Deuteronomy 2:30

2:30 But King Sihon of Heshbon was unwilling to allow us to pass near him because the Lord our ¹  God had made him obstinate ²  and stubborn ³  so that he might deliver him over to you ⁴  this very day.

Proverbs 20:12

20:12 The ear that hears and the eye that sees ⁵  –

the Lord has made them both. ⁶ 

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.” ⁷ 

Isaiah 63:17

63:17 Why, Lord, do you make us stray ⁸  from your ways, ⁹ 

and make our minds stubborn so that we do not obey you? ¹⁰ 

Return for the sake of your servants,

the tribes of your inheritance!

Ezekiel 36:26

36:26 I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit within you. I will remove the heart of stone ¹¹  from your body and give you a heart of flesh. ¹² 

Matthew 13:11-15

13:11 He replied, ¹³  “You have been given ¹⁴  the opportunity to know ¹⁵  the secrets ¹⁶  of the kingdom of heaven, but they have not. 13:12 For whoever has will be given more, and will have an abundance. But whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. ¹⁷  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 ¹⁸  yet will never understand,

you will look closely ¹⁹  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.’ ²⁰ 

John 8:43

8:43 Why don’t you understand what I am saying? It is because you cannot accept ²¹  my teaching. ²² 

John 12:38-40

12:38 so that the word ²³  of Isaiah the prophet would be fulfilled. He said, ²⁴  “Lord, who has believed our message, and to whom has the arm of the Lord ²⁵  been revealed?” ²⁶  12:39 For this reason they could not believe, ²⁷  because again Isaiah said,

12:40 “He has blinded their eyes

and hardened their heart, ²⁸ 

so that they would not see with their eyes

and understand with their heart, ²⁹ 

and turn to me, ³⁰  and I would heal them.” ³¹ 

Acts 28:26-27

28:26 when he said,

‘Go to this people and say,

“You will keep on hearing, ³²  but will never understand,

and you will keep on looking, ³³  but will never perceive.

28:27 For the heart of this people has become dull, ³⁴ 

and their ears are hard of hearing, ³⁵ 

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, ³⁶  and I would heal them.”’ ³⁷ 

Romans 11:7-10

11:7 What then? Israel failed to obtain what it was diligently seeking, but the elect obtained it. The ³⁸  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.” ³⁹ 

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.” ⁴⁰ 

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 3:15

3:15 Let the peace of Christ be in control in your heart (for you were in fact called as one body ⁴¹  to this peace), and be thankful.

Ephesians 4:18

4:18 They are darkened in their understanding, ⁴²  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, ⁴³  with patience, bearing with ⁴⁴  one another in love,

Ephesians 2:10-12

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. ⁴⁵ 

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 ⁴⁶  by human hands – 2:12 that you were at that time without the Messiah, ⁴⁷  alienated from the citizenship of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, ⁴⁸  having no hope and without God in the world.

Ephesians 2:2

2:2 in which ⁴⁹  you formerly lived ⁵⁰  according to this world’s present path, ⁵¹  according to the ruler of the kingdom ⁵²  of the air, the ruler of ⁵³  the spirit ⁵⁴  that is now energizing ⁵⁵  the sons of disobedience, ⁵⁶ 

Ephesians 2:1

New Life Individually

2:1 And although you were ⁵⁷  dead ⁵⁸  in your transgressions and sins,

James 1:13-17

1:13 Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted by evil, ⁵⁹  and he himself tempts no one. 1:14 But each one is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desires. 1:15 Then when desire conceives, it gives birth to sin, and when sin is full grown, it gives birth to death. 1:16 Do not be led astray, my dear brothers and sisters. ⁶⁰  1:17 All generous giving and every perfect gift ⁶¹  is from above, coming down ⁶²  from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or the slightest hint of change. ⁶³ 

[2:30]  ¹ tc The translation follows the LXX in reading the first person pronoun. The MT, followed by many English versions, has a second person masculine singular pronoun, “your.”

