The eyes of those who see will not be dim, and the ears of those who hear will listen.
Parallel Translations
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The eyes of those who see will not be dim, and the ears of those who hear will listen.
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And the eyes of them that see shall not be dim, and the ears of them that hear shall hearken.
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And the eyes of them that see shall not be closed, and the ears of them that hear shall attend.
Cross-references (13)
Passages linked to Isaiah 32:3 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Isaiah 29:18 In that day, the deaf will hear the words of the book, and the eyes of the blind will see out of obscurity and out of darkness.
- Isaiah 35:5-6 Then the eyes of the blind will be opened, and the ears of the deaf will be unstopped. Then the lame man will leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute will sing; for waters will break out in the wilderness, and streams in the desert.
- Acts 26:18 to open their eyes, that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive remission of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’
- 2 Corinthians 4:6 seeing it is God who said, “Light will shine out of darkness,” who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
- 1 John 2:20-21 You have an anointing from the Holy One, and you all have knowledge. I have not written to you because you don’t know the truth, but because you know it, and because no lie is of the truth.
- Isaiah 29:24 They also who err in spirit will come to understanding, and those who grumble will receive instruction.”
- Isaiah 54:13 All your children will be taught by Yahweh; and your children’s peace will be great.
- Mark 7:37 They were astonished beyond measure, saying, “He has done all things well. He makes even the deaf hear, and the mute speak!”
- Isaiah 30:26 Moreover the light of the moon will be like the light of the sun, and the light of the sun will be seven times brighter, like the light of seven days, in the day that Yahweh binds up the fracture of his people, and heals the wound they were struck with.
- Isaiah 60:1-2 “Arise, shine; for your light has come, and Yahweh’s glory has risen on you. For, behold, darkness will cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but Yahweh will arise on you, and his glory shall be seen on you.
- Jeremiah 31:34 They will no longer each teach his neighbor, and every man teach his brother, saying, ‘Know Yahweh;’ for they will all know me, from their least to their greatest,” says Yahweh: “for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”
- Matthew 13:11 He answered them, “To you it is given to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven, but it is not given to them.
- Mark 8:22-25 He came to Bethsaida. They brought a blind man to him, and begged him to touch him. He took hold of the blind man by the hand, and brought him out of the village. When he had spat on his eyes, and laid his hands on him, he asked him if he saw anything. He looked up, and said, “I see men; for I see them like trees walking.” Then again he laid his hands on his eyes. He looked intently, and was restored, and saw everyone clearly.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (14 sources)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain He promiseth to give the true light, which is…
He promiseth to give the true light, which is the pure doctrine of God’s word, and understanding, and zeal of the same, are contrary to the threatenings against the wicked, Isa. 6:9 and 29:10.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Isa 32:3 And the eyes of them that see…
Isa 32:3 And the eyes of them that see shall not be dim, and the ears of them that hear shall hearken.
Ver. 3. And the eyes of them that see shall not be dim.] Or, Shall not be closed; they shall not wink or be wilfully ignorant, shutting the windows lest the light should come in, or seeking straws to put out their eyes with, as Bernard expresseth it, Festucam quaerunt unde oculos sibi eruant.
