Isaiah 42:20

20 You see many [things], but you do not observe. [His] ears are open, but he does not hear.

Isaiah 42:20 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 42:20

Seeing many things, but thou observest not
The Scribes and Pharisees, saw Christ in the flesh; they saw the miracles he did; they saw the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers cleansed, the deaf hear, and the dead raised; yet they did not give note to these things, and keep them in their minds, and regard them as clear proofs of his being the Messiah: opening the ears, but he heareth not;
they heard John Baptist preach, the forerunner of Christ, and the testimony he bore of him; they heard Christ himself and his apostles; they sometimes opened their ears, and seemed to listen and hear with attention, and wonder at what they heard; and some would own, that never man spake like Jesus; and yet understood not his speech, and hardened their hearts against him; they saw many things with their bodily eyes, but perceived them not with the eyes of their understandings; they heard with their ears, but understood not in their hearts; for their eyes were shut and their ears heavy, ( Isaiah 6:9 ) ( Matthew 13:14 Matthew 13:15 ) .

Isaiah 42:20 In-Context

18 Deaf people, listen! And blind people, look to see!

19 Who [is] blind but my servant or deaf like my messenger [whom] I sent? Who [is] blind like the one who is repaid or blind like the servant of Yahweh?

20 You see many [things], but you do not observe. [His] ears are open, but he does not hear.

21 Yahweh was willing for the sake of his righteousness; he showed [his] teaching to be great and proved [it] to be glorious.

22 But this [is] a people plundered and looted; all of them are trapped in holes, and they are kept hidden in houses of imprisonment. They have become like plunder, and there is no one who saves; [like] booty, and there is no one who says, "Restore!"

Footnotes

• [a] Or "and"
• [b] Or "and"