Isaiah 37:17
in Isaiah 37Incline Your ear, O LORD, and hear; open Your eyes, O LORD, and see. Listen to all the words that Sennacherib has sent to defy the living God.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Incline thine ear, O Jehovah, and hear; open thine eyes, O Jehovah, and see; and hear all the words of Sennacherib, who hath sent to defy the living God.
KJV
Incline thine ear, O Lord, and hear; open thine eyes, O Lord, and see: and hear all the words of Sennacherib, which hath sent to reproach the living God.
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This verse in Isaiah 37
Commentary
6 notes on this verseThis site's exposition
enthroned above the cherubim
on Isaiah 37:16-17
Hezekiah's prayer names God before it asks anything, O LORD of Hosts, enthroned above the cherubim, the One who made the heavens and the earth. That address already answers the letter's assumption that the LORD is a local god. The petition follows: Incline Your ear, O LORD, and hear.
This site's exposition
Incline Your ear, O LORD, and hear
The LORD enthroned above the cherubim, where Barnes notes the sign of his presence rested on the ark, is asked to bend his ear. The words defy the living God repeat Hezekiah's message to Isaiah at verse 4. The living God is set against the dead idols of verse 19.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Verses 14ff.) And Hezekiah took the letters from the hand of the messengers, and he read them, and he went up to the house of the Lord, and he spread them out before the Lord. And Hezekiah prayed before the Lord, saying: Lord, God of hosts, God of Israel, who resides above the cherubim, you are the only God of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. Incline your ear, Lord, and hear; open your eyes, Lord, and see. And hear all the words of Sennacherib, which he sent to blaspheme the living God.
The Medieval Church1 voice
And he accuses Sennacherib of blasphemy: incline, O Lord, your ear: O Lord God of heaven and earth, behold their pride (Jdt 6:15).
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Incline thine ear, O Lord, and hear,.... The prayer which Hezekiah was now presenting to him, as also the reproach of the enemy: open thine eyes, O Lord, and see; the letter he spread before him, and take notice of the blasphemies in it; and punish for them.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Incline thine ear - This is evidently language taken from what occurs among people. When they are desirous of hearing distinctly, they incline the ear or apply it close to the speaker. Similar language is not unfrequently used in the Scriptures as applicable to God 2Ki 19:16; Psa 86:1; Psa 31:2; Psa 88:2; Dan 9:18. Open thine eyes - This is similar language applied to God, derived from the fact that when we wish to see an object, the eyes are fixed upon it (compare Job 14:3; Job 27:19).
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
Indeed, O Lord It is true that the kings of Assyria destroyed
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 7 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
18 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| הַטֵּ֨ה | hateh | incline | H5186 → | 214 times |
| יְהוָ֤ה׀ | yahweh | O Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אָזְנְךָ֙ | ʾazenekha | ear your | H241 → | 187 times |
| וּֽשְׁמָ֔ע | ushema' | and hear | H8085 → | 1159 times |
| פְּקַ֧ח | pekach | open | H6491 → | 20 times |
| יְהוָ֛ה | yahweh | O Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| עֵינֶ֖ךָ | ʾeinekha | eyes your | H5869 → | 887 times |
| וּרְאֵ֑ה | ureeh | and see | H7200 → | 1300 times |
| וּשְׁמַ֗ע | ushema' | and hear | H8085 → | 1159 times |
| אֵ֚ת | ʾet | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| כָּל־ | kol- | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| דִּבְרֵ֣י | divrei | [the] words of | H1697 → | 1440 times |
| סַנְחֵרִ֔יב | sancheriv | Sennacherib | H5576 → | 13 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֣ר | ʾasher | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| שָׁלַ֔ח | shalach | he has sent | H7971 → | 845 times |
| לְחָרֵ֖ף | lecharef | to taunt | H2778 → | 41 times |
| אֱלֹהִ֥ים | ʾelohim | [the] God | H430 → | 2601 times |
| חָֽי׃ | chai | living | H2416 → | 498 times |
הַטֵּ֨הincline
hatehH5186 →214 times
יְהוָ֤ה׀O Yahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
אָזְנְךָ֙ear your
ʾazenekhaH241 →187 times
וּֽשְׁמָ֔עand hear
ushema'H8085 →1159 times
פְּקַ֧חopen
pekachH6491 →20 times
יְהוָ֛הO Yahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
עֵינֶ֖ךָeyes your
ʾeinekhaH5869 →887 times
וּרְאֵ֑הand see
ureehH7200 →1300 times
וּשְׁמַ֗עand hear
ushema'H8085 →1159 times
אֵ֚ת<obj.>
ʾetH853 →10935 times
כָּל־all
kol-H3605 →5413 times
דִּבְרֵ֣י[the] words of
divreiH1697 →1440 times
סַנְחֵרִ֔יבSennacherib
sancherivH5576 →13 times
אֲשֶׁ֣רwhich
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
שָׁלַ֔חhe has sent
shalachH7971 →845 times
לְחָרֵ֖ףto taunt
lecharefH2778 →41 times
אֱלֹהִ֥ים[the] God
ʾelohimH430 →2601 times
חָֽי׃living
chaiH2416 →498 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
1 Peter 3:12For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and His ears are inclined to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”
it leads to
- Psalms 34:15–16
The eyes of the LORD are on the righteous, and His ears are inclined to their cry.
- John 9:31
We know that God does not listen to sinners, but He does listen to the one who worships Him and does His will.
- 2 Chronicles 7:15
Now My eyes will be open and My ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Proverbs 15:29
The LORD is far from the wicked, but He hears the prayer of the righteous.
- Proverbs 15:3
The eyes of the LORD are in every place, observing the evil and the good.
- Psalms 34:15–16
Through
Psalms 17:6I call on You, O God, for You will answer me. Incline Your ear to me; hear my words.
it leads to
- Psalms 116:2
Because He has inclined His ear to me, I will call on Him as long as I live.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Psalms 86:7
In the day of my distress I call on You, because You answer me.
- Psalms 66:19–20
But God has surely heard; He has attended to the sound of my prayer.
- Psalms 116:2
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Isaiah
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Isaiah; 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 (1748-1763) and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Isaiah.