What Does Isaiah 32:3 Mean?
And the eyes of those who see will not be dimmed, and the ears of those who hear and respond will prick up.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
And the eyes of them that see shall not be dim, and the ears of them that hear shall hearken.THE KEY
The ears do not merely receive sound: hearing deepens into focused attention while sight remains clear.
THE MEANING
Your seeing can remain clear, and what reaches your ears can become attentive listening. The verse joins perception with responsiveness: hearing does not end at sound.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that hearing a message means it has been received; the verse shows the ears moving from hearing into attention.
THE ROOT
תִּקְשַׁבְנָה
tiqshavnah
GROWS FROM
קשב
Attend closely; give heed and listen attentively.
“prick up” in this verse is tiqshavnah. The verse first calls these people hearers, then says their ears will attend. The Hebrew shows hearing reaching focused attention, a second movement that the older English word hearken can conceal.
ALSO GROWS
haqshîvāh: Give attention; listen closely.
הַקְשִׁיבָה
This form of the same root makes the focused attention in hearken explicit.
maqshîv: One who listens attentively.
מַקְשִׁיב
This branch describes the attentive listener the verse’s hearing becomes.
שֹׁמְעִים
shom'im
GROWS FROM
שמע
Hear and respond; receive what is heard.
“hear and respond” in this verse is shom'im. The people are already described as hearers before their ears attend. The root keeps hearing connected to response, while קשב adds the concentrated attention that follows.
ALSO GROWS
shema: Hear and respond.
שְׁמַע
This familiar form shows that biblical hearing can include a response, not just sound reaching the ear.
shemuah: A report, message, or thing heard.
שְׁמוּעָה
The branch names what is heard; the verse then pictures the hearer giving it attention.
תִּכְהֶינָה
tikhenah
GROWS FROM
כהה
Grow dim, dull, or weak.
The verse negates a fading or weakening of sight, not merely a momentary blur. The same root describes dim eyes in Genesis 27:1, giving this promise a vivid counter-image.
ALSO GROWS
kahah: Grow dim or lose strength.
כָּהָה
This verbal form names the fading that the verse says does not overtake the eyes that see.
kehēh: Dim, dull, or faint.
כֵּהֶה
This related form carries the same sense of diminished clarity that the verse refuses for sight.
THE PATTERN
Scripture presents full perception as clear sight joined to hearing that receives and attends.
Then the eyes of the blind open, and the ears of the deaf open.But Flourishing are your eyes, for they see; and your ears, for they hear.Having eyes, do you not see? And having ears, do you not hear? And do you not remember?THE THREAD
And it came to pass, when Isaac had grown old and his eyes had gone dim, so that he could not see, that he called Esau his eldest son and said to him, My son. And he said to him, Here I am.The Hebrew word rendered dim in Isaiah 32:3 comes from the same root used here for Isaac’s eyes. That shared root makes fading sight a sharp counter-image to the promise that the eyes of those who see do not grow dim.
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