מַרְאֶה

From the study of Isaiah 11:3

Range of meaning

Mar'eh: the act of seeing, a sight, how something looks. Mišmaʿ: what is heard, a report, hearsay. The two words are built the same way (both start with mi-/ma-), so the pair rhymes in Hebrew: 'by what is seen / by what is heard'.

Against the English

'By what his eyes see / by what his ears hear' (BSB, WEB) is accurate. NLT's 'appearance… hearsay' makes the negative sense explicit. The danger is reading the line as if the king ignores evidence. The point is that he is not taken in by surface impressions.

Used elsewhere in the period

1 Samuel 16:7, the choosing of David son of Jesse (compare 'stump of Jesse', Isaiah 11:1): 'Do not look at his appearance (mar'ēhû)… the LORD sees not as man sees; man looks at the eyes, but the LORD looks at the heart.' Solomon asks for 'a hearing heart to judge your people' (1 Kings 3:9). The Dead Sea Scrolls commentary on Isaiah (4Q161) explains this verse to mean the Branch of David will judge as the priests instruct him, which shows the line was read as a statement about the source of the king's verdicts.

From the study of Isaiah 52:14

Range of meaning

marʾeh: sight, appearance, what is seen (a vision, a face, a look). toʾar: form, shape, outline, bearing. Together they are the standard Hebrew pair for physical beauty and presence.

Against the English

KJV 'visage… form' and modern 'appearance… form' are adequate. What English loses is that this is a fixed pair with royal and heroic associations.

Used elsewhere in the period

Gen 29:17 (Rachel) and Gen 39:6 (Joseph): 'beautiful of form and beautiful of appearance.' 1 Sam 16:18: David is 'a man of form.' 1 Sam 16:7: 'do not look at his appearance (marʾēhû).' Isa 53:2 reverses the pair: 'he had no form… no appearance that we should desire him.'

From the study of Isaiah 53:2

Range of meaning

Sight, appearance, looks; also a vision. Phrases like 'beautiful of appearance' (Gen 12:11; 39:6; 1 Sam 17:42) praise good looks. In 1 Sam 16:7 God tells Samuel, 'Do not look at his appearance (marʾeh)… for man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.'

Against the English

Most versions render it 'beauty' (KJV, BSB, ESV). That is a reasonable inference from context, but strictly the word is neutral: 'appearance', 'anything to look at'. NASB and YLT keep 'appearance'.

Used elsewhere in the period

The same word appears in Isa 52:14 ('his appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance'). It also sounds like the verb in the same line, wǝnirʾēhû ('that we should look at him'). The two words share the root rāʾâ, 'see': 'we looked, but there was nothing to look at.'