[2:30]  ² tn Heb “hardened his spirit” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV); NIV “made his spirit stubborn.”

[2:30]  ³ tn Heb “made his heart obstinate” (so KJV, NASB); NRSV “made his heart defiant.”

[2:30]  ⁴ tn Heb “into your hand.”

[20:12]  ⁵ sn The first half of the verse refers to two basic senses that the Lord has given to people. C. H. Toy, however, thinks that they represent all the faculties (Proverbs [ICC], 388). But in the book of Proverbs seeing and hearing come to the fore. By usage “hearing” also means obeying (15:31; 25:12), and “seeing” also means perceiving and understanding (Isa 6:9-10).

[20:12]  ⁶ sn The verse not only credits God with making these faculties of hearing and sight and giving them to people, but it also emphasizes their spiritual use in God’s service.

[6:10]  ⁷ 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.”

[63:17]  ⁸ tn Some suggest a tolerative use of the Hiphil here, “[why do] you allow us to stray?” (cf. NLT). Though the Hiphil of תָעָה (ta’ah) appears to be tolerative in Jer 50:6, elsewhere it is preferable or necessary to take it as causative. See Isa 3:12; 9:15; and 30:28, as well as Gen 20:13; 2 Kgs 21:9; Job 12:24-25; Prov 12:26; Jer 23:13, 32; Hos 4:12; Amos 2:4; Mic 3:5.

[63:17]  ⁹ tn This probably refers to God’s commands.

[63:17]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “[Why do] you harden our heart[s] so as not to fear you.” The interrogative particle is understood by ellipsis (note the preceding line).

[36:26]  ¹¹ sn That is, a heart which symbolizes a will that is stubborn and unresponsive (see 1 Sam 25:37). In Rabbinic literature a “stone” was associated with an evil inclination (b. Sukkah 52a).

[36:26]  ¹² sn That is, a heart which symbolizes a will that is responsive and obedient to God.

[13:11]  ¹³ tn Grk “And answering, he said to them.” This construction is somewhat redundant in English and has been simplified in the translation. Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[13:11]  ¹⁴ tn This is an example of a “divine passive,” with God understood to be the source of the revelation (see ExSyn 437-38).

[13:11]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “to you it has been given to know.” The dative pronoun occurs first, in emphatic position in the Greek text, although this position is awkward in contemporary English.

[13:11]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “the mysteries.”

[13:12]  ¹⁷ sn What he has will be taken from him. The meaning is that the one who accepts Jesus’ teaching concerning his person and the kingdom will receive a share in the kingdom now and even more in the future, but for the one who rejects Jesus’ words, the opportunity that that person presently possesses with respect to the kingdom will someday be taken away forever.

[13:14]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “with hearing,” a cognate dative that intensifies the action of the main verb “you will listen” (ExSyn 168-69).

[13:14]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “look by looking.” The participle is redundant, functioning to intensify the force of the main verb.

[13:15]  ²⁰ 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.

[8:43]  ²¹ tn Grk “you cannot hear,” but this is not a reference to deafness, but rather hearing in the sense of listening to something and responding to it.

[8:43]  ²² tn Grk “my word.”

[12:38]  ²³ tn Or “message.”

[12:38]  ²⁴ tn Grk “who said.”

[12:38]  ²⁵ tn “The arm of the Lord” is an idiom for “God’s great power” (as exemplified through Jesus’ miraculous signs). This response of unbelief is interpreted by the author as a fulfillment of the prophetic words of Isaiah (Isa 53:1). The phrase ὁ βραχίων κυρίου (Jo braciwn kuriou) is a figurative reference to God’s activity and power which has been revealed in the sign-miracles which Jesus has performed (compare the previous verse).

[12:38]  ²⁶ sn A quotation from Isa 53:1.

