Acts 28:26
in Acts 28‘Go to this people and say, “You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
saying, Go thou unto this people, and say, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall in no wise understand; And seeing ye shall see, and shall in no wise perceive:
KJV
Saying, Go unto this people, and say, Hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and not perceive:
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This verse in Acts 28
Commentary
13 notes on this verseHearing ye shall hear - That is, ye shall most surely hear, and shall not understand - The words manifestly denote a judicial blindness, consequent upon a wilful and obstinate resistance of the truth.
This site's exposition
You will be ever hearing
on Acts 28:26-27
Paul quotes Isaiah 6:9-10, the passage Jesus applies to the crowds at Matthew 13:14. The words this people’s heart has grown callous name a dullness they brought on themselves, since they have closed their eyes.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers5 voices
For turning the saying toward a future time, he indicates the reference of the prophecies to later times. Consider, however, the precision regarding the Spirit. He did not say, "And you will not look," but rather, "and seeing you will see and will not perceive." …
Through them, to wit, had "the heart of the People been made thick, lest they should see with the eyes, and hear with the ears, and understand with a heart" obstructed by the "fats" of which He had expressly forbidden the eating, teaching man not to be studious of the stomach.
A commentator
Methodius of OlympusMethodius Oration Concerning Simeon and Anna · Written before 311.
proposed
You will discover the meaning of this, my attentive hearer, if you do but take up and examine what follows upon this narration: For hearing, he says, ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing, ye shall see, and not perceive.
Then that you may not deem it strange that they believed not, he introduces the prophecy which saith "Hearing ye shall hear and not understand," more now than then: "and ye shall see and not perceive" more now than then. This is not spoken for the former sort, but for the unbelievers. How then? Was it contrary to the prophecy, that those believed? "Go," it says, "unto this people" that is, to the unbelieving people. He did not say this to insult them, but to remove the offence.
"And when they agreed not among themselves, they departed, after that Paul had spoken one word, Well spake the Holy Ghost by Esaias the prophet unto our fathers, saying, Go unto this people, and say, Hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and not perceive: for the heart of this people is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes have they closed; lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them." But when they departed, as they were opposed to each other, then he reproaches them, not because he wished to reproach those that believed not, but to confirm these that believed. "Well said Esaias," says he to them. So that to the Gentiles it is given to know this mystery. No wonder then, if they did gainsay: this was foretold from the first.
6 more voices on this verse
The Medieval Church2 voices
They did this, he says, people who stopped their ears and closed their eyes, who "will not turn, so that I may heal them." This points to the strong impiety and stubborn aversion of these people. This is said in order to attract and dispose …
Because the Holy Spirit well spoke through Isaiah the prophet to your fathers, saying: "Go to this people and say: You will hear indeed, etc." This prophecy, which the Apostle affirms was pronounced by the Holy Spirit, the book of the prophet itself recalls as …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Saying, go unto this people, and say,....
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
Hearing, ye shall hear, &c.--(See on Mt 13:13-15 and Joh 12:38-40). With what pain would this stern saying be wrung from him whose "heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel was that they might be saved," and who "had great heaviness and continual sorrow in his heart" on their account (Ro 10:1;
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
Hearing ye shall hear, etc. - See the notes on Mat 13:14, and Joh 12:39, Joh 12:40.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Saying ... - See this passage explained in the Mat 13:14 note, and Joh 12:39-40 notes.
The words behind it
21 Greek wordsEvery Greek word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Greek | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| λέγων· | legon | he is saying: | G3004 → | 1325 times |
| πορεύθητι | poreutheti | do go | G4198 → | 147 times |
| πρὸς | pros | to | G4314 → | 700 times |
| τὸν | ton | <the> | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| λαὸν | laon | people | G2992 → | 141 times |
| τοῦτον | touton | this | G3778 → | 1381 times |
| καὶ | kai | and | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| εἰπόν· | eipon | do say; | G2036 → | 925 times |
| ἀκοῇ | akoea | In hearing | G189 → | |
| ἀκούσετε | akousete | you will hear | G191 → | 425 times |
| καὶ | kai | and | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| οὐ | ou | certainly | G3756 → | 1664 times |
| μὴ | me | not | G3361 → | 1066 times |
| συνῆτε, | sunete | may understand, | G4920 → | 26 times |
| καὶ | kai | and | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| βλέποντες | blepontes | in looking | G991 → | 132 times |
| βλέψετε | blepsete | you will look | G991 → | 132 times |
| καὶ | kai | and | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| οὐ | ou | certainly | G3756 → | 1664 times |
| μὴ | me | not | G3361 → | 1066 times |
| ἴδητε· | idete | may perceive; | G1492 → | 374 times |
λέγων·he is saying:
legonG3004 →1325 times
πορεύθητιdo go
poreuthetiG4198 →147 times
πρὸςto
prosG4314 →700 times
τὸν<the>
tonG3588 →19766 times
λαὸνpeople
laonG2992 →141 times
τοῦτονthis
toutonG3778 →1381 times
καὶand
kaiG2532 →9120 times
εἰπόν·do say;
eiponG2036 →925 times
ἀκοῇIn hearing
akoeaG189 →
ἀκούσετεyou will hear
akouseteG191 →425 times
καὶand
kaiG2532 →9120 times
οὐcertainly
ouG3756 →1664 times
μὴnot
meG3361 →1066 times
συνῆτε,may understand,
suneteG4920 →26 times
καὶand
kaiG2532 →9120 times
βλέποντεςin looking
blepontesG991 →132 times
βλέψετεyou will look
blepseteG991 →132 times
καὶand
kaiG2532 →9120 times
οὐcertainly
ouG3756 →1664 times
μὴnot
meG3361 →1066 times
ἴδητε·may perceive;
ideteG1492 →374 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Mark 4:12so that, ‘they may be ever seeing but never perceiving, and ever hearing but never understanding; otherwise they might turn and be forgiven.’”
it leads to
- Jeremiah 5:21
“Hear this, O foolish and senseless people, who have eyes but do not see, who have ears but do not hear.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Isaiah 6:9–10
And He replied: “Go and tell this people, ‘Be ever hearing, but never understanding; be ever seeing, but never perceiving.’
- Isaiah 44:18
They do not comprehend or discern, for He has shut their eyes so they cannot see and closed their minds so they cannot understand.
- Matthew 13:14–15
In them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled: ‘You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.
- Deuteronomy 29:4
Yet to this day the LORD has not given you a mind to understand, eyes to see, or ears to hear.
- Jeremiah 5:21
Through
Ezekiel 12:2“Son of man, you are living in a rebellious house. They have eyes to see but do not see, and ears to hear but do not hear, for they are a rebellious house.
it leads to
- Mark 4:12
so that, ‘they may be ever seeing but never perceiving, and ever hearing but never understanding; otherwise they might turn and be forgiven.’”
- John 9:39–41
Then Jesus declared, “For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind may see and those who see may become blind.”
- Psalms 78:40
How often they disobeyed Him in the wilderness and grieved Him in the desert!
- Mark 4:12
Where this verse is studied
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About Acts
This page draws on 13 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Acts of the Apostles; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Bede, Commentary on Acts; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Calvin, Commentary upon the Acts of the Apostles; John Chrysostom, Homily on Acts 55; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament; Methodius of Olympus, Methodius Oration Concerning Simeon and Anna; Oecumenius, Commentary on Acts; Tertullian, On Fasting and Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on Acts.