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 

Isaiah 6:9-10

6:9 He said, “Go and tell these people:

‘Listen continually, but don’t understand!

Look continually, but don’t perceive!’

6:10 Make the hearts of these people calloused;

make their ears deaf and their eyes blind!

Otherwise they might see with their eyes and hear with their ears,

their hearts might understand and they might repent and be healed.” ² 

Isaiah 29:9-12

God’s People are Spiritually Insensitive

29:9 You will be shocked and amazed! ³ 

You are totally blind! ⁴ 

They are drunk, ⁵  but not because of wine;

they stagger, ⁶  but not because of beer.

29:10 For the Lord has poured out on you

a strong urge to sleep deeply. ⁷ 

He has shut your eyes (the prophets),

and covered your heads (the seers).

29:11 To you this entire prophetic revelation ⁸  is like words in a sealed scroll. When they hand it to one who can read ⁹  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 ¹⁰  and say, “Read this,” he says, “I can’t read.” ¹¹ 

Isaiah 42:19-20

42:19 My servant is truly blind,

my messenger is truly deaf.

My covenant partner, ¹²  the servant of the Lord, is truly blind. ¹³ 

42:20 You see ¹⁴  many things, but don’t comprehend; ¹⁵ 

their ears are open, but do not hear.”

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: ¹⁶ 

Matthew 13:13-14

13:13 For this reason I speak to them in parables: Although they see they do not see, and although they hear they do not hear nor do they understand. 13:14 And concerning them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled that says:

‘You will listen carefully ¹⁷  yet will never understand,

you will look closely ¹⁸  yet will never comprehend.

Mark 4:12

4:12 so that although they look they may look but not see,

and although they hear they may hear but not understand,

so they may not repent and be forgiven.” ¹⁹ 

Mark 8:17-18

8:17 When he learned of this, ²⁰  Jesus said to them, “Why are you arguing ²¹  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? ²²  Don’t you remember?

Luke 8:10

8:10 He ²³  said, “You have been given ²⁴  the opportunity to know ²⁵  the secrets ²⁶  of the kingdom of God, ²⁷  but for others they are in parables, so that although they see they may not see, and although they hear they may not understand. ²⁸ 

John 9:39-41

9:39 Jesus ²⁹  said,] ³⁰  “For judgment I have come into this world, so that those who do not see may gain their sight, ³¹  and the ones who see may become blind.”

9:40 Some of the Pharisees ³²  who were with him heard this ³³  and asked him, ³⁴  “We are not blind too, are we?” ³⁵  9:41 Jesus replied, ³⁶  “If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin, ³⁷  but now because you claim that you can see, ³⁸  your guilt ³⁹  remains.” ⁴⁰ 

John 12:40

12:40 “He has blinded their eyes

and hardened their heart, ⁴¹ 

so that they would not see with their eyes

and understand with their heart, ⁴² 

and turn to me, ⁴³  and I would heal them.” ⁴⁴ 

Acts 28:26-27

28:26 when he said,

‘Go to this people and say,

“You will keep on hearing, ⁴⁵  but will never understand,

and you will keep on looking, ⁴⁶  but will never perceive.

28:27 For the heart of this people has become dull, ⁴⁷ 

and their ears are hard of hearing, ⁴⁸ 

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, ⁴⁹  and I would heal them.”’ ⁵⁰ 

Romans 11:7-8

11:7 What then? Israel failed to obtain what it was diligently seeking, but the elect obtained it. The ⁵¹  rest were hardened, 11:8 as it is written,

“God gave them a spirit of stupor,

eyes that would not see and ears that would not hear,

to this very day.” ⁵² 

Romans 11:2

11:2 God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew! Do you not know what the scripture says about Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel?

Colossians 3:14

3:14 And to all these ⁵³  virtues ⁵⁴  add ⁵⁵  love, which is the perfect bond. ⁵⁶ 

Colossians 4:3-4

4:3 At the same time pray ⁵⁷  for us too, that ⁵⁸  God may open a door for the message ⁵⁹  so that we may proclaim ⁶⁰  the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. ⁶¹  4:4 Pray that I may make it known as I should. ⁶² 

Ephesians 4:18

4:18 They are darkened in their understanding, ⁶³  being alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardness of their hearts.

Ephesians 4:2

4:2 with all humility and gentleness, ⁶⁴  with patience, bearing with ⁶⁵  one another in love,

Ephesians 2:10-11

2:10 For we are his workmanship, having been created in Christ Jesus for good works that God prepared beforehand so we may do them. ⁶⁶ 

New Life Corporately

2:11 Therefore remember that formerly you, the Gentiles in the flesh – who are called “uncircumcision” by the so-called “circumcision” that is performed on the body ⁶⁷  by human hands –

[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.”

