Acts 7:25

7:25 He thought his own people ¹  would understand that God was delivering them ²  through him, ³  but they did not understand. ⁴ 

Acts 28:26-27

28:26 when he said,

‘Go to this people and say,

“You will keep on hearing, ⁵  but will never understand,

and you will keep on looking, ⁶  but will never perceive.

28:27 For the heart of this people has become dull, ⁷ 

and their ears are hard of hearing, ⁸ 

and they have closed their eyes,

so that they would not see with their eyes

and hear with their ears

and understand with their heart

and turn, ⁹  and I would heal them.”’ ¹⁰ 

[7:25]  ¹ tn Grk “his brothers.”

[7:25]  ² tn Grk “was granting them deliverance.” The narrator explains that this act pictured what Moses could do for his people.

[7:25]  ³ tn Grk “by his hand,” where the hand is a metaphor for the entire person.

[7:25]  ⁴ sn They did not understand. Here is the theme of the speech. The people did not understand what God was doing through those he chose. They made the same mistake with Joseph at first. See Acts 3:17; 13:27. There is good precedent for this kind of challenging review of history in the ancient scriptures: Ps 106:6-46; Ezek 20; and Neh 9:6-38.

[28:26]  ⁵ tn Grk “you will hear with hearing” (an idiom).

[28:26]  ⁶ tn Or “seeing”; Grk “you will look by looking” (an idiom).

[28:27]  ⁹ tn Or “insensitive.”

[28:27]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “they hear heavily with their ears” (an idiom for slow comprehension).

[28:27]  ¹¹ sn Note how the failure to respond to the message of the gospel is seen as a failure to turn.

[28:27]  ¹² sn A quotation from Isa 6:9-10.