Psalms 135:16

They have mouths, but they speak not; eyes have they, but they see not;

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
mouths	פֶּֽה peh-	H6310	the mouth (as the means of blowing) · noun, common masculine singular absolute
speak	יְדַבֵּ֑רוּ ye.da.Be.ru	H1696	perhaps properly · verb, piel imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
eyes	עֵינַ֥יִם 'ei.Na.yim	H5869	an eye (literally or figuratively) · noun, common feminine dual absolute
see	יִרְאֽוּ yir.'U	H7200	to see · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Matthew 13:14-16 And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, a…
Isaiah 6:10 Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears,…

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Psalms 135:15–end

The design of these verses is, I. To arm the people of God against idolatry and all false worship, by showing what sort of gods they were that the heathen worshipped, as we had it before, Psa 115:4, etc. 1. They were gods of their own making; being so, they could have no power but what their makers gave them, and then what power could their makers receive from them? The images were the work of men's hands, and the deities that were supposed to inform them were as much the creatures of men's fancy and imagination. 2. They had the shape of animals, but could not perform the least act, no, not of the animal life. They could neither see, nor hear, nor speak, nor so much as breathe; and therefore…

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John Gill on Psalms 135:16

They have mouths, but they speak not,.... Return no answer to the request and petition of their votaries; See Gill on Psalm 115:5; eyes have they, but they see not; the same is observed in the above place, which see.

John Calvin on Psalms 135:15–end

Psalm 135:15-21 15. The images of the nations are silver and gold, the work of men's hands. 16. They have a mouth, and will not speak: they have eyes, and will not see. 17. They have ears, and will not hear; also [167] there is no breath in their mouth. 18. Like be they to them who make them, whosoever trusteth in them. 19. Bless Jehovah, O house of Israel! bless Jehovah, O house of Aaron! 20. Bless Jehovah, O house of Levi! ye that fear Jehovah, bless Jehovah. 21. Blessed be Jehovah out of Zion, who dwelleth at Jerusalem. Hallelujah. [168] 15. The images of the nations, etc. As the whole of this part of the Psalm has been explained elsewhere, it is needless to insist upon it, and repetiti…

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Keil & Delitzsch on Psalms 135:15-18

For the good of His proved church He ever proves Himself to be the Living God, whereas idols and idol-worshippers are vain - throughout following Psa 115:4-8, but with some abridgments. Here only the אף used as a particle recalls what is said there of the organ of smell (אף) of the idols that smells not, just as the רוּח which is here (as in Jer 10:14) denied to the idols recalls the הריח denied to them there. It is to be rendered: also there is not a being of breath, i.e., there is no breath at all, not a trace thereof, in their mouth. It is different in Sa1 21:9, where אין ישׁ (not אין) is meant to be equivalent to the Aramaic אין אית, num (an) est; אין is North-Palestinian, and equivalent…

The Church Fathers

But as these things are senseless, why make ye men of silver and gold to be gods? See ye not that the gods which you make see not? "They have a mouth, and will not speak; they have eyes, and will not see" [Psalm 135:16].
— Augustine of Hippo, Exposition on Psalm 135

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Poetry — Has been well defined as “the measured language of emotion.” Hebrew poetry deals almost exclusively with the great question of man’s relation to God. “Guilt, condemnation, punishment, pardon,…
Sihon — Striking down. The whole country on the east of Jordan, from the Arnon to the Jabbok, was possessed by the Amorites, whose king, Sihon, refused to permit the Israelites to pass through his territory,…
Idol · .Gol — .Gol

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Psalms 135:16

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Psalms 135:15–end

John Gill on Psalms 135:16

John Calvin on Psalms 135:15–end

Keil & Delitzsch on Psalms 135:15-18

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Psalms 135:16

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Psalms 135:15–end

John Gill on Psalms 135:16

John Calvin on Psalms 135:15–end

Keil & Delitzsch on Psalms 135:15-18

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Psalms 135:15-20

Spurgeon's Treasury of David on Psalms 135:16