What Does Isaiah 32:3 Mean in the King James?

And the eyes of them that see shall not be dim, and the ears of them that hear shall hearken.

Isaiah 32:3 · KJV

The analysis reads the King James wording.

King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.

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.

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” 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 shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.

Isaiah 35:5 · KJVSight and hearing appear together as perception made open and unobstructed.

But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear.

Matthew 13:16 · KJVSeeing and hearing are paired as capacities that are present and active.

Having eyes, see ye not? and having ears, hear ye not? and do ye not remember?

Mark 8:18 · KJVThe question exposes how eyes and ears can be present while perception remains incomplete.

THE THREAD

And it came to pass, that when Isaac was old, and his eyes were dim, so that he could not see, he called Esau his eldest son, and said unto him, My son: and he said unto him, Behold, here am I.

Genesis 27:1 · KJV

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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