Isaiah 42:20

Bible in Basic English (1941)

Seeing much, but keeping nothing in mind; his ears are open, but there is no hearing.

📖 Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

רָא֥וֹת רַבּ֖וֹת וְלֹ֣א תִשְׁמֹ֑ר פָּק֥וֹחַ אָזְנַ֖יִם וְלֹ֥א יִשְׁמָֽע׃

Transliteration

Rāʾôt many and not tišmōr; pāqôaḥ ʾoznayim and not yišmāʿ.

Grammar Details

• *Rāʾôt*: infinitive construct of *rāʾâ* (to see) - seeing
• *tišmōr*: 2nd person masculine singular imperfect - you observe/keep/regard
• *pāqôaḥ*: infinitive absolute - opening
• *ʾoznayim*: feminine dual noun - ears
• *yišmāʿ*: 3rd person masculine singular imperfect - he hears/listens

Word Meanings

• *Rāʾôt*: seeing/observing/perceiving
• *tišmōr*: observe/keep/regard/pay attention to
• *pāqôaḥ*: opening/having opened
• *yišmāʿ*: hears/listens/obeys

Referenced Verses

• Num 14:22 : 22 Because all these men, having seen my glory and the signs which I have done in Egypt and in the waste land, still have put me to the test ten times, and have not given ear to my voice;
• Deut 4:9 : 9 Only take care, and keep watch on your soul, for fear that the things which your eyes have seen go from your memory and from your heart all the days of your life; but let the knowledge of them be given to your children and to your children's children;
• Deut 29:2-4 : 2 And Moses said in the hearing of all Israel, You have seen all the Lord did before your eyes in the land of Egypt to Pharaoh and to all his servants and all his land; 3 The great tests which your eyes saw, and the signs and wonders: 4 But even to this day the Lord has not given you a mind open to knowledge, or seeing eyes or hearing ears.
• Neh 9:10-17 : 10 And you did signs and wonders on Pharaoh and all his servants and all the people of his land; for you saw how cruel they were to them. So you got yourself a name as it is today. 11 By you the sea was parted before them, so that they went through the sea on dry land; and those who went after them went down into the deep, like a stone into great waters. 12 And you went before them by day in a pillar of cloud, and in a pillar of fire by night, to give them light on the way they were to go. 13 And you came down on Mount Sinai, and your voice came to them from heaven, giving them right decisions and true laws, good rules and orders: 14 And you gave them word of your holy Sabbath, and gave them orders and rules and a law, by the hand of Moses your servant: 15 And you gave them bread from heaven when they were in need, and made water come out of the rock for their drink, and gave them orders to go in and take for their heritage the land which your hand had been lifted up to give them. 16 But they and our fathers, in their pride, made their necks stiff, and gave no attention to your orders, 17 And would not do them, and gave no thought to the wonders you had done among them; but made their necks stiff, and turning away from you, made a captain over themselves to take them back to their prison in Egypt: but you are a God of forgiveness, full of grace and pity, slow to wrath and great in mercy, and you did not give them up.
• Ps 106:7-9 : 7 Our fathers did not give thought to your wonders in Egypt; they did not keep in memory the great number of your mercies, but gave you cause for wrath at the sea, even at the Red Sea. 8 But he was their saviour because of his name, so that men might see his great power. 9 By his word the Red Sea was made dry: and he took them through the deep waters as through the waste land. 10 And he took them safely out of the hands of their haters, and kept them from the attacks of those who were against them. 11 And the waters went over their haters; all of them came to an end. 12 Then they had faith in his words; they gave him songs of praise. 13 But their memory of his works was short; not waiting to be guided by him,
• Ps 107:43 : 43 Let the wise give thought to these things, and see the mercies of the Lord.
• Isa 1:3 : 3 Even the ox has knowledge of its owner, and the ass of the place where its master puts its food: but Israel has no knowledge, my people give no thought to me.
• Isa 48:6-8 : 6 All this has come to your ears and you have seen it; will you not give witness to it? I am now making clear new things, even secret things, of which you had no knowledge. 7 They have only now been effected, and not in the past: and before this day they had not come to your ears; for fear that you might say, I had knowledge of them. 8 Truly you had no word of them, no knowledge of them; no news of them in the past had come to your ears; because I saw how false was your behaviour, and that your heart was turned against me from your earliest days.
• Isa 58:2 : 2 Though they make prayer to me every day, and take pleasure in the knowledge of my ways: like a nation which has done righteousness, and has not given up the rules of their God, they make requests to me for the right orders, it is their delight to come near to God.