[6:10]  ² sn Do we take this commission at face value? Does the Lord really want to prevent his people from understanding, repenting, and being healed? Verse 9, which ostensibly records the content of Isaiah’s message, is clearly ironic. As far as we know, Isaiah did not literally proclaim these exact words. The Hebrew imperatival forms are employed rhetorically and anticipate the response Isaiah will receive. When all is said and done, Isaiah might as well preface and conclude every message with these ironic words, which, though imperatival in form, might be paraphrased as follows: “You continually hear, but don’t understand; you continually see, but don’t perceive.” Isaiah might as well command them to be spiritually insensitive, because, as the preceding and following chapters make clear, the people are bent on that anyway. (This ironic command is comparable to saying to a particularly recalcitrant individual, “Go ahead, be stubborn!”) Verse 10b is also clearly sarcastic. On the surface it seems to indicate Isaiah’s hardening ministry will prevent genuine repentance. But, as the surrounding chapters clearly reveal, the people were hardly ready or willing to repent. Therefore, Isaiah’s preaching was not needed to prevent repentance! Verse 10b reflects the people’s attitude and might be paraphrased accordingly: “Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their mind, repent, and be restored, and they certainly wouldn’t want that, would they?” Of course, this sarcastic statement may also reveal that the Lord himself is now bent on judgment, not reconciliation. Just as Pharaoh’s rejection of Yahweh’s ultimatum ignited judgment and foreclosed, at least temporarily, any opportunity for repentance, so the Lord may have come to the point where he has decreed to bring judgment before opening the door for repentance once more. The sarcastic statement in verse 10b would be an emphatic way of making this clear. (Perhaps we could expand our paraphrase: “Otherwise they might…repent, and be restored, and they certainly wouldn’t want that, would they? Besides, it’s too late for that!”) Within this sarcastic framework, verse 10a must also be seen as ironic. As in verse 9 the imperatival forms should be taken as rhetorical and as anticipating the people’s response. One might paraphrase: “Your preaching will desensitize the minds of these people, make their hearing dull, and blind their eyes.” From the outset the Lord might as well command Isaiah to harden the people, because his preaching will end up having that effect. Despite the use of irony, we should still view this as a genuine, albeit indirect, act of divine hardening. After all, God did not have to send Isaiah. By sending him, he drives the sinful people further from him, for Isaiah’s preaching, which focuses on the Lord’s covenantal demands and impending judgment upon covenantal rebellion, forces the people to confront their sin and then continues to desensitize them as they respond negatively to the message. As in the case of Pharaoh, Yahweh’s hardening is not arbitrarily imposed on a righteous or even morally neutral object. Rather his hardening is an element of his righteous judgment on recalcitrant sinners. Ironically, Israel’s rejection of prophetic preaching in turn expedites disciplinary punishment, and brings the battered people to a point where they might be ready for reconciliation. The prophesied judgment (cf. 6:11-13) was fulfilled by 701 b.c. when the Assyrians devastated the land (a situation presupposed by Isa 1:2-20; see especially vv. 4-9). At that time the divine hardening had run its course and Isaiah is able to issue an ultimatum (1:19-20), one which Hezekiah apparently took to heart, resulting in the sparing of Jerusalem (see Isa 36-39 and cf. Jer 26:18-19 with Mic 3:12).This interpretation, which holds in balance both Israel’s moral responsibility and the Lord’s sovereign work among his people, is consistent with other pertinent texts both within and outside the Book of Isaiah. Isa 3:9 declares that the people of Judah “have brought disaster upon themselves,” but Isa 29:9-10 indicates that the Lord was involved to some degree in desensitizing the people. Zech 7:11-12 looks back to the pre-exilic era (cf. v. 7) and observes that the earlier generations stubbornly hardened their hearts, but Ps 81:11-12, recalling this same period, states that the Lord “gave them over to their stubborn hearts.”

[29:9]  ³ tn The form הִתְמַהְמְהוּ (hitmahmÿhu) is a Hitpalpel imperative from מָהַהּ (mahah, “hesitate”). If it is retained, one might translate “halt and be amazed.” The translation assumes an emendation to הִתַּמְּהוּ (hittammÿhu), a Hitpael imperative from תָּמַה (tamah, “be amazed”). In this case, the text, like Hab 1:5, combines the Hitpael and Qal imperatival forms of תָּמַה (tamah). A literal translation might be “Shock yourselves and be shocked!” The repetition of sound draws attention to the statement. The imperatives here have the force of an emphatic assertion. On this use of the imperative in Hebrew, see GKC 324 §110.c and IBHS 572 §34.4c.

