Isaiah 6:9
in Isaiah 6And He replied: “Go and tell this people, ‘Be ever hearing, but never understanding; be ever seeing, but never perceiving.’
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not.
KJV
And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not.
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This verse in Isaiah 6
Commentary
11 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
And he said ... - The expressions which follow are those which denote hardness of heart and blindness of mind. They would hear the words of the prophet, but they would not understand him. They were so obstinately bent on iniquity that they would neither believe nor regard him. This shows the spirit with which ministers must deliver the message of God. It is their business to deliver the message, though they should know that it will neither be understood nor believed. Hear ye indeed - Hebrew ‘In hearing, hear.’ This is a mode of expressing emphasis.
This site's exposition
Go and tell this people
on Isaiah 6:9-10
The New Testament quotes this hardening at Matthew 13:15, Mark 4:12 and Luke 8:10, and at John 12:40 and Acts 28:27. The hardening is spoken as the Lord's own command, "Make the hearts of this people calloused," with the stated end that they would not turn.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
But he appeared not so much for the eyes of human beings as for their salvation, for even though he was first seen by fleshly eyes when he was born of the virgin, still he did not appear because the eye of faith did not …
(Verse 9 and following) And he said: Go, and say to this people: Hearing, you shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing, you shall see, and shall not perceive. Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed.
The Medieval Church1 voice
226. Third, the office is enjoined on him; as to the double act he foretells to discuss: and he said: go: behold I send you as sheep in the midst of wolves (Matt 10:16); and you shall say to this people: and you will separate …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Perceive not - The Hebrew words are imperative; yet they are not to be taken as a command what the people ought to do, but only as a prediction what they would do. The sense is, because you have so long heard my words, and seen my works, to no purpose, and have hardened your hearts, and will not learn nor reform, I will punish you in your own kind, your sin shall be your punishment.
They see indeed (for the vision is made plain on tables, so that he who runs may read it); but they perceive not their own concern in it; it is to them as a tale that is told.
4 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
And he said, go, and tell this people,....
Such a degree of courage for God and concern for the souls of men as is necessary to make a man faithful, and withal such an insight into the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven as is necessary to make a man skilful, are seldom to be met with.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Hear . . . indeed--Hebrew, "In hearing hear," that is, Though ye hear the prophet's warnings again and again, ye are doomed, because of your perverse will (Joh 7:17), not to understand. Light enough is given in revelation to guide those sincerely seeking to know, in order that they may do, God's will; darkness enough is left to confound the wilfully blind (Isa 43:8).
And he said - לי li, to me, two MSS. and the Syriac. Thirteen MSS. have ראה raah, in the regular form.
The words behind it
13 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew 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.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיֹּ֕אמֶר | vaiyomer | and he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| לֵ֥ךְ | lekh | go | H1980 → | 1546 times |
| וְאָמַרְתָּ֖ | veamarta | and you will say | H559 → | 5305 times |
| לָעָ֣ם | laam | to the people | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| הַזֶּ֑ה | hazeh | <the> this | H2088 → | 1180 times |
| שִׁמְע֤וּ | shimu | hear | H8085 → | 1159 times |
| שָׁמ֙וֹעַ֙ | shamoa' | continually <to hear> | H8085 → | 1159 times |
| וְאַל־ | veal- | and may not | H408 → | 724 times |
| תָּבִ֔ינוּ | tavinu | you understand | H995 → | 170 times |
| וּרְא֥וּ | ureu | and see | H7200 → | 1300 times |
| רָא֖וֹ | rao | continually <to see> | H7200 → | 1300 times |
| וְאַל־ | veal- | and may not | H408 → | 724 times |
| תֵּדָֽעוּ׃ | tedau | you perceive | H3045 → | 945 times |
וַיֹּ֕אמֶרand he said
vaiyomerH559 →5305 times
לֵ֥ךְgo
lekhH1980 →1546 times
וְאָמַרְתָּ֖and you will say
veamartaH559 →5305 times
לָעָ֣םto the people
laamH5971 →1873 times
הַזֶּ֑ה<the> this
hazehH2088 →1180 times
שִׁמְע֤וּhear
shimuH8085 →1159 times
שָׁמ֙וֹעַ֙continually <to hear>
shamoa'H8085 →1159 times
וְאַל־and may not
veal-H408 →724 times
תָּבִ֔ינוּyou understand
tavinuH995 →170 times
וּרְא֥וּand see
ureuH7200 →1300 times
רָא֖וֹcontinually <to see>
raoH7200 →1300 times
וְאַל־and may not
veal-H408 →724 times
תֵּדָֽעוּ׃you perceive
tedauH3045 →945 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
- 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.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 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.’
- 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.
- Isaiah 44:18
Through
John 12:40“He has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts, so that they cannot see with their eyes, and understand with their hearts, and turn, and I would heal them.”
it leads to
- 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.”
- Matthew 13:13–15
This is why I speak to them in parables: ‘Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand.’
- Luke 8:10
He replied, “The knowledge of the mysteries of the kingdom of God has been given to you, but to others I speak in parables, so that, ‘though seeing, they may not see; though hearing,…
- Isaiah 6:10
Where this verse is studied
On this page
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On this verse
About Isaiah
This page draws on 11 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Isaiah; Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Prophecies of Isaiah; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Isaiah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Maximus of Turin, SERMON 101:2 and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Isaiah.