Isaiah 25:7

25:7 On this mountain he will swallow up

the shroud that is over all the peoples, ¹ 

the woven covering that is over all the nations; ² 

Isaiah 29:18

29:18 At that time ³  the deaf will be able to hear words read from a scroll,

and the eyes of the blind will be able to see through deep darkness. ⁴ 

Isaiah 54:13

54:13 All your children will be followers of the Lord,

and your children will enjoy great prosperity. ⁵ 

Jeremiah 31:34

31:34 “People will no longer need to teach their neighbors and relatives to know me. ⁶  For all of them, from the least important to the most important, will know me,” ⁷  says the Lord. “For ⁸  I will forgive their sin and will no longer call to mind the wrong they have done.”

John 6:45-46

6:45 It is written in the prophets, ‘And they will all be taught by God.’ ⁹  Everyone who hears and learns from the Father ¹⁰  comes to me. 6:46 (Not that anyone has seen the Father except the one who is from God – he ¹¹  has seen the Father.) ¹² 

¹ tn The Hebrew text reads, “the face of the shroud, the shroud over all the nations.” Some emend the second הַלּוֹט (hallot) to a passive participle הַלּוּט (hallut, “that is wrapped”).

² sn The point of the imagery is unclear. Perhaps the shroud/covering referred to was associated with death in some way (see v. 8).

³ tn Or “In that day” (KJV).

⁴ tn Heb “and out of gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind will see.”

⁵ tn Heb “and great [will be] the peace of your sons.”

⁶ tn Heb “teach…, saying, ‘Know the Lord.’” The indirect quote has been chosen for stylistic reasons, i.e., to better parallel the following line.

⁷ sn This statement should be understood against the background of Jer 8:8-9 where class distinctions were drawn and certain people were considered to have more awareness and responsibility for knowing the law and also Jer 5:1-5 and 9:3-9 where the sinfulness of Israel was seen to be universal across these class distinctions and no trust was to be placed in friends, neighbors, or relatives because all without distinction had cast off God’s yoke (i.e., refused to submit themselves to his authority).

⁸ tn The Hebrew particle כִּי (ki) that introduces this clause refers to more than just the preceding clause (i.e., that all will know the Lord) but to all of vv. 31-34a (See BDB 474 s.v. כִּי 3.c).

⁹ sn A quotation from Isa 54:13.

¹⁰ tn Or “listens to the Father and learns.”

¹¹ tn Grk “this one.”

¹² sn This is best taken as a parenthetical note by the author. Although some would attribute these words to Jesus himself, the switch from first person in Jesus’ preceding and following remarks to third person in v. 46 suggests that the author has added a clarifying comment here.