• Jer 6:10 : 10 To whom am I to give word, witnessing so that they may take note? see, their ears are stopped, and they are not able to give attention: see, the word of the Lord has been a cause of shame to them, they have no delight in it.
• Jer 42:2-5 : 2 And said to Jeremiah the prophet, Let our request come before you, and make prayer for us to the Lord your God, even for this small band of us; for we are only a small band out of what was a great number, as your eyes may see: 3 That the Lord your God may make clear to us the way in which we are to go and what we are to do. 4 Then Jeremiah the prophet said to them, I have given ear to you; see, I will make prayer to the Lord your God, as you have said; and it will be that, whatever the Lord may say in answer to you, I will give you word of it, keeping nothing back. 5 Then they said to Jeremiah, May the Lord be a true witness against us in good faith, if we do not do everything which the Lord your God sends you to say to us.
• Ezek 33:31 : 31 And they come to you as my people come, and are seated before you as my people, hearing your words but doing them not: for deceit is in their mouth and their heart goes after profit for themselves.
• Mark 6:19-20 : 19 And Herodias was bitter against him, desiring to put him to death; but she was not able; 20 For Herod was in fear of John, being conscious that he was an upright and holy man, and kept him safe. And hearing him, he was much troubled; and he gave ear to him gladly.
• John 9:37-40 : 37 Jesus said to him, You have seen him; it is he who is talking to you. 38 And he said, Lord, I have faith. And he gave him worship. 39 And Jesus said, I came into this world to be a judge, so that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind. 40 These words came to the ears of the Pharisees who were with him and they said to him, Are we, then, blind?
• John 11:37-50 : 37 But some of them said, This man, who made open the eyes of the blind man, was he not able to keep his friend from death? 38 So Jesus, deeply troubled in heart, came to the place of the dead. It was a hole in the rock, and a stone was over the opening. 39 Jesus said, Take away the stone. Martha, the sister of him who was dead, said, Lord, by this time the body will be smelling, for he has been dead four days. 40 Jesus said to her, Did I not say to you that if you had faith you would see the glory of God? 41 So they took away the stone. And Jesus, looking up to heaven, said, Father, I give praise to you for hearing me. 42 I was certain that your ears are at all times open to me, but I said it because of these who are here, so that they may see that you sent me. 43 Then he said in a loud voice, Lazarus, come out! 44 And he who was dead came out, with linen bands folded tightly about his hands and feet, and a cloth about his face. Jesus said to them, Make him free and let him go. 45 Then a number of the Jews who had come to Mary and had seen the things which Jesus did had belief in him. 46 But some of them went to the Pharisees with the news of what Jesus had done. 47 Then the high priests and the Pharisees had a meeting and said, What are we doing? This man is doing a number of signs. 48 If we let him go on in this way, everybody will have belief in him and the Romans will come and take away our place and our nation. 49 But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, You have no knowledge of anything; 50 You do not see that it is in your interest for one man to be put to death for the people, so that all the nation may not come to destruction.
• Acts 28:22-27 : 22 But we have a desire to give hearing to your opinion: for as to this form of religion, we have knowledge that in all places it is attacked. 23 And when a day had been fixed, they came to his house in great numbers; and he gave them teaching, giving witness to the kingdom of God, and having discussions with them about Jesus, from the law of Moses and from the prophets, from morning till evening. 24 And some were in agreement with what he said, but some had doubts. 25 And they went away, for there was a division among them after Paul had said this one thing: Well did the Holy Spirit say by the prophet Isaiah to your fathers, 26 Go to this people and say, Though you give ear, you will not get knowledge; and seeing, you will see, but the sense will not be clear to you: 27 For the heart of this people has become fat and their ears are slow in hearing and their eyes are shut; for fear that they might see with their eyes and give hearing with their ears and become wise in their hearts and be turned again to me, so that I might make them well.
• Rom 2:21 : 21 You who give teaching to others, do you give it to yourself? you who say that a man may not take what is not his, do you take what is not yours?