Proverbs 20:12
New International Version
Ears that hear and eyes that see— the LORD has made them both.

New Living Translation
Ears to hear and eyes to see— both are gifts from the LORD.

English Standard Version
The hearing ear and the seeing eye, the LORD has made them both.

Berean Standard Bible
Ears that hear and eyes that see—the LORD has made them both.

King James Bible
The hearing ear, and the seeing eye, the LORD hath made even both of them.

New King James Version
The hearing ear and the seeing eye, The LORD has made them both.

New American Standard Bible
The hearing ear and the seeing eye, The LORD has made both of them.

NASB 1995
The hearing ear and the seeing eye, The LORD has made both of them.

NASB 1977
The hearing ear and the seeing eye, The LORD has made both of them.

Legacy Standard Bible
The hearing ear and the seeing eye, Yahweh has made both of them.

Amplified Bible
The hearing ear and the seeing eye, The [omnipotent] LORD has made both of them.

Christian Standard Bible
The hearing ear and the seeing eye — the LORD made them both.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
The hearing ear and the seeing eye— the LORD made them both.

American Standard Version
The hearing ear, and the seeing eye, Jehovah hath made even both of them.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
The ear that hears and the eye that sees; LORD JEHOVAH has made them.

Brenton Septuagint Translation
The ear hears, and the eye sees: even both of them are the Lord's work.

Contemporary English Version
Hearing and seeing are gifts from the LORD.

Douay-Rheims Bible
The hearing ear, and the seeing eye, the Lord hath made them both.

English Revised Version
The hearing ear, and the seeing eye, the LORD hath made even both of them.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
The ear that hears, the eye that sees- the LORD made them both.

Good News Translation
The LORD has given us eyes to see with and ears to listen with.

International Standard Version
The ear that hears and the eye that sees— the LORD surely made them both.

JPS Tanakh 1917
The hearing ear, and the seeing eye, The LORD hath made even both of them.

Literal Standard Version
A hearing ear, and a seeing eye—YHWH has even made both of them.

Majority Standard Bible
Ears that hear and eyes that see—the LORD has made them both.

New American Bible
The ear that hears, the eye that sees— the LORD has made them both.

NET Bible
The ear that hears and the eye that sees--the LORD has made them both.

New Revised Standard Version
The hearing ear and the seeing eye— the LORD has made them both.

New Heart English Bible
The hearing ear, and the seeing eye, The LORD has made even both of them.

Webster's Bible Translation
The hearing ear, and the seeing eye, the LORD hath made even both of them.

World English Bible
The hearing ear, and the seeing eye, Yahweh has made even both of them.

Young's Literal Translation
A hearing ear, and a seeing eye, Jehovah hath made even both of them.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Wine is a Mocker
11Even a young man is known by his actions—whether his conduct is pure and upright. 12Ears that hear and eyes that see— the LORD has made them both. 13Do not love sleep, or you will grow poor; open your eyes, and you will have plenty of food.…

Cross References
Exodus 4:11
And the LORD said to him, "Who gave man his mouth? Or who makes the mute or the deaf, the sighted or the blind? Is it not I, the LORD?

Psalm 94:9
He who affixed the ear, can He not hear? He who formed the eye, can He not see?

Proverbs 25:12
Like an earring of gold or an ornament of fine gold is a wise man's rebuke to a listening ear.

Isaiah 29:18
On that day the deaf will hear the words of the scroll, and out of the deep darkness the eyes of the blind will see.


Treasury of Scripture

The hearing ear, and the seeing eye, the LORD has made even both of them.

Exodus 4:11
And the LORD said unto him, Who hath made man's mouth? or who maketh the dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? have not I the LORD?

Psalm 94:9
He that planted the ear, shall he not hear? he that formed the eye, shall he not see?

Psalm 119:18
Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law.

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Proverbs 20
1. Proper Living














(12) The Lord hath made even both of them.--And, therefore, they are to be used as He would have them. (Comp. our Lord's constant warning, "He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.") The proverb may also remind us of the admonition in Proverbs 15:3, and Psalm 94:9, to remember God's constant watchfulness over us.

Verse 12. - The hearing ear, and the seeing eye, the Lord hath made even both of them. This apothegm, which seems to be nothing but a trite truism, brings to notice many important consequences. First, there is the result noted in Psalm 94:9, "He that planted the ear, shall he not hear? He that formed the eye, shall he not see?" Hence we learn the sleepless providence of God. So 'Pirke Aboth,' "Know that which is above thee, an eye that seeth all, an ear that heareth all." We learn also that all things are directed and overruled by God (comp. Proverbs 15:3; Proverbs 16:4). Then there is the thought that these powers of ours, being the gift of God, should be used piously and in God's service. "Mine ears hast thou opened... Lo, I come... I delight to do thy will, O my God" (Psalm 40:6, etc.). The eye should be blind, the ear deaf, to all that might defile or excite to evil (see Isaiah 33:15). But it is the Lord alone that enables the spiritual organs to receive the wondrous things of God's Law; they must be educated by grace to enable them to perform their proper functions. "God hath given us eyes," says St. Chrysostom ('Hom. 22 in 1 Corinthians'), "not that we may look wantonly, but that, admiring his handiwork, we may worship the Creator. And that this is the use of our eyes is evident from the things which are seen. For the lustre of the sun and of the sky we see from an immeasurable distances, but a woman's beauty one cannot discern so far off. Seest thou that for this end our eye was chiefly given? Again, he made the ear, that we should entertain not blasphemous words, but saving doctrines. Wherefore you see, when it receives anything dissonant, both our soul shudders and our very body also. And if we hear anything cruel or merciless, again our flesh creeps; but if anything decorous and kind, we even exult and rejoice." "He that hath ears to hear, let him hear." Septuagint, "The ear heareth and the eye sooth, and both are the works of the Lord."

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
Ears
אֹ֣זֶן (’ō·zen)
Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 241: Broadness, the ear

that hear
שֹׁ֭מַעַת (ma·‘aṯ)
Verb - Qal - Participle - feminine singular
Strong's 8085: To hear intelligently

and eyes
וְעַ֣יִן (wə·‘a·yin)
Conjunctive waw | Noun - common singular
Strong's 5869: An eye, a fountain

that see—
רֹאָ֑ה (rō·’āh)
Verb - Qal - Participle - feminine singular
Strong's 7200: To see

the LORD
יְ֝הוָ֗ה (Yah·weh)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 3068: LORD -- the proper name of the God of Israel

has made
עָשָׂ֥ה (‘ā·śāh)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 6213: To do, make

them both.
שְׁנֵיהֶֽם׃ (šə·nê·hem)
Number - mdc | third person masculine plural
Strong's 8147: Two (a cardinal number)


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OT Poetry: Proverbs 20:12 The hearing ear and the seeing eye (Prov. Pro Pr)
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