ris3n's Apologetics Codex
Psalms 94.9
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Passage

Psalms 94.9

Book: Psalms · NASB95

Immediate context (±2 verses)

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ASV

7. And they say, Jehovah will not see, Neither will the God of Jacob consider. 8. Consider, ye brutish among the people; And ye fools, when will ye be wise?

9. He that planted the ear, shall he not hear? He that formed the eye, shall he not see?

  1. He that chastiseth the nations, shall not he correct, Even he that teacheth man knowledge? 11. Jehovah knoweth the thoughts of man, That they are vanity. (Psalms 94:7-11, ASV)
WEB

7. They say, “Yah will not see, neither will Jacob’s God consider.” 8. Consider, you senseless among the people; you fools, when will you be wise?

9. He who implanted the ear, won’t he hear? He who formed the eye, won’t he see?

  1. He who disciplines the nations, won’t he punish? He who teaches man knows. 11. Yahweh knows the thoughts of man, that they are futile. (Psalms 94:7-11, WEB)
KJV

7. Yet they say, The LORD shall not see, neither shall the God of Jacob regard it. 8. Understand, ye brutish among the people: and ye fools, when will ye be wise?

9. He that planted the ear, shall he not hear? he that formed the eye, shall he not see?

  1. He that chastiseth the heathen, shall not he correct? he that teacheth man knowledge, shall not he know? 11. The LORD knoweth the thoughts of man, that they are vanity. (Psalms 94:7-11, KJV)
YLT

7. And they say, 'Jehovah doth not see, And the God of Jacob doth not consider.' 8. Consider, ye brutish among the people, And ye foolish, when do ye act wisely?

9. He who planteth the ear doth He not hear? He who formeth the eye doth He not see?

  1. He who is instructing nations, Doth He not reprove? He who is teaching man knowledge [is] Jehovah. 11. He knoweth the thoughts of man, that they [are] vanity. (Psalms 94:7-11, YLT)

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Setting

  • Speaker: An unnamed psalmist. The Hebrew text carries no title. The Greek Septuagint titles it a psalm of David for the fourth day of the week, and the Mishnah (Tamid 7:4) lists it as the psalm the Levites sang in the Temple on that day
  • Audience: The arrogant oppressors of God's people, addressed directly as "ye brutish among the people" (94:8), within a prayer to God as "judge of the earth" (94:2)
  • Location: Not stated
  • Time period: Not stated; the psalm cannot be dated with confidence

Theological reading

"He that planted the ear, shall he not hear? He that formed the eye, shall he not see?"

The setting in the psalm. The wicked crush God's people, killing "the widow and the sojourner" and murdering "the fatherless" (94:5-6). They do it because of a belief about God: "they say, Jehovah will not see, Neither will the God of Jacob consider" (94:7). Verse 9 is the psalmist's answer to that belief.

From the lesser to the greater. The argument is short. The one who made the ear cannot be deaf; the one who made the eye cannot be blind. "Planted" (Strong's H5193) is the verb for setting a tree in the ground, and "formed" (H3335) is the potter's verb used of God shaping man from the dust in Genesis 2:7. The next lines carry the argument further: "He that chastiseth the nations, shall not he correct, Even he that teacheth man knowledge? Jehovah knoweth the thoughts of man" (94:10-11). A Creator cannot be less than what he has made.

Practical atheism and deism. The people in the psalm are not philosophers. They believe God exists but act as if he does not notice. Deism is a reasoned position: God made the world and its laws and does not intervene. Many deists held this out of reverence, believing that a perfect Creator would not need to adjust his work. The psalm's argument still applies. A God who made beings who hear, see, know and care is not less personal than they are, and the Deism vs the Christian God comparison argues that such a God does not leave his creatures unheard. See Deism and Thomas Paine.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word.

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Quoted in

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Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

  • ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
  • WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
  • KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
  • YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.