Bible Strands
Isaiah 11:3
And He will delight in the fear of the LORD. He will not judge by what His eyes see, and He will not decide by what His ears hear,
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Isaiah delivers a prophetic oracle describing the coming descendant of Jesse, the messianic king, situated between the Spirit's anointing (v. 2) and his righteous rule (v. 4).
The words — יִרְאַת (yir'at), "fear of," is the object of the figure's delight; it denotes reverential awe directed at Yahweh, not panic. מַרְאֵה (mar'eh), "sight/appearance," names what he explicitly refuses to use as his basis for judgment.
The thread — The refusal to judge by "sight" echoes 1 Samuel 16:7, where the LORD tells Samuel "do not look on his appearance," and John 7:24, "Stop judging by outward appearances."
Why it lands — The verse holds up a standard: a person's judgments are as reliable as their reverence for God and as unreliable as their dependence on surface impressions. It asks the reader to audit where their own verdicts actually come from.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord: and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears:
Cross-references
- John 7:24 Stop judging by outward appearances, and start judging justly.”
- Luke 2:52 And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.
- 1 Samuel 16:7 But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or height, for I have rejected him; the LORD does not see as man does. For man sees the outward appearance, but the LORD sees the heart.”
- John 8:15 You judge according to the flesh; I judge no one.
- Proverbs 2:5 then you will discern the fear of the LORD and discover the knowledge of God.
- 1 Corinthians 2:13 And this is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom, but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words.
- 1 Kings 3:28 When all Israel heard of the judgment the king had given, they stood in awe of him, for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him to administer justice.
- John 2:25 He did not need any testimony about man, for He knew what was in a man.
- Philippians 1:9 And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight,
- Hebrews 5:14 But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained their senses to distinguish good from evil.