Eyes, Jim Jordan constantly points out, are organs of judgment. God “sees” the light and judges it good, and His eyes are open to judge the righteous and the wicked (Ps 11).
1 Kings 3, however, seems to make some play with this. Solomon is asking for discernment and wisdom to “judge,” but instead of asking for “eyes” to judge, he asks for a new heart, a heart that “hears” (the Heb is SHEMA in v 9). When Yahweh hears this request, He finds it “good in his eyes” (v 10). Yahweh judges by the eyes, but Solomon knows that he can judge only by discerning hearing.
This doesn’t undermine Jordan’s point about eyes, but seems to qualify it a bit. Yahweh judges with eyes, since all things are open to His sight. Not everything is open to our sight, and we can plumb hidden depths and pass righteous judgment only if we do NOT judge by what we see but judge by careful listening. (Isaiah 11:3 makes a further move, by saying that the Messiah will judge righteously, and this in contrast to judging by what he sees AND hears.)
Dear Reader,
Can I be direct with you?
War abroad. Socialists on the rise. AI upending human life. Endless uproar online. The modern attention economy doesn’t want readers — it wants users enslaved to the tyranny of the present.
First Things is the antidote: literary excellence, timeless truths, and a fixed point of reference in a culture that has lost its bearings.
But we can’t do it without readers like you.
Our goal: Raise $150,000 by November 1 to sustain First Things in the year ahead.
Your gift anchors readers in the permanent things.
Make your Fall Campaign gift now using the button below.
If you have any questions or would like more information, please contact Giovanni Del Piero, Director of the Editor’s Circle, at gdelpiero@firstthings.com or 212-627-1985.
YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE
The Church in the Age of Therapy
In 1966, Philip Rieff wrote in The Triumph of the Therapeutic that “Religious man was born to…
Canada’s Deadliest Blind Spot
On September 20, the Daily Mail ran a story with the provocative headline, “Our 83-year-old Christian grandmother…
The Faithful Joy of Dolly Parton and Fulton Sheen
Dolly Parton and Fulton Sheen seem to have had little in common. She favored rhinestones; he wore…
