Deuteronomy 29:4

29:4 But to this very day the Lord has not given you an understanding mind, perceptive eyes, or discerning ears! ¹ 

Psalms 81:11-12

81:11 But my people did not obey me; ² 

Israel did not submit to me. ³ 

81:12 I gave them over to their stubborn desires; ⁴ 

they did what seemed right to them. ⁵ 

Isaiah 29:10

29:10 For the Lord has poured out on you

a strong urge to sleep deeply. ⁶ 

He has shut your eyes (the prophets),

and covered your heads (the seers).

Isaiah 29:14

29:14 Therefore I will again do an amazing thing for these people –

an absolutely extraordinary deed. ⁷ 

Wise men will have nothing to say,

the sages will have no explanations.” ⁸ 

Isaiah 42:19-20

42:19 My servant is truly blind,

my messenger is truly deaf.

My covenant partner, ⁹  the servant of the Lord, is truly blind. ¹⁰ 

42:20 You see ¹¹  many things, but don’t comprehend; ¹² 

their ears are open, but do not hear.”

Isaiah 66:4

66:4 So I will choose severe punishment ¹³  for them;

I will bring on them what they dread,

because I called, and no one responded,

I spoke and they did not listen.

They did evil before me; ¹⁴ 

they chose to do what displeases me.”

Jeremiah 5:21

5:21 Tell them: ‘Hear this,

you foolish people who have no understanding,

who have eyes but do not discern,

who have ears but do not perceive: ¹⁵ 

Ezekiel 3:6-7

3:6 not to many peoples of unintelligible speech and difficult language, whose words you cannot understand ¹⁶  – surely if ¹⁷  I had sent you to them, they would listen to you! 3:7 But the house of Israel is unwilling to listen to you, ¹⁸  because they are not willing to listen to me, ¹⁹  for the whole house of Israel is hard-headed and hard-hearted. ²⁰ 

Ezekiel 12:2

12:2 “Son of man, you are living in the midst of a rebellious house. ²¹  They have eyes to see, but do not see, and ears to hear, but do not hear, ²²  because they are a rebellious house.

Mark 8:17-18

8:17 When he learned of this, ²³  Jesus said to them, “Why are you arguing ²⁴  about having no bread? Do you still not see or understand? Have your hearts been hardened? 8:18 Though you have eyes, don’t you see? And though you have ears, can’t you hear? ²⁵  Don’t you remember?

Luke 24:25

24:25 So ²⁶  he said to them, “You ²⁷  foolish people ²⁸  – how slow of heart ²⁹  to believe ³⁰  all that the prophets have spoken!

Luke 24:45

24:45 Then he opened their minds so they could understand the scriptures, ³¹ 

Luke 24:2

24:2 They ³²  found that the stone had been rolled away from the tomb, ³³ 

Colossians 4:4-6

4:4 Pray that I may make it known as I should. ³⁴  4:5 Conduct yourselves ³⁵  with wisdom toward outsiders, making the most of the opportunities. 4:6 Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you should answer everyone.

[29:4]  ¹ tn Heb “a heart to know, eyes to see and ears to hear” (NASB similar); NAB, NRSV “a mind to understand, or eyes to see, or ears to hear.”

[81:11]  ² tn Heb “did not listen to my voice.”

[81:11]  ³ tn The Hebrew expression אָבָה לִי (’avah liy) means “submit to me” (see Deut 13:8).

[81:12]  ⁴ tn Heb “and I sent him away in the stubbornness of their heart.”

[81:12]  ⁵ tn Heb “they walked in their counsel.” The prefixed verbal form is either preterite (“walked”) or a customary imperfect (“were walking”).

[29:10]  ⁶ 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.

[29:14]  ⁷ tn Heb “Therefore I will again do something amazing with these people, an amazing deed, an amazing thing.” This probably refers to the amazing transformation predicted in vv. 17-24, which will follow the purifying judgment implied in vv. 15-16.

[29:14]  ⁸ tn Heb “the wisdom of their wise ones will perish, the discernment of their discerning ones will keep hidden.”

