PROV 20:12 Parallel Verse View

Note: This view shows ‘verses’ which are not natural language units and hence sometimes only part of a sentence will be visible—click on any Bible version abbreviation down the left-hand side to see the verse in more of its context. Normally the OET discourages the reading of individual ‘verses’, but this view is only designed as a tool for doing comparisons of different translations—the older translations are further down the page (so you can read up from the bottom to trace the English translation history). The OET segments on this page are still very early looks into the unfinished texts of the Open English Translation of the Bible—please double-check these texts in advance before using in public.

Text critical issues=none Clarity of original=clear Importance to us=normal (All still tentative.)

Key: khaki:verbs, green:YHWH.
Note: Automatic aligning of the OET-RV to the LV is done by some temporary software, hence the OET-RV alignments are incomplete (and may occasionally be wrong).

BrLXX Οὖς ἀκούει, καὶ ὀφθαλμὸς ὁρᾷ, Κυρίου ἔργα καὶ ἀμφότερα.
(Ous akouei, kai ofthalmos hora, Kuriou erga kai amfotera. )

OEB No OEB PROV book available

WEBBE The hearing ear, and the seeing eye,
⇔ the LORD has made even both of them.

WMBB (Same as above)

NET The ear that hears and the eye that sees –
⇔ the Lord has made them both.

LSV A hearing ear, and a seeing eye—YHWH has even made both of them.

FBV The Lord made our ears to hear and our eyes to see.

T4T ⇔ Two of the things that Yahweh has created for us
⇔ are ears to hear things and eyes to see things.

LEB • The ear that hears and the eye that sees, Yahweh has made them both .[fn]

20:? Literally “also the two of them”

BBE The hearing ear and the seeing eye are equally the Lord's work.

Moff The ear that hears, the eye that sees,
⇔ the Eternal made them both.

JPS The hearing ear, and the seeing eye, the LORD hath made even both of them.

ASV The hearing ear, and the seeing eye,
⇔ Jehovah hath made even both of them.

DRA The hearing ear, and the seeing eye, the Lord hath made them both.

YLT A hearing ear, and a seeing eye, Jehovah hath made even both of them.

Drby The hearing ear, and the seeing eye, Jehovah hath made even both of them.

RV The hearing ear, and the seeing eye, the LORD hath made even both of them.
(The hearing ear, and the seeing eye, the LORD hath/has made even both of them. )

SLT The hearing ear and the seeing eye, Jehovah made, also them two.

Wbstr The hearing ear, and the seeing eye, the LORD hath made even both of them.

KJB-1769 The hearing ear, and the seeing eye, the LORD hath made even both of them.
(The hearing ear, and the seeing eye, the LORD hath/has made even both of them. )

KJB-1611 The hearing eare, and the seeing eye, the LORD hath made euen both of them.
(Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above)

Bshps The eare to heare, the eye to see: the Lorde hath made them both.
(The ear to hear, the eye to see: the Lord hath/has made them both.)

Gnva The Lord hath made both these, euen the eare to heare, and the eye to see.
(The Lord hath/has made both these, even the ear to hear, and the eye to see. )

Cvdl As for the hearinge of the eare & the sight of ye eye, ye LORDE hath made the both.
(As for the hearing of the ear and the sight of ye/you_all eye, ye/you_all LORD hath/has made the both.)

Wycl An eere heringe, and an iye seynge, God made euere eithir.
(An ear hearing, and an eye seeing, God made ever eithir.)

Luth Ein hörend Ohr und sehend Auge, die macht beide der HErr.
(A hearing ear and seed eye, the power both the/of_the LORD.)

ClVg Aurem audientem, et oculum videntem: Dominus fecit utrumque.[fn]
(Aurem listeningm, and eye the_one_who_sees: Master he_did both. )

20.12 Dominus fecit utrumque. Nemo ad prædicandum idoneus fratrem simplicem despiciat, etc., usque ad dans unicuique secundum mensuram donationis suæ.

