the hearer, “Who among you will pay attention to this?” The cause of the exile is then named plainly, “Who gave Jacob up for spoil, and Israel to the plunderers? Was it not the LORD, against whom we have sinned?”
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Verses 23-24) Who among you hears this, pays attention, and listens to the future? Who has given Jacob over to plunder, and Israel to the plunderers? Is it not the Lord himself, whom we have sinned against? And they have refused to walk in his ways and have not listened to his law. LXX: Who is among you that will hear this, and will consider the future?
The Medieval Church1 voice
827. Who is there among you. Here he shows that they cannot be corrected by scourges, because they do not even recognize the cause of the scourges; and concerning this, he does three things. First, he seeks those who perceive rightly, intimating their scarcity; things …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
If one method not take effect, another may, and sinners shall be left inexcusable. Observe, (1.) We may all of us, if we will, hear the voice of God, and we are called and invited to hear it. (2.) It is worth while to enquire who they are that perceive God speaking to them and are willing to hear him.
Called thee - To declare my righteousness, or faithfulness. With-hold - Will give thee counsel and strength for the work. Give thee - To be the mediator in whom my covenant of grace is confirmed with mankind.
Who among you will give ear to this?....
The words behind it
7 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| מִ֥י | mi | who? | H4310 → | 423 times |
| בָכֶ֖ם | vakhem | among you | ||
| יַאֲזִ֣ין | yaazin | will he give ear to | H238 → | 41 times |
| זֹ֑את | zot | this | H2063 → | 603 times |
| יַקְשִׁ֥ב | yakshiv | will he pay attention? | H7181 → | 46 times |
| וְיִשְׁמַ֖ע | veyishma' | and he may listen? | H8085 → | 1159 times |
| לְאָחֽוֹר׃ | leachor | to afterwards | H268 → | 41 times |
מִ֥יwho?
miH4310 →423 times
בָכֶ֖םamong you
vakhem
יַאֲזִ֣יןwill he give ear to
yaazinH238 →41 times
זֹ֑אתthis
zotH2063 →603 times
יַקְשִׁ֥בwill he pay attention?
yakshivH7181 →46 times
וְיִשְׁמַ֖עand he may listen?
veyishma'H8085 →1159 times
לְאָחֽוֹר׃to afterwards
leachorH268 →41 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Isaiah 48:18If only you had paid attention to My commandments, your peace would have been like a river, and your righteousness like waves of the sea.
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 5:29
If only they had such a heart to fear Me and keep all My commandments always, so that it might be well with them and with their children forever.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Psalms 119:165
Abundant peace belongs to those who love Your law; nothing can make them stumble.
- Isaiah 66:12
For this is what the LORD says: “I will extend peace to her like a river, and the wealth of nations like a flowing stream; you will nurse and be carried on her arm,…
- Psalms 81:13–16
If only My people would listen to Me, if Israel would follow My ways,
- Deuteronomy 32:29
If only they were wise, they would understand it; they would comprehend their fate.
- Deuteronomy 5:29
Through
Deuteronomy 32:29If only they were wise, they would understand it; they would comprehend their fate.
it leads to
- Psalms 81:13
If only My people would listen to Me, if Israel would follow My ways,
- Hosea 14:9
Whoever is wise, let him understand these things; whoever is discerning, let him know them. For the ways of the LORD are right, and the righteous walk in them but the rebellious stumble in…
- Luke 19:41–42
As Jesus approached Jerusalem and saw the city, He wept over it
- Psalms 81:13
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies3
On this verse
On this chapter
About Isaiah

This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Prophecies of Isaiah; Jerome, Commentary on Isaiah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Isaiah.