[29:9]  ⁴ tn Heb “Blind yourselves and be blind!” The Hitpalpel and Qal imperatival forms of שָׁעַע (sha’a’, “be blind”) are combined to draw attention to the statement. The imperatives have the force of an emphatic assertion.

[29:9]  ⁵ tc Some prefer to emend the perfect form of the verb to an imperative (e.g., NAB, NCV, NRSV), since the people are addressed in the immediately preceding and following contexts.

[29:9]  ⁶ tc Some prefer to emend the perfect form of the verb to an imperative (e.g., NAB, NCV, NRSV), since the people are addressed in the immediately preceding and following contexts.

[29:10]  ⁷ 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.

[29:11]  ⁸ tn Heb “vision” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV).

[29:11]  ⁹ tn Heb “one who knows a/the scroll.”

[29:12]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and if the scroll is handed to one who does not know a scroll.”

[29:12]  ¹¹ tn Heb “I do not know a scroll.”

[42:19]  ¹² 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]  ¹³ 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]  ¹⁴ 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]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “but you do not guard [i.e., retain in your memory]”; NIV “but have paid no attention.”

[5:21]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “they have eyes but they do not see, they have ears but they do not hear.”

[13:14]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “with hearing,” a cognate dative that intensifies the action of the main verb “you will listen” (ExSyn 168-69).

[13:14]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “look by looking.” The participle is redundant, functioning to intensify the force of the main verb.

[4:12]  ¹⁹ sn A quotation from Isa 6:9-10. Thus parables both conceal or reveal depending on whether one is open to hearing what they teach.

[8:17]  ²⁰ tn Or “becoming aware of it.”

[8:17]  ²¹ tn Or “discussing.”

[8:18]  ²² tn Grk “do you not hear?”

[8:10]  ²³ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[8:10]  ²⁴ tn This is an example of a so-called “divine passive,” with God understood to be the source of the revelation (see ExSyn 437-38).

[8:10]  ²⁵ tn Grk “it has been given to you to know.” The dative pronoun occurs first, in emphatic position in the Greek text, although this position is awkward in contemporary English.

[8:10]  ²⁶ tn Grk “the mysteries.”

[8:10]  ²⁷ sn The kingdom of God is a major theme of Jesus. It is a realm in which Jesus rules and to which those who trust him belong. See Luke 6:20; 11:20; 17:20-21.

[8:10]  ²⁸ sn A quotation from Isa 6:9. Thus parables both conceal or reveal depending on whether one is open to hearing what they teach.

[9:39]  ²⁹ tn Grk “And Jesus.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, καί (kai) has not been translated here.

[9:39]  ³⁰ tc ‡ Some early and important witnesses (Ì⁷⁵ א* W b sa^ms ac² mf) lack the words, “He said, ‘Lord, I believe,’ and he worshiped him. Jesus said,” (vv. 38-39a). This is weighty evidence for the omission of these words. It is difficult to overstate the value of Ì⁷⁵ here, since it is the only currently available papyrus ms extant for the text of John 9:38-39. Further, א is an important and early Alexandrian witness for the omission. The versional testimony and codex W also give strong support to the omission. Nearly all other mss, however, include these words. The omission may have been occasioned by parablepsis (both vv. 37 and 39 begin with “Jesus said to him”), though it is difficult to account for such an error across such a wide variety of witnesses. On the other hand, the longer reading appears to be motivated by liturgical concerns (so R. E. Brown, John [AB], 1:375), since the verb προσκυνέω (proskunew, “I worship”) is used in John 4:20-25 of worshiping God, and again with the same sense in 12:20. If these words were authentic here, this would be the only place in John’s Gospel where Jesus is the explicit object of προσκυνέω. Even if these words are not authentic, such an omission would nevertheless hardly diminish John’s high Christology (cf. 1:1; 5:18-23; 14:6-10; 20:28), nor the implicit worship of him by Thomas (20:28). Nevertheless, a decision is difficult, and the included words may reflect a very early tradition about the blind man’s response to Jesus.

[9:39]  ³¹ tn Or “that those who do not see may see.”

[9:40]  ³² sn See the note on Pharisees in 1:24.

[9:40]  ³³ tn Grk “heard these things.”

[9:40]  ³⁴ tn Grk “and said to him.”