20.12 Master he_did both. Nobody to to_preach idoneus brother simple let_him_look_down, etc., until to giving to_each_one after/second measure donation his/her_own.

SOTN SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 10:1–22:16: This is the main collection of Solomon’s proverbs

This section is the main collection of Solomon’s proverbs. It has a very different structure from the longer poetic lectures of chapters 1–9. It consists mostly of individual couplets (two-line poems) that are each one verse in length. With the exception of the title (10:1a), paragraph breaks will not be indicated in the Notes or Display. You may of course choose to start each proverb as a separate paragraph in your translation.

In chapters 10–15, most of these one-verse couplets express a contrast between the two lines. One of the more common contrasts is between the righteous/wise and the wicked/foolish and the different consequences of their conduct.

In chapters 16:1–22:16, more topics are discussed. There is more emphasis on the role of the king and other leaders. In these chapters, there are few proverbs with contrasting lines. Some of the parallel lines are similar in meaning. More frequently, the second line adds to what the first line says or gives an example. Most of the verses have no obvious connection with the previous or following proverbs.UBS (page 214), Fox (page 509), McKane (page 413). Many scholars, including McKane, point out that there are some topical groupings as well as poetic connections. These include the repetition of certain words or sounds. This observation does not deny the individual nature of most of the proverbs in this Section.

Two of the types of proverbs in this section are not found in chapters 1–9. One type contains logical reasoning from the lesser to the greater. See 11:31 for a list of these proverbs. There are also several varieties of complex “better than” proverbs. The most common have a contrasting situation in each line (see 12:9). For other varieties, see 16:16, 19:1, and 21:9.

Many of the proverbs in this section refer to categories of people who share a common trait. For example, they refer to the righteous, the wise, the poor, and the lazy. In Hebrew, some verses use singular forms to refer to these groups of people. Other verses use plural forms. Still others use a combination of singular and plural. See the note on 10:30a–b for one example. For most of these verses, the Notes will not comment on the difference between singular and plural forms. Use a natural way in your language to refer to one or more people who are in the same category.

Many of the proverbs in this section express a general principle in abstract terms. They are not addressed specifically to the readers. For example, 10:2a–b says:

Ill-gotten treasures are of no value,

but righteousness delivers from death.

However, the author intended his readers to understand these proverbs as advice that they should follow. In some languages, authors or speakers give advice more directly, using pronouns such as you^(sing), you^(plur), we^(dual), or we^(incl). See the note on 10:2 for translation suggestions.

Some other headings for this section are:

Proverbs of Solomon (NIV)

The Wise Words of Solomon (NCV)

Here are many wise things that Solomon said

20:12

Ears that hear and eyes that see—the LORD has made them both.

Yahweh has given us^(incl) ears for listening and eyes for seeing/observing.
Yahweh made people’s eyes so that they can see. He also made their ears so that they can hear/listen.

In this proverb, the second line comments on the topic of the first line.

^12aEars that hear and eyes that see—

^12bthe LORD has made them both.

The main point is that the LORD created the senses of hearing and seeing. He provided people with ears so that we can hear and with eyes so that we can see.

The proverb probably implies that the LORD gave people eyes and ears to use wisely in a way that pleases him.Whybray (page 294), Ross (page 1043), Waltke (pages 140–141).

Ears that hear and eyes that see—the LORD has made them both: In Hebrew, the first part of the verse is literally “The hearing ear and the seeing eye,” as in the ESV. The REB uses the words “attentive” and “observant” to imply that people use their ears and eyes deliberately. It has:

An attentive ear, an observant eye

Another way to translate this verse is:

Ears to hear and eyes to see—both are gifts from the Lord. (NLT)

In some languages, it may be more natural to put the last part of the verse first. It may also be more natural to mention the eyes before the ears. For example:

The Lord has given us eyes to see with and ears to listen with. (GNT)

Parallel PROV 20:12

Section 10:1–22:16: This is the main collection of Solomon’s proverbs

20:12