The hearing ear, and the seeing eye, the LORD hath made even both of them.
Parallel translations
- WEB The hearing ear, and the seeing eye, Yahweh has made even both of them.
- BSB Ears that hear and eyes that see—the LORD has made them both.
- NKJV The hearing ear and the seeing eye, The Lord has made them both.
- NASB The hearing ear and the seeing eye, The Lord has made both of them.
- NLT Ears to hear and eyes to see— both are gifts from the Lord.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
God made both the ear that hears and the eye that sees. It matters because our faculties are gifts from the Creator, to be used to perceive truth and obey him.
Overview
The Lord is the maker of our senses, and they are meant to apprehend and respond to him. The verse implies accountability: God who made the eye and ear surely sees and hears all (Psalm 94:9). It also calls us to spiritual perception, for natural sight and hearing are not enough — Christ opens blind eyes and deaf ears, both physically and spiritually (Isaiah 35:5; Mark 8:18).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 6
- Matt 13:13–16Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.
- Ps 94:9He that planted the ear, shall he not hear? he that formed the eye, shall he not see?
- Ps 119:18Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law.
- Eph 1:17–18That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him:
- Exod 4:11And the LORD said unto him, Who hath made man’s mouth? or who maketh the dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? have not I the LORD?
- Acts 26:18To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me.
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Christ at the center
Wisdom personified, with God before creation and the agent of all things, anticipates Christ 'in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom' — the wisdom of God made flesh.
How Proverbs 20:12 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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