[42:19]  ⁹ tc The precise meaning of מְשֻׁלָּם (mÿshullam) in this context is uncertain. In later biblical Hebrew the form (which appears to be a Pual participle from the root שָׁלַם, shalam) occurs as a proper name, Meshullam. The Pual of שָׁלַם (“be complete”) is attested with the meaning “repaid, requited,” but that makes little sense here. BDB 1023 s.v. שָׁלַם relates the form to the denominative verb שָׁלַם (“be at peace”) and paraphrases “one in a covenant of peace” (J. N. Oswalt suggests “the covenanted one”; Isaiah [NICOT], 2:128, n. 59) Some emend the form to מֹשְׁלָם (moshÿlam, “their ruler”) or to מְשֻׁלָּחִי (mÿshullakhi, “my sent [or “commissioned”] one”), which fits nicely in the parallelism (note “my messenger” in the previous line). The translation above assumes an emendation to כְּמוֹ שֹׁלְמִי (kÿmo sholÿmi, “like my ally”). Isaiah uses כְּמוֹ in 30:22 and perhaps 51:5; for שֹׁלְמי (“my ally”) see Ps 7:5 HT (7:4 ET).

[42:19]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “Who is blind but my servant, and deaf like my messenger I send? Who is blind like my commissioned one, blind like the servant of the Lord?” The point of the rhetorical questions is that no one is as blind/deaf as this servant. In this context the Lord’s “servant” is exiled Israel (cf. 41:8-9), which is spiritually blind and deaf and has failed to fulfill God’s purpose for it. This servant stands in contrast to the ideal “Israel” of the servant songs.

[42:20]  ¹¹ tn The consonantal text (Kethib) has a perfect, 2nd person masculine singular; the marginal reading (Qere) has an infinitive absolute, which functions here as a finite verb.

[42:20]  ¹² tn Heb “but you do not guard [i.e., retain in your memory]”; NIV “but have paid no attention.”

[66:4]  ¹³ tn The precise meaning of the noun is uncertain. It occurs only here and in 3:4 (but see the note there). It appears to be derived from the verbal root עָלַל (’alal), which can carry the nuance “deal severely.”

[66:4]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “that which is evil in my eyes.”

[5:21]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “they have eyes but they do not see, they have ears but they do not hear.”

[3:6]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “hear.”

[3:6]  ¹⁷ tc The MT reads “if not” but most ancient versions translate only “if.” The expression occurs with this sense in Isa 5:9; 14:24. See also Ezek 34:8; 36:5; 38:19.

[3:7]  ¹⁸ sn Moses (Exod 3:19) and Isaiah (Isa 6:9-10) were also told that their messages would not be received.

[3:7]  ¹⁹ sn A similar description of Israel’s disobedience is given in 1 Sam 8:7.

[3:7]  ²⁰ tn Heb “hard of forehead and stiff of heart.”

[12:2]  ²¹ sn The book of Ezekiel frequently refers to the Israelites as a rebellious house (Ezek 2:5, 6, 8; 3:9, 26-27; 12:2-3, 9, 25; 17:12; 24:3).

[12:2]  ²² sn This verse is very similar to Isa 6:9-10.

[8:17]  ²³ tn Or “becoming aware of it.”

[8:17]  ²⁴ tn Or “discussing.”

[8:18]  ²⁵ tn Grk “do you not hear?”

[24:25]  ²⁶ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of the disciples’ inability to believe in Jesus’ resurrection.

[24:25]  ²⁷ tn Grk “O,” an interjection used both in address and emotion (BDAG 1101 s.v. 1).

[24:25]  ²⁸ tn The word “people” is not in the Greek text, but is supplied to complete the interjection.

[24:25]  ²⁹ sn The rebuke is for failure to believe the promise of scripture, a theme that will appear in vv. 43-47 as well.

[24:25]  ³⁰ tn On the syntax of this infinitival construction, see BDAG 364-65 s.v. ἐπί 6.b.

[24:45]  ³¹ sn Luke does not mention specific texts here, but it is likely that many of the scriptures he mentioned elsewhere in Luke-Acts would have been among those he had in mind.

[24:2]  ³² tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[24:2]  ³³ sn Luke tells the story of the empty tomb with little drama. He simply notes that when they arrived the stone had been rolled away in a position where the tomb could be entered. This large stone was often placed in a channel so that it could be easily moved by rolling it aside. The other possibility is that it was merely placed over the opening in a position from which it had now been moved.

[4:4]  ³⁴ tn The phrase begins with the ἵνα (Jina) clause and is subordinate to the imperative προσκαρτερεῖτε (proskartereite) in v. 2. The reference to the idea that Paul must make it known indicates that this clause is probably best viewed as purpose and not content, like the ἵνα of v. 3. It is the second purpose stated in the context; the first is expressed through the infinitive λαλῆσαι (lalhsai) in v. 3. The term “pray” at the beginning of the sentence is intended to pick up the imperative of v. 3.

[4:5]  ³⁵ tn Grk “walk.” The verb περιπατέω (peripatew) is a common NT idiom for one’s lifestyle, behavior, or manner of conduct (L&N 41.11).