Isaiah 29:12
in Isaiah 29Or if the scroll is handed to one unable to read, he will say, “I cannot read.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
and the book is delivered to him that is not learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee; and he saith, I am not learned.
KJV
And the book is delivered to him that is not learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I am not learned.
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This verse in Isaiah 29
Commentary
10 notes on this verseAnd the book is delivered to him that is not learned,.... Or that knows not a book or letters, as before, and so consequently cannot read, having never been put to school, or learned to read: saying, Read this, I pray thee; or "now" (w), at once, immediately: and he saith, I am not learned; he does not excuse himself on account of its being sealed, but on account of his want of learning; which shows the former was but an excuse.
This site's exposition
like the words sealed in a scroll
on Isaiah 29:11-12
The whole vision is "like the words sealed in a scroll". One who can read it says, "I cannot, because it is sealed", and one who cannot read says, "I cannot read". Neither reaches the message, the one stopped by the seal and the other by his lack of learning.
This site's exposition
if the scroll is handed to one
John Gill observes that the man handed the scroll pleads only that he cannot read, with no word about the seal. The learned man of verse 11 had the skill and pleaded the seal. Both excuses leave the scroll unread.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
[Daniel 12:4] "But Thou, O Daniel, shut up the words and seal the book, even to the time appointed. Many shall pass over, and knowledge shall be manifold." He who had revealed manifold truth to Daniel now signifies that the things he has said are matters of secrecy, and he orders him to roll up the scroll containing his words and set a seal upon the book, with the result that many shall read it and inquire as to its fulfilment in history, differing in their opinions because of its great obscurity.
(Verses 11-12) And the vision of all will be like the words of a sealed book, which when they give to one who knows letters, they will say: read this, and he will answer, I cannot, for it is sealed. And a book will be given to one who knows not letters, and it shall be said to him, read; and he shall answer, I know not letters. Therefore, it is significant that he did not say that the vision of all the prophets is sealed to all readers, but to you he says, it will be sealed to those to whom I am now speaking, to whom I am foretelling these things that are to come: or He will forever shut the eyes of your leaders, who boasted of being able to see the hidden and secret things according to the Septuagint. And he said to them, 'All the holy Scripture will be closed and sealed to you, so that you, who consider yourselves knowledgeable in the letters of the Law and the prophecies of the prophets, and who constantly meditate on the volumes of Scripture day and night with tireless mouths, may not understand what you read, as it is written in the Book of Revelation of John: 'Who is worthy to open the book and to break its seals?' (Rev. 5:2) And when no one was found worthy to open the seals, he says that he wept; and that he deserved to hear the word of God: 'Do not weep; behold, the lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, has conquered, so that he may open the book and break its seals.' But the lion of the tribe of Judah, the Lord Jesus Christ, is he who unseals the seals of the book, not properly of one, as many suppose, of the Psalms of David, but of all the Scriptures, which are one Scripture of the Holy Spirit; and for that reason they are called one book. Concerning which Ezekiel testifies in mystical discourse (Ezek. II), that it was written within and without; in meaning and in letter. […]
The Medieval Church2 voices
Third, he sets out the effect of the blinding, for they will not understand the book of the Sacred Scriptures and the visions of all the prophets: and the vision of all shall be unto you as the words of a book that is sealed: …
A commentator
BonaventureCollationes de Septem Donis, Collation 4 · Written in the 13th century.
proposed
Sacred Scripture is compared to the water of the sea on account of the profundity of its mysteries. The sea is deep, nor can a man wade across it: so great is the profundity of the mysteries of sacred Scripture that, however illuminated a man …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Of all - Of all, your prophets. As a book - In which no man can read, while it is sealed up, as books then sometimes were, being made in the form of rolls.
