Isaiah 43:8

The Lord Declares His Sovereignty

43:8 Bring out the people who are blind, even though they have eyes,

those who are deaf, even though they have ears!

Isaiah 44:18-20

44:18 They do not comprehend or understand,

for their eyes are blind and cannot see;

their minds do not discern. ¹ 

44:19 No one thinks to himself,

nor do they comprehend or understand and say to themselves:

‘I burned half of it in the fire –

yes, I baked bread over the coals;

I roasted meat and ate it.

With the rest of it should I make a disgusting idol?

Should I bow down to dry wood?’ ² 

44:20 He feeds on ashes; ³ 

his deceived mind misleads him.

He cannot rescue himself,

nor does he say, ‘Is this not a false god I hold in my right hand?’ ⁴ 

Matthew 13:14-15

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

‘You will listen carefully ⁵  yet will never understand,

you will look closely ⁶  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.’ ⁷ 

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.” ⁸ 

Luke 8:10

8:10 He ⁹  said, “You have been given ¹⁰  the opportunity to know ¹¹  the secrets ¹²  of the kingdom of God, ¹³  but for others they are in parables, so that although they see they may not see, and although they hear they may not understand. ¹⁴ 

John 12:40

12:40 “He has blinded their eyes

and hardened their heart, ¹⁵ 

so that they would not see with their eyes

and understand with their heart, ¹⁶ 

and turn to me, ¹⁷  and I would heal them.” ¹⁸ 

Acts 28:26-27

28:26 when he said,

‘Go to this people and say,

“You will keep on hearing, ¹⁹  but will never understand,

and you will keep on looking, ²⁰  but will never perceive.

28:27 For the heart of this people has become dull, ²¹ 

and their ears are hard of hearing, ²² 

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, ²³  and I would heal them.”’ ²⁴ 

Romans 11:8

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.” ²⁵ 

[44:18]  ¹ tn Heb “for their eyes are smeared over so they cannot see, so their heart cannot be wise.”

[44:19]  ² tn There is no formal interrogative sign here, but the context seems to indicate these are rhetorical questions. See GKC 473 §150.a.

[44:20]  ³ tn Or perhaps, “he eats on an ash heap.”

[44:20]  ⁴ tn Heb “Is it not a lie in my right hand?”

[13:14]  ⁵ tn Grk “with hearing,” a cognate dative that intensifies the action of the main verb “you will listen” (ExSyn 168-69).

[13:14]  ⁶ tn Grk “look by looking.” The participle is redundant, functioning to intensify the force of the main verb.

[13:15]  ⁷ 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.

[4:12]  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.

[8:10]  ⁹ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[8:10]  ¹⁰ 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]  ¹¹ 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]  ¹² tn Grk “the mysteries.”

[8:10]  ¹³ 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]  ¹⁴ sn A quotation from Isa 6:9. Thus parables both conceal or reveal depending on whether one is open to hearing what they teach.

[12:40]  ¹⁵ tn Or “closed their mind.”

[12:40]  ¹⁶ tn Or “their mind.”

[12:40]  ¹⁷ 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]  ¹⁸ sn A quotation from Isa 6:10.

[28:26]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “you will hear with hearing” (an idiom).

[28:26]  ²⁰ tn Or “seeing”; Grk “you will look by looking” (an idiom).

[28:27]  ²¹ tn Or “insensitive.”

[28:27]  ²² tn Grk “they hear heavily with their ears” (an idiom for slow comprehension).

[28:27]  ²³ sn Note how the failure to respond to the message of the gospel is seen as a failure to turn.

[28:27]  ²⁴ sn A quotation from Isa 6:9-10.

[11:8]  ²⁵ sn A quotation from Deut 29:4; Isa 29:10.