[12:39]  ²⁷ sn The author explicitly states here that Jesus’ Jewish opponents could not believe, and quotes Isa 6:10 to show that God had in fact blinded their eyes and hardened their heart. This OT passage was used elsewhere in the NT to explain Jewish unbelief: Paul’s final words in Acts (28:26-27) are a quotation of this same passage, which he uses to explain why the Jewish people have not accepted the gospel he has preached. A similar passage (Isa 29:10) is quoted in a similar context in Rom 11:8.

[12:40]  ²⁸ tn Or “closed their mind.”

[12:40]  ²⁹ tn Or “their mind.”

[12:40]  ³⁰ 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]  ³¹ sn A quotation from Isa 6:10.

[28:26]  ³² tn Grk “you will hear with hearing” (an idiom).

[28:26]  ³³ tn Or “seeing”; Grk “you will look by looking” (an idiom).

[28:27]  ³⁴ tn Or “insensitive.”

[28:27]  ³⁵ tn Grk “they hear heavily with their ears” (an idiom for slow comprehension).

[28:27]  ³⁶ sn Note how the failure to respond to the message of the gospel is seen as a failure to turn.

[28:27]  ³⁷ sn A quotation from Isa 6:9-10.

[11:7]  ³⁸ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[11:8]  ³⁹ sn A quotation from Deut 29:4; Isa 29:10.

[11:10]  ⁴⁰ sn A quotation from Ps 69:22-23.

[3:15]  ⁴¹ tn Grk “in one body.” This phrase emphasizes the manner in which the believers were called, not the goal of their calling, and focuses upon their unity.

[4:18]  ⁴² 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]  ⁴³ 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]  ⁴⁴ tn Or “putting up with”; or “forbearing.”

[2:10]  ⁴⁵ tn Grk “so that we might walk in them” (or “by them”).

[2:11]  ⁴⁶ tn Grk “in the flesh.”

[2:12]  ⁴⁷ tn Or “without Christ.” Both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.” Because the context refers to ancient Israel’s messianic expectation, “Messiah” was employed in the translation at this point rather than “Christ.”

[2:12]  ⁴⁸ tn Or “covenants of the promise.”

[2:2]  ⁴⁹ sn The relative pronoun which is feminine as is sins, indicating that sins is the antecedent.

[2:2]  ⁵⁰ tn Grk “walked.”

[2:2]  ⁵¹ tn Or possibly “Aeon.”

[2:2]  ⁵² tn Grk “domain, [place of] authority.”

[2:2]  ⁵³ tn Grk “of” (but see the note on the word “spirit” later in this verse).

[2:2]  ⁵⁴ sn The ruler of the kingdom of the air is also the ruler of the spirit that is now energizing the sons of disobedience. Although several translations regard the ruler to be the same as the spirit, this is unlikely since the cases in Greek are different (ruler is accusative and spirit is genitive). To get around this, some have suggested that the genitive for spirit is a genitive of apposition. However, the semantics of the genitive of apposition are against such an interpretation (cf. ExSyn 100).

[2:2]  ⁵⁵ tn Grk “working in.”

[2:2]  ⁵⁶ sn Sons of disobedience is a Semitic idiom that means “people characterized by disobedience.” However, it also contains a subtle allusion to vv. 4-10: Some of those sons of disobedience have become sons of God.

[2:1]  ⁵⁷ tn The adverbial participle “being” (ὄντας, ontas) is taken concessively.

[2:1]  ⁵⁸ sn Chapter 2 starts off with a participle, although you were dead, that is left dangling. The syntax in Greek for vv. 1-3 constitutes one incomplete sentence, though it seems to have been done intentionally. The dangling participle leaves the readers in suspense while they wait for the solution (in v. 4) to their spiritual dilemma.

[1:13]  ⁵⁹ tn Or “God must not be tested by evil people.”

[1:16]  ⁶⁰ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:2.

[1:17]  ⁶¹ tn The first phrase refers to the action of giving and the second to what is given.

[1:17]  ⁶² tn Or “All generous giving and every perfect gift from above is coming down.”

[1:17]  ⁶³ tn Grk “variation or shadow of turning” (referring to the motions of heavenly bodies causing variations of light and darkness).