They have ears, but they don’t hear. They have noses, but they don’t smell.
Parallel translations
- KJV They have ears, but they hear not: noses have they, but they smell not:
- BSB they have ears, but cannot hear; they have noses, but cannot smell;
- NKJV They have ears, but they do not hear; Noses they have, but they do not smell;
- NASB They have ears, but they cannot hear; They have noses, but they cannot smell;
- NLT They have ears but cannot hear, and noses but cannot smell.
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
Idols have ears and noses but cannot hear prayers or smell offerings. It matters because a god who cannot hear cannot answer.
Overview
The mockery presses on: idols are deaf and senseless, unable to receive worship or respond to need. The living God, by contrast, turns his ear to his people's cries. This exposes idolatry as a relationship with nothing, and magnifies the God who hears and answers, supremely in the gospel where he listens to all who call on Christ.
Cross-references & the web
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Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
The Psalms are Christ's own prayer book and a gallery of his portraits — the suffering one of Psalm 22, the risen Lord of Psalm 16, the priest-king of Psalm 110, the Son to whom the nations are given.
How Psalms 115:6 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
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.