2 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
He sees it is a book, and that is all; he knows nothing of what is in it. So they knew that what Isaiah said was a vision and prophecy, but the meaning of it was hidden from them; it was only a sound of words to them, which they were not at all alarmed by, nor affected with; it answered not the intention, for it made no impression at all upon them.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
And the book is delivered ... - That is, they are just as ignorant of the true nature and meaning of the revelations of God as a man is of the contents of a book who is utterly unable to read.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
And if the book is given And when they take it from him and open its seal and give it to one who does not understand the language of the letter, and they say to him, “now read this,” he will say, “I cannot read.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
Because this people has come near Jonathan renders: Because this people has aggrandized itself. I.e., they have come near to raise themselves up to the heavens. They show themselves as though honoring Me with mouth and lip, but their heart they have drawn far away from Me.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 3 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
15 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְנִתַּ֣ן | venitan | and it is given | H5414 → | 2011 times |
| הַסֵּ֗פֶר | hasefer | the scroll | H5612 → | 186 times |
| עַל֩ | ʾal | to | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֨ר | ʾasher | [one] who | H834 → | 5497 times |
| לֹֽא־ | lo'- | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יָדַ֥ע | yada' | he knows | H3045 → | 945 times |
| סֵ֛פֶר | sefer | writing | H5612 → | 186 times |
| לֵאמֹ֖ר | lemor | <to> saying | H559 → | 5305 times |
| קְרָ֣א | kera' | read aloud | H7121 → | 733 times |
| נָא־ | na'- | please | H4994 → | 404 times |
| זֶ֑ה | zeh | this | H2088 → | 1180 times |
| וְאָמַ֕ר | veamar | and he says | H559 → | 5305 times |
| לֹ֥א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יָדַ֖עְתִּי | yada'ti | I know | H3045 → | 945 times |
| סֵֽפֶר׃ ס | sefer | writing | H5612 → | 186 times |
וְנִתַּ֣ןand it is given
venitanH5414 →2011 times
הַסֵּ֗פֶרthe scroll
haseferH5612 →186 times
עַל֩to
ʾalH5921 →5755 times
אֲשֶׁ֨ר[one] who
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
לֹֽא־not
lo'-H3808 →5168 times
יָדַ֥עhe knows
yada'H3045 →945 times
סֵ֛פֶרwriting
seferH5612 →186 times
לֵאמֹ֖ר<to> saying
lemorH559 →5305 times
קְרָ֣אread aloud
kera'H7121 →733 times
נָא־please
na'-H4994 →404 times
זֶ֑הthis
zehH2088 →1180 times
וְאָמַ֕רand he says
veamarH559 →5305 times
לֹ֥אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
יָדַ֖עְתִּיI know
yada'tiH3045 →945 times
סֵֽפֶר׃ סwriting
seferH5612 →186 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
Hosea 4:6My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I will also reject you as My priests. Since you have forgotten the law of your God, I will also forget…
it leads to
- Isaiah 5:13
Therefore My people will go into exile for their lack of understanding; their dignitaries are starving and their masses are parched with thirst.
- Proverbs 19:2
Even zeal is no good without knowledge, and he who hurries his footsteps misses the mark.
- Hosea 6:6
For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.
- 2 Corinthians 4:3–6
And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing.
- Hosea 4:1
Hear the word of the LORD, O children of Israel, for the LORD has a case against the people of the land: “There is no truth, no loving devotion, and no knowledge of God…
- Isaiah 5:13
Through
Isaiah 29:18On that day the deaf will hear the words of the scroll, and out of the deep darkness the eyes of the blind will see.
it leads to
- Matthew 11:5
The blind receive sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Isaiah 35:5
Then the eyes of the blind will be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped.
- Proverbs 20:12
Ears that hear and eyes that see—the LORD has made them both.
- Matthew 11:5
Where this verse is studied
About Isaiah
This page draws on 10 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Bonaventure, Collationes de Septem Donis, Collation 4; Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Prophecies of Isaiah; Jerome, St. Jerome, Commentary on Daniel, CHAPTER TWELVE; Jerome, Commentary on Isaiah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Joseph Addison Alexander, Commentary on the Prophecies of Isaiah; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Isaiah.