Isaiah 42:20 BSB — MannaFest

Isaiah 42:20

Though seeing many things, you do not keep watch. Though your ears are open, you do not hear.”

BSB

Parallel translations (2) ▾

ASV

Thou seest many things, but thou observest not; his ears are open, but he heareth not.

KJV

Seeing many things, but thou observest not; opening the ears, but he heareth not.

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Commentary

3 voices

Eusebius of Caesarea

COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 2:23 (339)

He reports how they became the blind and dull by saying, "They see many things but do not observe." These things were previously communicated [in Isaiah]: "Keep listening, but do not comprehend; keep looking, but do not understand. Make the mind of this people dull." … You see that all these things he says about the people, he means concerning those of the circumcision. But "the Lord was pleased, for his righteousness' sake, to magnify his praise."

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

The verse before may be understood as spoken to the Gentile idolaters, whom he calls deaf and blind, because they worshipped gods that were so. "But," says he, "no wonder you are deaf and blind when my own people are as bad as you, and many of them as much set upon idolatry." 1. He complains of their sottishness--they are blind; and of their stubbornness--they are deaf.

The Nineteenth Century2 voices

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible (1832)

Seeing many things “Thou hast seen indeed” - The text has ראית רבית raith rabith, which the Masoretes in the marginal Keri have corrected to ראות רבות reoth rabboth; as indeed one hundred and seven MSS., and five editions, now have it in the text. This was probably the reading of most of the MSS. of their time; which, though they approved of it, out of some superstition they would not admit into their standard text.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

105:1-45). he--transition from the second to the third person. "Opening . . . ears," that is, though he (Israel) hath his ears open (see on Isa 6:10). This language, too (see on Isa 42:19), applies to Messiah as Jehovah's servant (Isa 50:5;

Voices on this verse

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Original language & word study

8 tagged words

Original	Transliteration	Meaning	Word study
רָא֥וֹת	ra.'i.ta	you have seen	H7200 →
רַבּ֖וֹת	ra.Bot	many [things]	H7227 →
וְלֹ֣א	ve.Lo'	and not	H3808 →
תִשְׁמֹ֑ר	tish.Mor	you keep [them]	H8104 →
פָּק֥וֹחַ	pa.Ko.ach	they are open	H6491 →
אָזְנַ֖יִם	'a.ze.Na.yim	ears	H241 →
וְלֹ֥א	ve.Lo'	and not	H3808 →
יִשְׁמָֽע׃	yish.Ma'	he listens	H8085 →

Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread: the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.

The walk

The walk8

Where the connections lead

Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.

Through
Isaiah 1:3
The ox knows its owner, and the donkey its master’s manger, but Israel does not know; My people do not understand.”
leads to
- Jeremiah 8:7
  Even the stork in the sky knows her appointed seasons. The turtledove, the swift, and the thrush keep their time of migration, but My people do not know the requirements of the LORD.
- Jeremiah 4:22
  “For My people are fools; they have not known Me. They are foolish children, without understanding. They are skilled in doing evil, but they know not how to do good.”
- Isaiah 44:18
  They do not comprehend or discern, for He has shut their eyes so they cannot see and closed their minds so they cannot understand.
- Matthew 13:13–15
  This is why I speak to them in parables: ‘Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand.’
- Isaiah 5:12
  At their feasts are the lyre and harp, tambourines and flutes and wine. They disregard the actions of the LORD and fail to see the work of His hands.
Through
Psalms 107:43
Let him who is wise pay heed to these things and consider the loving devotion of the LORD.
leads to
- 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…
- Jeremiah 9:12
  Who is the man wise enough to understand this? To whom has the mouth of the LORD spoken, that he may explain it? Why is the land destroyed and scorched like a desert, so…
- Psalms 64:9
  Then all mankind will fear and proclaim the work of God; so they will ponder what He has done.

Featured studies on this passage

On Isaiah 42:20

The Servant Songs — Isaiah 42, 49, 50, 53

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Walks through Isaiah 42

The Suffering Servant

Isaiah 52:13–53:12 — the single most extensive and specific messianic prophecy in the Old Testament, preserved in a scroll that predates Christ by more than a century.

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About Isaiah

The Prophet Isaiah — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain

Isaiah: the study guide →Read chapter 42 →The featured study →

Continue: Isaiah 42 →

01Commentary

The record, by era

Voices on this verse

02Original language & word study

03The walk

Where the connections lead

04Related verses

05Featured studies on this passage

06About Isaiah

The record, by era

Where the connections lead

Commentary

Original language & word study

The walk

Related verses

Featured studies on this passage

About Isaiah