Bible Strands
Proverbs 20:12
Ears that hear and eyes that see—the LORD has made them both.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The wisdom author addresses a general audience in a didactic sequence, positioning this statement between an observation on youthful conduct and a warning against sloth.
The words — אֹזֶן ('O.zen) denotes an ear, and עַיִן ('A.yin) denotes an eye, both presented as physical instruments of perception.
The thread — The creator's ownership of these senses appears in Psalms 94:9, while the demand for perceptual awareness runs through Psalms 119:18 and Matthew 13:13.
Why it lands — The text states that Yahweh made both hearing and seeing faculties, which requires readers to exercise physical alertness and moral accountability rather than passive indifference.
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
The hearing ear, and the seeing eye, the Lord hath made even both of them.
Cross-references
- Matthew 13:13 This is why I speak to them in parables: ‘Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand.’
- Psalms 94:9 He who affixed the ear, can He not hear? He who formed the eye, can He not see?
- Psalms 119:18 Open my eyes that I may see wondrous things from Your law.
- 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?
- Ephesians 1:17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in your knowledge of Him.
- Acts 26:18 to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those sanctified by faith in Me.’