Proverbs 20:12
in Proverbs 20Ears that hear and eyes that see—the LORD has made them both.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
The hearing ear, and the seeing eye, Jehovah hath made even both of them.
KJV
The hearing ear, and the seeing eye, the Lord hath made even both of them.
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This verse in Proverbs 20
Commentary
6 notes on this verseThis site's exposition
Differing weights and unequal measures
on Proverbs 20:10-12
Differing weights and unequal measures are named detestable to the LORD here and again at verse 23, framing the verses between under the same standard. The LORD made the ears that hear and the eyes that see, and the one who made them is not fooled by what they report.
This site's exposition
Ears that hear and eyes that see
The LORD made both the ear that hears and the eye that sees. The verse closes verses 10 to 12 with the reason His standard over weights and conduct holds. The Maker of the eye sees all that it sees.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
He speaks of the hearing ear as the obedient listener of the word: the seeing eye as the learned teacher. Let no one who sees himself as trained in the knowledge of Scriptures and deemed fit to speak the word of God despise the simplicity …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
The hearing ear, and the seeing eye,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
The hearing ear and the seeing eye - Every good we possess comes from God; and we should neither use our eyes, nor our ears, nor any thing we possess, but in strict subserviency to his will.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Not only do we owe the gifts of sight and hearing to Yahweh, but He, being the giver, will also call us to account for them (compare Psa 94:9).
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
The hearing ear and the seeing eye, etc. They are His handiwork, and He desires an ear that hears reproof and an eye that sees what will develop.
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. 3 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
8 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אֹ֣זֶן | ʾozen | an ear | H241 → | 187 times |
| שֹׁ֭מַעַת | shomaat | [which] hears | H8085 → | 1159 times |
| וְעַ֣יִן | veayin | and an eye | H5869 → | 887 times |
| רֹאָ֑ה | roah | [which] sees | H7200 → | 1300 times |
| יְ֝הוָ֗ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| עָשָׂ֥ה | ʾasah | he has made | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| גַם־ | gam- | also | H1571 → | 769 times |
| שְׁנֵיהֶֽם׃ | sheneihem | both of them | H8147 → | 768 times |
אֹ֣זֶןan ear
ʾozenH241 →187 times
שֹׁ֭מַעַת[which] hears
shomaatH8085 →1159 times
וְעַ֣יִןand an eye
veayinH5869 →887 times
רֹאָ֑ה[which] sees
roahH7200 →1300 times
יְ֝הוָ֗הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
עָשָׂ֥הhe has made
ʾasahH6213 →2628 times
גַם־also
gam-H1571 →769 times
שְׁנֵיהֶֽם׃both of them
sheneihemH8147 →768 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
Psalms 119:18Open my eyes that I may see wondrous things from Your law.
it leads to
- Ephesians 1:17–18
that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in your knowledge of Him.
- Acts 26:18
to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those sanctified…
- Isaiah 32:3
Then the eyes of those who see will no longer be closed, and the ears of those who hear will listen.
- Isaiah 35:5
Then the eyes of the blind will be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped.
- Matthew 13:13
This is why I speak to them in parables: ‘Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand.’
- Ephesians 1:17–18
Through
Exodus 4:11And the LORD said to him, “Who gave man his mouth? Or who makes the mute or the deaf, the sighted or the blind? Is it not I, the LORD?
it leads to
- Amos 3:6
If a ram’s horn sounds in a city, do the people not tremble? If calamity comes to a city, has not the LORD caused it?
- Psalms 146:8
the LORD opens the eyes of the blind, the LORD lifts those who are weighed down, the LORD loves the righteous.
- Isaiah 6:7
And with it he touched my mouth and said: “Now that this has touched your lips, your iniquity is removed and your sin is atoned for.”
- Amos 3:6
Where this verse is studied
About Proverbs
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Bede, Commentary on Proverbs; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763).