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And the ears of them that hear shall hearken.] They shall listen to Christ’s word as for life; they shall draw up the ears of their souls to the ears of their bodies, that one sound may pierce both; they shall hear what the Spirit speaketh to the churches.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain This is meant either,
This is meant either,
1. Of the princes or magistrates, who are instead of eyes and ears, both to the king and to the people, who, by their office, are to see and observe all things, and to hear all causes. These, saith he, shall not shut their eyes, nor suffer them to be blinded with gifts, to favour a rich man in an unjust cause; they shall not shut their ears against the complaints of the poor oppressed ones, as wicked princes commonly do. Or,
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2. Of the people; they shall not shut their eyes and ears against the good counsels and examples of their religious king and rulers, as they have done formerly: both princes and people shall be reformed. This was done in some poor measure in Hezekiah’s time; but far more fully and eminently in the days of the Messiah, who, by his grace, changeth men’s hearts, and cureth them of that wilful and obstinate blindness whereof they had been guilty before; which clearly showeth that this prophecy looks through Hezekiah unto Christ. And the like may be said of the following verse.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain And the eyes of them that see shall not…
And the eyes of them that see shall not be dim,.... Not of the seers and prophets, or ministers of the word only, but of the righteous in general, as the Targum; even all such as are illuminated by the Spirit of God, who shall have a clear discerning of Gospel truths, behold with open face, with eyes unveiled, the glory of them, and of Christ in them, and not have their eyes covered, or such a dim obscure knowledge of them as under the law; and not only the watchmen shall see, eye to eye, all truths clearly and distinctly, but even all, from the least to the greatest, shall know the Lord, and the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of him, as the waters cover the sea. It is a prophecy of the great increase of spiritual light in the times of the Messiah:
and the ears of them that hear shall hearken: very diligently and attentively to the word preached, and receive and embrace the doctrines of the Gospel, and submit to, and obey, the ordinances of it.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain The eyes - The people, they shall not shut…
The eyes - The people, they shall not shut their eyes and ears against the good counsels and examples of their religious king and rulers, as they have done formerly: both princes and people shall be reformed.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 3. And the eyes of them that see…
Verse 3. And the eyes of them that see shall not be dim - "And him the eyes of those that see shall regard"] For ולא velo, and not, Le Clerc reads ולו velo, and to him, of which mistake the Masoretes acknowledge there are fifteen instances; and many more are reckoned by others. The removal of the negative restores to the verb its true and usual sense.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain And the eyes of them that see ... -…
And the eyes of them that see ... - The sense of this verse is, that there shall be, under the reign of this wise and pious prince, on the part of the prophets and teachers, a clear view of divine truth, and on the part of the people who hear, a disposition to hearken and to attend to it. The phrase ‘of them that see,’ refers probably to the prophets, as those who were called seers (see the notes at Isa 29:10; Isa 30:10; compare 1Sa 9:9), or those who had visions (see the note at Isa 1:1) of the things that God would communicate to people. The word rendered ‘be dim’ (תשׁעינה tishe‛eynâh), is derived from שׁעה shâ‛âh, which usually signifies “to see, to look,” but it also has a meaning similar to שׁעע shâ‛a‛, “to spread over, to close, to make blind.” Of this fact Lowth seems not to have been aware when he proposed, without the authority of any MS., to change the text. The sense is, that those who were prophets and religious teachers should no more see obscurely, but should have clear and just views of divine truth.
And the ears of them that hear - Of the people who were instructed by their religious teachers.
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Shall hearken - It shall be a characteristic of those times that they shall be disposed to attend to the truth of God.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Dim. True prophets shall speak, while false ones shall…
Dim. True prophets shall speak, while false ones shall be silent. (Calmet)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain them that see--the seers or prophets.
them that see--the seers or prophets.
them that hear--the people under instruction (Isa 35:5-6).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 3, 4. Eyes… not be dim… ears… hearken —…
3, 4. Eyes… not be dim… ears… hearken — Under which Messiah the process of heart-hardening will not be the rule, as in the prophet’s time, but the exception. He is speaking of times when the present moral order shall be reversed in a large degree: when conscience shall be normally educated, and false views and tendencies will not prevail.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 3. shall not be dim] shall not be closed…
3. shall not be dim] shall not be closed (R.V. marg.). The verb, although disguised in the pointing, is no doubt the same as that used in ch. Isa_6:10, Isa_29:10 (lit. “smear”). The curse there pronounced shall be removed.
3, 4. The quickening of the moral perceptions of the people. Comp. ch. Isa_29:18; Isa_29:24, Isa_30:20 f.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (3) The eyes of them that see . .…
(3) The eyes of them that see . . .—Another reversal, like that of Isa_29:18, of the sentence of judicial blindness with which Isaiah’s work as a prophet had begun (Isa_6:10).
