Thursday, October 7, 2010

Isaiah 42:20

רָאֹ֯ית רַבּוֹת וְלֹא תִשְׁמֹר פָּקוֹחַ אָזְנַיִם וְלֹא יִשְׁמָע׃
Qere: רָאוֹת.

20 Seeing many things, you¹ do not heed them. The ears are open, but he does not hear.
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¹ Or: she does not....

רָאוֹת רַבּוֹת וְלֹא תִשְׁמֹר He sees many things, but you do not heed them. The ketib רָאֹ֯ית or רָאֹ֯יתָ would be a qal 2nd person singular, "You see." But the Masoretes prefer a qal infinitive absolute (רָאוֹת), which matches the infinitive of the second colon. Perhaps the "you" (ketib) reading in this case would be better; it would refer directly to servant Israel. תִשְׁמֹר is either a qal imperfect 3rd feminine singular or 2nd masculine singular. The context normally decides; in this case the context is ambiguous and either form is possible. All through this verse, servant Israel is implied, but could this be a case of "she" does not heed / "he" does not hear, referring to all women and men in Israel? Such both gender "him / her" statements are rare in Scripture, but they do occur: Hosea 2:1; Matthew 9:29; James 2:15 and others.

פָּקוֹחַ אָזְנַיִם וְלֹא יִשְׁמָע The ears are open, but he does not hear. פָּקוֹחַ is a qal infinitive absolute from פָּקַח, "be open" (this is only time it occurs with "ears" instead of "eyes"). יִשְׁמָע qal imperfect 3rd masculine singular. The incongruity of persons finally doesn't matter; it doesn't really affect how we apply the text to our lives. It still proclaims to sin to each one of us, especially the sin against the first table of the law and our blindness and deafness to God's will. It proclaims our need for a Savior.

Mp note: The phrase וְלֹא יִשְׁמָע occurs four times: Exodus 7:4; Deut. 21:18; Josh 1:18 and Isaiah 42:20. This protects the reading from similar combinations with different pointing (Isaiah 65:19; Nahum 2:14)

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