Isaiah 9:16

9:16 The leaders of this nation were misleading people,

and the people being led were destroyed. ¹ 

Isaiah 29:10-12

29:10 For the Lord has poured out on you

a strong urge to sleep deeply. ² 

He has shut your eyes (the prophets),

and covered your heads (the seers).

29:11 To you this entire prophetic revelation ³  is like words in a sealed scroll. When they hand it to one who can read ⁴  and say, “Read this,” he responds, “I can’t, because it is sealed.” 29:12 Or when they hand the scroll to one who can’t read ⁵  and say, “Read this,” he says, “I can’t read.” ⁶ 

Isaiah 56:10

56:10 All their watchmen ⁷  are blind,

they are unaware. ⁸ 

All of them are like mute dogs,

unable to bark.

They pant, ⁹  lie down,

and love to snooze.

Jeremiah 8:8-9

8:8 How can you say, “We are wise!

We have the law of the Lord”?

The truth is, ¹⁰  those who teach it ¹¹  have used their writings

to make it say what it does not really mean. ¹² 

8:9 Your wise men will be put to shame.

They will be dumbfounded and be brought to judgment. ¹³ 

Since they have rejected the word of the Lord,

what wisdom do they really have?

Matthew 11:25

Jesus’ Invitation

11:25 At that time Jesus said, ¹⁴  “I praise ¹⁵  you, Father, Lord ¹⁶  of heaven and earth, because ¹⁷  you have hidden these things from the wise ¹⁸  and intelligent, and revealed them to little children.

Matthew 15:14

15:14 Leave them! They are blind guides. ¹⁹  If someone who is blind leads another who is blind, ²⁰  both will fall into a pit.”

Matthew 22:29

22:29 Jesus ²¹  answered them, “You are deceived, ²²  because you don’t know the scriptures or the power of God.

¹ tn Heb “and the ones being led were swallowed up.” Instead of taking מְבֻלָּעִים (mÿbulla’im) from בָּלַע (bala’, “to swallow”), HALOT 134 s.v. בלע proposes a rare homonymic root בלע (“confuse”) here.

² tn Heb “a disposition [or “spirit”] of deep sleep.” Through this mixed metaphor (sleep is likened to a liquid which one pours and in turn symbolizes spiritual dullness) the prophet emphasizes that God himself has given the people over to their spiritual insensitivity as a form of judgment.

³ tn Heb “vision” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV).

⁴ tn Heb “one who knows a/the scroll.”

⁵ tn Heb “and if the scroll is handed to one who does not know a scroll.”

⁶ tn Heb “I do not know a scroll.”

⁷ sn The “watchmen” are probably spiritual leaders, most likely prophets and priests, responsible for giving the people moral direction.

⁸ tn Heb “they do not know”; KJV “they are all ignorant”; NIV “they all lack knowledge.”

⁹ tn The Hebrew text has הֹזִים (hozim), which appears to be derived from an otherwise unattested verbal root הָזָה (hazah). On the basis of alleged cognates, BDB 223 s.v. הָזָה offers the definition “dream, rave” while HALOT 243 s.v. הזה lists “pant.” In this case the dog metaphor of the preceding lines continues. The reference to dogs at the beginning of v. 11 favors the extension of the metaphor. The Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a has חזים (“seers”) here. In this case the “watchmen” are directly identified as prophets and depicted as lazy.

¹⁰ tn Heb “Surely, behold!”

¹¹ tn Heb “the scribes.”

¹² tn Heb “The lying pen of the scribes have made [it] into a lie.” The translation is an attempt to make the most common interpretation of this passage understandable for the average reader. This is, however, a difficult passage whose interpretation is greatly debated and whose syntax is capable of other interpretations. The interpretation of the NJPS, “Assuredly, for naught has the pen labored, for naught the scribes,” surely deserves consideration within the context; i.e. it hasn’t done any good for the scribes to produce a reliable copy of the law, which the people have refused to follow. That interpretation has the advantage of explaining the absence of an object for the verb “make” or “labored” but creates a very unbalanced poetic couplet.

¹³ tn Heb “be trapped.” However, the word “trapped” generally carries with it the connotation of divine judgment. See BDB 540 s.v. לָכַד Niph.2, and compare usage in Jer 6:11 for support. The verbs in the first two lines are again the form of the Hebrew verb that emphasizes that the action is as good as done (Hebrew prophetic perfects).

¹⁴ tn Grk “At that time, answering, Jesus said.” This construction is somewhat redundant in English and has been simplified in the translation.

¹⁵ tn Or “thank.”

¹⁶ sn The title Lord is an important name for God, showing his sovereignty, but it is interesting that it comes next to a reference to the Father, a term indicative of God’s care. The two concepts are often related in the NT; see Eph 1:3-6.

¹⁷ tn Or “that.”

¹⁸ sn See 1 Cor 1:26-31.

¹⁹ tc ‡ Most mss, some of which are significant, read “They are blind guides of the blind” (א¹ C L W Z Θ Ë^1,13 33 Ï lat). The shorter reading is read by א*^,2 B D 0237 Epiph. There is a distinct possibility of omission due to homoioarcton in א*; this manuscript has a word order variation which puts the word τυφλοί (tufloi, “blind”) right before the word τυφλῶν (tuflwn, “of the blind”). This does not explain the shorter reading, however, in the other witnesses, of which B and D are quite weighty. Internal considerations suggest that the shorter reading is original: “of the blind” was likely added by scribes to balance this phrase with Jesus’ following statement about the blind leading the blind, which clearly has two groups in view. A decision is difficult, but internal considerations here along with the strength of the witnesses argue that the shorter reading is more likely original. NA²⁷ places τυφλῶν in brackets, indicating doubts as to its authenticity.

²⁰ tn Grk “If blind leads blind.”

²¹ tn Grk “And answering, Jesus said to them.” This is somewhat redundant and has been simplified in the translation.

²² tn Or “mistaken” (cf. BDAG 822 s.v. πλανάω 2.c.γ).