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain The eyes of them that see shall not be…
The eyes of them that see shall not be dim. In Messiah"s kingdom there shall be no judicial blindness, such as that threatened in Isa_6:9, Isa_6:10, and described in Isa_29:10, Isa_29:11; but men shall seethe truth clearly. (comp. Isa_29:18 Isa_35:5 Mat_13:16, etc.) The ears.., shall hearken; i.e. "shall both hear and understated" (compare "He that hath ears to hear, let him hear").
Vers. 3, 4. Disabled and restored.
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The words are suggestive of the spiritual incapacity of which Israel was too often guilty, (see Eze_12:2) and of the recovery which, in better days, they were to experience.
I MAN DISABLED BY SIN. There are four directions in which we suffer sad deterioration and incapacity as the consequence of our sin.
1. Spiritual perception. After some transgressions, after continued disobedience and estrangement from God, we fail to "see light in his light;" our vision of his truth is less clear and full; sacred truths lose their true proportions in our view. Then come positive error, actual misconception, moral blindness; and finally comes that terrible mental distortion of which the Master spoke so sorrowfully and the prophet wrote so strongly. (Mat_6:22, 23 Isa_5:20)
2. Recognition of the Divine voice. The commission of sin ends in, first, a partial, and ultimately a complete, spiritual deafness. At first the quieter and more habitual tones in which God is speaking to us (daily loving-kindnesses, sabbath privileges, etc.) become inaudible to us, convey no message to us from God; then more distinct and unmistakable voices from heaven are unheeded and unheard; at last, the loudest demands which God ever makes fail to produce any impression on the ear of the soul.
3. The choice of that which is wise. The rash heart (of the text) is the heart which chooses precipitately, and therefore foolishly. Under the dominion of sin we come to choose the visible in preference to the invisible, the material to the spiritual, the transient to the abiding, the human to the Divine.
4. The utterance of Divine truth. The clouded vision naturally leads to the "stammering tongue." As man becomes more affected by the sin which dwells within and works upon him, he utters God"s truth less plainly, less faithfully, more partially, with ever-widening divergence from the mind of the Eternal.
II THE TOUCH OF DIVINE POWER. When man has become disabled there is no hope for him but in God. Human teaching is valuable enough, but it dues not avail. Only the awakening, reviving touch of the Divine power, brought into immediate contact with the soul, can call back these slumbering powers. But it can and does; God"s renewing Spirit breaks upon the disabled mind, upon the degenerate nature, and that which was lost is regained; the faculties of the soul revive. Then we have
III SPIRITUAL RESTORATION. Revived by the power of God:
1. We see clearly. We apprehend the will of God in Jesus Christ concerning us, the excellency of his service, the beauties of holiness, the luxury of usefulness.
2. We hear distinctly the voice of God as he speaks to us in his Word, in his providence, in the privileges of the Christian Church.
3. We choose wisely. We become thoughtful, reflective, studious of the Divine desire, obedient, and therefore wise; we "understand knowledge.
4. We speak plainly. Discerning that which is acceptable in the sight of the Lord, we speak simply, faithfully, fearlessly, with all boldness as we ought to speak," "the everlasting gospel both the elementary truths which make wise unto salvation, and those "deeper things of God," which enrich the mind and sanctify the spirit. C.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain The eyes of them that see shall not be…
Isa_32:3-4
The eyes of them that see shall not be dim
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Four tests of character
The whole of this chapter refers to the state of the world during the time of the millennium.
The happiness which shall be the lot of Gods children in that period will be only an increase of our present state of happiness and holiness. Therefore this passage may be fairly taken as furnishing tests of our conversion at the present time.
I. There are to be hereafter CLEAR VIEWS. If we are converted, we have clearer views than we once had.
II. The second test is, THE HEARING EAR There is a great difference in the manner in which persons listen to the Word of God.
III. There will be INCREASED KNOWLEDGE. It forms part of the promise of God that His people shall be taught of Him. And what is it they are taught? They are taught to see the excellence of the person of Christ Jesus their Saviour.
IV. There shall be BOLD CONFESSION OF JESUS, for the tongue of the stammerers, &c. Can you say your character will bear these tests? (M. Villiers, M. A.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.