What Does Isaiah 42:20 Mean?
You see many things, but you do not keep watch. The ears open, but he does not hear and respond.
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
Seeing many things, but thou observest not; opening the ears, but he heareth not.THE KEY
The verse separates access from attention: eyes may take in much and ears stand open while nothing is kept or answered.
THE MEANING
You can be surrounded by what is visible and audible without receiving it deeply. What you see can be held in attention; what reaches your ears can be met with response. The verse names the distance between open senses and receptive presence.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
Seeing the evidence or hearing the words does not automatically mean they have been received; exposure and response are distinct.
THE ROOT
תִּשְׁמֹר
tishmor
GROWS FROM
שׁמר
sh-m-r
Guard, keep, watch over
“keep watch” in this verse is tishmor. The Hebrew says more than failing to notice: sight is plentiful, but what is seen is not watched over or kept. The verse exposes the gap between taking something in and holding it in attentive care.
ALSO GROWS
shomer: Keeper, guard
שֹׁמֵר
The eyes take in much, yet the verse says it is not kept under watch.
mishmeret: Charge, watch, guard duty
מִשְׁמֶרֶת
This branch names sustained keeping, something mere seeing does not guarantee.
יִשְׁמָע
yishma
GROWS FROM
שמע
sh-m-ʿ
Hear, listen; where response is in view, hear and respond
“hear and respond” in this verse is yishma. This root can name hearing that takes something in and, when response is at stake, hearing that answers. With ears opened but no yishma, the verse distinguishes access to sound from responsive listening.
ALSO GROWS
shema: Hear and respond
שְׁמַע
This familiar form shows that biblical hearing can include an answer, not sound reception alone.
shemuʿah: Report, news heard
שְׁמוּעָה
This branch traces hearing into what is received and carried as a report.
פָּקוֹחַ
pāqōaḥ
GROWS FROM
פקח
p-q-ḥ
Open, unstop, especially the eyes or ears
Opening creates access, but it does not guarantee receptive hearing. Isaiah places opened ears beside a failure to hear and respond, distinguishing an open channel from what happens with what enters.
ALSO GROWS
nifqeḥu: Were opened
נִפְקְחוּ
In Genesis, this form describes eyes opening; the opening itself is distinct from what is then understood.
peqach-na: Open, please
פְּקַח־נָא
In 2 Kings, the same root names the opening of eyes so that what is present can be seen.
THE PATTERN
Perception reaches its purpose when it is kept in attention and answered.
Hear and respond, O Israel. The LORD our God is one LORD.Therefore I speak to them in parables, because looking, they do not see; and hearing, they do not hear, nor do they put it together.But be makers of the word, and not hearers only, miscounting yourselves.THE THREAD
Hear and respond, O Israel. The LORD our God is one LORD.Isaiah uses the same Hebrew root, שמע (sh-m-ʿ), for the hearing that fails even though the ears are open. Deuteronomy uses that root in a call to hear and respond, revealing that the gap in Isaiah is not access to sound but its unreceived answer.
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