Isaiah 59:10 BSB — MannaFest

Isaiah 59:10

Like the blind, we feel our way along the wall, groping like those without eyes. We stumble at midday as in the twilight; among the vigorous we are like the dead.

BSB

Parallel translations (2) ▾

ASV

We grope for the wall like the blind; yea, we grope as they that have no eyes: we stumble at noonday as in the twilight; among them that are lusty we are as dead men.

KJV

We grope for the wall like the blind, and we grope as if we had no eyes: we stumble at noonday as in the night; we are in desolate places as dead men.

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Commentary

2 voices

Jerome

Commentary on Isaiah (420)

We have groped like the blind against a wall: and we have touched as if without eyes: we have stumbled at noonday, as if in darkness: we are in dusky places as dead. LXX: They shall grope in the dark and feel their way like blind men; they shall stumble at noonday as in the twilight; they shall be like those who die in the midst of their groaning. Thus they handle the holy Scriptures, like blind people feeling the wall, seeking only words and leaves, not understanding the meaning and fruit that is held within the letters.

The record, by era

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible (1832)

We stumble at noon day as in the night “We stumble at mid-day, as in the twilight” - I adopt here an emendation of Houbigant, נשגגה nishgegah, instead of the second, נגששה negasheshah, the repetition of which has a poverty and inelegance extremely unworthy of the prophet, and unlike his manner. The mistake is of long standing, being prior to all the ancient versions. It was a very easy and obvious mistake, and I have little doubt of our having recovered the true reading in this ingenious correction.

Voices on this verse

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Original language & word study

11 tagged words

Original	Transliteration	Meaning	Word study
נְגַֽשְׁשָׁ֤ה	ne.gash.Shah	we grope for	H1659 →
כַֽעִוְרִים֙	kha.'iv.Rim	like <the> blind [people]	H5787 →
קִ֔יר	Kir	a wall	H7023 →
וּכְאֵ֥ין	u.khe.'Ein	and like there not	H369 →
עֵינַ֖יִם	'ei.Na.yim	[are] eyes	H5869 →
נְגַשֵּׁ֑שָׁה	ne.ga.She.shah	we grope	H1659 →
כָּשַׁ֤לְנוּ	ka.Shal.nu	we have stumbled	H3782 →
בַֽצָּהֳרַ֙יִם֙	va.tzo.ho.Ra.yim	at <the> noon<s>	H6672 →
כַּנֶּ֔שֶׁף	ka.Ne.shef	like the twilight	H5399 →
בָּאַשְׁמַנִּ֖ים	ba.'ash.ma.Nim	among the fat people	H820 →
כַּמֵּתִֽים׃	ka.me.Tim	like <the> dead [people]	H4191 →

Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread: the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.

The walk

The walk8

Where the connections lead

Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.

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.”
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,…
- 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.’”
- Isaiah 57:18–19
  I have seen his ways, but I will heal him; I will guide him and restore comfort to him and his mourners,
Through
Jeremiah 13:16
Give glory to the LORD your God before He brings darkness, before your feet stumble on the dusky mountains. You wait for light, but He turns it into deep gloom and thick darkness.
leads to
- Proverbs 4:19
  But the way of the wicked is like the darkest gloom; they do not know what makes them stumble.
  Reached by 2 independent paths from here.
- Isaiah 59:9
  Therefore justice is far from us, and righteousness does not reach us. We hope for light, but there is darkness; for brightness, but we walk in gloom.
- Isaiah 8:22
  Then they will look to the earth and see only distress and darkness and the gloom of anguish. And they will be driven into utter darkness.

Featured studies on this passage

Walks through Isaiah 59

The Armor of God

Roman legionary equipment surveyed by Paul as Christian discipline (Eph 6:10–18). Six pieces of armor and a seventh element — prayer — that is posture, not armor. Every piece carries an OT echo.

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Walks through Isaiah 59

The Universal Indictment, MannaFest

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Walks through Isaiah 59

The Whole Armour

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About Isaiah

The Prophet Isaiah — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain

Isaiah: the study guide →Read chapter 59 →The featured study →

Continue: Isaiah 59 →

01Commentary

The record, by era

Voices on this verse

02Original language & word study

03The walk

Where the connections lead

04Related verses

05Featured studies on this passage

06About Isaiah

The record, by era

Where the connections lead

Commentary

Original language & word study

The walk

Related verses

Featured studies on this passage

About Isaiah