[9:40]  ³⁵ tn Questions prefaced with μή (mh) in Greek anticipate a negative answer. This can sometimes be indicated by using a “tag” at the end in English (here the tag is “are we?”).

[9:41]  ³⁶ tn Grk “Jesus said to them.”

[9:41]  ³⁷ tn Grk “you would not have sin.”

[9:41]  ³⁸ tn Grk “now because you say, ‘We see…’”

[9:41]  ³⁹ tn Or “your sin.”

[9:41]  ⁴⁰ sn Because you claim that you can see, your guilt remains. The blind man received sight physically, and this led him to see spiritually as well. But the Pharisees, who claimed to possess spiritual sight, were spiritually blinded. The reader might recall Jesus’ words to Nicodemus in 3:10, “Are you the teacher of Israel and don’t understand these things?” In other words, to receive Jesus was to receive the light of the world, to reject him was to reject the light, close one’s eyes, and become blind. This is the serious sin of which Jesus had warned before (8:21-24). The blindness of such people was incurable since they had rejected the only cure that exists (cf. 12:39-41).

[12:40]  ⁴¹ tn Or “closed their mind.”

[12:40]  ⁴² tn Or “their mind.”

[12:40]  ⁴³ tn One could also translate στραφῶσιν (strafwsin) as “repent” or “change their ways,” but both of these terms would be subject to misinterpretation by the modern English reader. The idea is one of turning back to God, however. The words “to me” are not in the Greek text, but are implied.

[12:40]  ⁴⁴ sn A quotation from Isa 6:10.

[28:26]  ⁴⁵ tn Grk “you will hear with hearing” (an idiom).

[28:26]  ⁴⁶ tn Or “seeing”; Grk “you will look by looking” (an idiom).

[28:27]  ⁴⁷ tn Or “insensitive.”

[28:27]  ⁴⁸ tn Grk “they hear heavily with their ears” (an idiom for slow comprehension).

[28:27]  ⁴⁹ sn Note how the failure to respond to the message of the gospel is seen as a failure to turn.

[28:27]  ⁵⁰ sn A quotation from Isa 6:9-10.

[11:7]  ⁵¹ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[11:8]  ⁵² sn A quotation from Deut 29:4; Isa 29:10.

[3:14]  ⁵³ tn BDAG 365 s.v. ἐπί 7 suggests “to all these” as a translation for ἐπὶ πᾶσιν δὲ τούτοις (epi pasin de toutoi").

[3:14]  ⁵⁴ tn The term “virtues” is not in the Greek text, but is included in the translation to specify the antecedent and to make clear the sense of the pronoun “these.”

[3:14]  ⁵⁵ tn The verb “add,” though not in the Greek text, is implied, picking up the initial imperative “clothe yourselves.”

[3:14]  ⁵⁶ tn The genitive τῆς τελειότητος (th" teleiothto") has been translated as an attributive genitive, “the perfect bond.”

[4:3]  ⁵⁷ tn Though προσευχόμενοι (proseucomenoi) is an adverbial participle related to the previous imperative, προσκαρτερεῖτε (proskartereite), it is here translated as an independent clause due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[4:3]  ⁵⁸ tn The ἵνα (Jina) clause has been rendered as substantival here, indicating the content of the prayer rather than the purpose for it. These two ideas are very similar and difficult to differentiate in this passage, but the conjunction ἵνα following a verb of praying is generally regarded as giving the content of the prayer.

[4:3]  ⁵⁹ tn Grk “that God may open for us a door of the word to speak the mystery of Christ.” The construction in Greek is somewhat awkward in this clause. The translation attempts to simplify this structure somewhat and yet communicate exactly what Paul is asking for.

[4:3]  ⁶⁰ tn Or “so that we may speak.”

[4:3]  ⁶¹ tn Or “in prison.”

[4:4]  ⁶² 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.

[4:18]  ⁶³ tn In the Greek text this clause is actually subordinate to περιπατεῖ (peripatei) in v. 17. It was broken up in the English translation so as to avoid an unnecessarily long and cumbersome statement.

[4:2]  ⁶⁴ tn Or “meekness.” The word is often used in Hellenistic Greek of the merciful execution of justice on behalf of those who have no voice by those who are in a position of authority (Matt 11:29; 21:5).

[4:2]  ⁶⁵ tn Or “putting up with”; or “forbearing.”

[2:10]  ⁶⁶ tn Grk “so that we might walk in them” (or “by them”).

[2:11]  ⁶⁷ tn Grk “in the flesh.”