Bible Strands
Psalms 115:6
they have ears, but cannot hear; they have noses, but cannot smell;
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The psalmist addresses the covenant community and surrounding nations during a corporate declaration contrasting Yahweh’s active sovereignty with the impotence of carved idols.
The words — אָזְנַ֣יִם ('a.ze.Na.yim) = ears and אַ֥ף ('af) = a nose are listed in the supplied lexicon to document the physical features attributed to these false gods.
The thread — This inventory of inert anatomy recurs in Psalm 135:16-18 and Isaiah 44:9-20 as a repeated polemic against manufactured deities.
Why it lands — The text demands a reader to recognize that worship directed at objects lacking sensory function is functionally empty and requires shifting reliance to the God who acts.
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
They have ears, but they hear not: noses have they, but they smell not: