² sn To “incline the ear” means to “listen carefully” (cf. NCV); the expression is metonymical in that the ear is the instrument for hearing. It is like telling someone to lean over to hear better.

¹ tn Heb “incline your ear.” The verb הַט (hat) is the Hiphil imperative from נָטָה (natah, Hiphil: “to turn to; to incline”). The idiom “to incline the ear” gives the picture of “lean over and listen closely.”

³ tn Or “You stubborn and obstinate people!” (The phrase “uncircumcised hearts and ears” is another figure for stubbornness.)

¹ tn Heb “they have eyes but they do not see; they have ears but they do not hear.”

¹ tn Heb “it was revealed in my ears [by?] the Lord of Heaven’s Armies [traditionally, “the Lord of hosts”].”

² tn Heb “see and turn your ear.” The verb רָאָה (raʾah, “see”) is used here of mental observation.

¹ tn Heb “the eyes of the Lord [are] toward the godly, and his ears [are] toward their cry for help.”

³ sn This gold ring was worn by women in the nose, or men and women in the ear.

¹ tn Heb “and Samuel heard all the words of the people and he spoke them into the ears of the Lord.”

³ tc Heb “and my cry for help before him came into his ears.” 2 Sam 22:7 has a shorter reading, “my cry for help, in his ears.” It is likely that Ps 18:6 MT as it now stands represents a conflation of two readings: (1) “my cry for help came before him,” (2) “my cry for help came into his ears.” See F. M. Cross and D. N. Freedman, Studies in Ancient Yahwistic Poetry (SBLDS), 144, n. 13.

² tn Or “the rings that were in the ears of the idols.” The third person plural suffix on the word בְּאָזְנֵיהֶם (b^eʾoznehem, “in their ears”) could refer to the members of Jacob’s household or the “gods” which they possessed. Most exegetes understand it to refer to the people, but Victor Hurowitz, “Who Lost an Earring? Genesis 35:4 Reconsidered,” CBQ 62 (2000): 28-32, argues that the earrings were in the ears of the idols.

³ sn When Jesus healed the man’s ear he showed grace even to those who hated him, following his own teaching (Luke 6:27-36).

¹ tn Heb “Micaiah reported to them all the words that he heard when Baruch read from the scroll in the ears of the people.”

¹ tn Heb “For in truth the Lord has sent me to you to speak in your ears all these words/things.”

¹ sn The mention of “the ears” emphasizes the concerted effort to get the person’s undivided attention. However, a fool rejects instruction and discipline.

¹ tn Heb “The one who plants an ear, does he not hear? The one who forms an eye, does he not see?”

³ tn Heb “[that] stops up its ear.” The apparent Hiphil jussive verbal form should be understood as a Qal imperfect with “i” theme vowel (see GKC 168 §63.n).

¹ tn Heb “my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayer of this place.” Note Solomon’s request in 6:40.

² tn On the meaning of the word צִקְלוֹן (tsiqlon), “ear of grain,” see HALOT 148 s.v. בָּצֵק and M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 59.

² tn The Hebrew term תַּחְמָס (takhmas) is either a type of owl (cf. NEB “short-eared owl”; NIV “screech owl”) or possibly the nighthawk (so NRSV, NLT).