This verse is a single statement that says simply that the Lord is the creator of the human senses of sight and hearing. But this statement is probably intended to mean more, with sight and hearing standing for all our senses. Some commentators suggest that we may also be expected to understand that what we listen to and what we look at should be right and pleasing to the Lord.

“The hearing ear and the seeing eye”: Speakers of every language know that “ear” and “hearing” mean almost the same, as do “eye” and “seeing”. But most translations keep all the terms in this line. One exception is Contemporary English Version “Hearing and seeing are gifts from the Lord.” A common way of expressing the line is “Ears that hear and eyes that see” (New International Version). Since the normal order in English is “eyes and ears,” Good News Translation has “eyes to see with and ears to listen with.”

“The Lord has made them both”: In many languages “the Lord has made” is more natural at the beginning of the statement. Many translations render this verse, for example, “The Lord has made our eyes so that we can see, and our ears so that we can hear.” Good News Translation begins “The Lord has given us eyes. . ..”

Quoted with permission from Reyburn, William D. and Fry, Euan McG. A Handbook on Proverbs. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2000. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .