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

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

‘Listen continually, but don’t understand!

Look continually, but don’t perceive!’

Isaiah 29:14

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

an absolutely extraordinary deed. ² 

Wise men will have nothing to say,

the sages will have no explanations.” ³ 

Isaiah 44:18

44:18 They do not comprehend or understand,

for their eyes are blind and cannot see;

their minds do not discern. ⁴ 

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: ⁵ 

Matthew 13:14-17

13:14 And concerning them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled that says:

‘You will listen carefully ⁶  yet will never understand,

you will look closely ⁷  yet will never comprehend.

13:15 For the heart of this people has become dull;

they are hard of hearing,

and they have shut their eyes,

so that they would not see with their eyes

and hear with their ears

and understand with their hearts

and turn, and I would heal them.’ ⁸ 

13:16 “But your eyes are blessed ⁹  because they see, and your ears because they hear. 13:17 For I tell you the truth, ¹⁰  many prophets and righteous people longed to see ¹¹  what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.

John 12:40

12:40 “He has blinded their eyes

and hardened their heart, ¹² 

so that they would not see with their eyes

and understand with their heart, ¹³ 

and turn to me, ¹⁴  and I would heal them.” ¹⁵ 

Acts 28:26-27

28:26 when he said,

‘Go to this people and say,

“You will keep on hearing, ¹⁶  but will never understand,

and you will keep on looking, ¹⁷  but will never perceive.

28:27 For the heart of this people has become dull, ¹⁸ 

and their ears are hard of hearing, ¹⁹ 

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, ²⁰  and I would heal them.”’ ²¹ 

Romans 11:7-10

11:7 What then? Israel failed to obtain what it was diligently seeking, but the elect obtained it. The ²²  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.” ²³ 

11:9 And David says,

“Let their table become a snare and trap,

a stumbling block and a retribution for them;

11:10 let their eyes be darkened so that they may not see,

and make their backs bend continually.” ²⁴ 

[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.”

[29:14]  ² 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]  ³ tn Heb “the wisdom of their wise ones will perish, the discernment of their discerning ones will keep hidden.”

[44:18]  ⁴ tn Heb “for their eyes are smeared over so they cannot see, so their heart cannot be wise.”

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

[13:14]  ⁶ tn Grk “with hearing,” a cognate dative that intensifies the action of the main verb “you will listen” (ExSyn 168-69).

[13:14]  ⁷ tn Grk “look by looking.” The participle is redundant, functioning to intensify the force of the main verb.

[13:15]  ⁸ 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.

[13:16]  ⁹ sn This beatitude highlights the great honor bestowed on the disciples to share in this salvation.

[13:17]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “truly (ἀμήν, amhn) I say to you.”

[13:17]  ¹¹ sn This is what past prophets and righteous people had wanted very much to see, yet the fulfillment had come to the disciples. This remark is like 1 Pet 1:10-12 or Heb 1:1-2.

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

[12:40]  ¹³ tn Or “their mind.”

[12:40]  ¹⁴ 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]  ¹⁵ sn A quotation from Isa 6:10.

[28:26]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “you will hear with hearing” (an idiom).

[28:26]  ¹⁷ tn Or “seeing”; Grk “you will look by looking” (an idiom).

[28:27]  ¹⁸ tn Or “insensitive.”

[28:27]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “they hear heavily with their ears” (an idiom for slow comprehension).

[28:27]  ²⁰ sn Note how the failure to respond to the message of the gospel is seen as a failure to turn.

[28:27]  ²¹ sn A quotation from Isa 6:9-10.

[11:7]  ²² tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[11:8]  ²³ sn A quotation from Deut 29:4; Isa 29:10.

[11:10]  ²⁴ sn A quotation from Ps 69:22-23.