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mannafest.faith

Acts 28:27

in Acts 28

For this people’s heart has grown callous; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn, and I would heal them.’

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

For this people’s heart is waxed gross, And their ears are dull of hearing, And their eyes they have closed; Lest haply they should perceive with their eyes, And hear with their ears, And understand with their heart, And should turn again, And I should heal them.

KJV

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.

This verse in Acts 28

Commentary

8 notes on this verse

A commentator

Oecumenius

Commentary on Acts · Written before 550.

They first denied themselves, stopping their ears, closing their eyes, and hardening their heart. For not only did they not hear, but they heard with difficulty. And they did this, he says, for fear that perhaps I should turn back and heal them, indicating their …

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.

This site's exposition

heart has grown callous

Paul quotes Isaiah 6:10 in the wording of the Greek Old Testament, where the people close their own eyes. Bede reads their earlier conduct as the cause of God's shutting their eyes, so that the blame rests on their choice. Jesus used the same passage in Matthew 13:15.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers1 voice

A commentator

John Chrysostom

Homily on Acts 55 · Written before 407.

proposed

"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.

The Medieval Church3 voices

A commentator

Theophylact of Ohrid

Commentary on Acts · Written before 1107.

proposed

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 …

A commentator

Bede

Commentary on Acts · Written before 735.

proposed

For the heart of this people has grown dull, and their ears barely heard. So that we do not think the dullness of the heart and heaviness of the ears are of nature, not of will, he adds the blame of choice and says:

A commentator

Bede

Commentary on Acts · Written before 735.

proposed

They have shut their eyes lest they should see with their eyes. That is, by their preceding merits, they were the cause that God shut their eyes. Or it should be joined to the preceding, with the Lord saying to the prophet, "Go to this …

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

For the heart of this people is waxed gross,....

The words behind it

34 Greek words

Every 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.

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

The walk

5 stops

Each 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

    Isaiah 6:10

    Make the hearts of this people calloused; deafen their ears and close their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.”

    it leads to

    • Matthew 13:15

      For this people’s heart has grown callous; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts,…

    • Jeremiah 5:21

      “Hear this, O foolish and senseless people, who have eyes but do not see, who have ears but do not hear.

    • Jeremiah 6:10

      To whom can I give this warning? Who will listen to me? Look, their ears are closed, so they cannot hear. See, the word of the LORD has become offensive to them; they find…

    • John 3:19–20

      And this is the verdict: The Light has come into the world, but men loved the darkness rather than the Light because their deeds were evil.

    • Zechariah 7:11

      But they refused to pay attention and turned a stubborn shoulder; they stopped up their ears from hearing.

Where this verse is studied

About Acts

The Pentecost, El Greco, about 1600, Museo del Prado. Public domain.
The Pentecost, El Greco, about 1600, Museo del Prado. Public domain.

This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Acts of the Apostles; Bede, Commentary on Acts; John Calvin, Commentary upon the Acts of the Apostles; John Chrysostom, Homily on Acts 55; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); Oecumenius, Commentary on Acts and Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on Acts.