New English Translation
Isaiah 29:12
12Or when they hand the scroll to one who can’t read and say, “Read this,” he says, “I can’t read.”
Isaiah 29:12 in other versions
- King James Version (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.
- New International Version (NIV)Or if you give the scroll to someone who cannot read, and say, “Read this, please,” they will answer, “I don’t know how to read.”
- English Standard Version (ESV)And when they give the book to one who cannot read, saying, "Read this," he says, "I cannot read."
- New King James Version (NKJV)Then the book is delivered to one who is illiterate, saying, “Read this, please.” And he says, “I am not literate.”
Context of Isaiah 29:12
10For the Lord has poured out on you a strong urge to sleep deeply. He has shut your eyes (the prophets), and covered your heads (the seers). 11To you this entire prophetic revelation is like words in a sealed scroll. When they hand it to one who can read and say, “Read this,” he responds, “I can’t, because it is sealed.” Or when they hand the scroll to one who can’t read and say, “Read this,” he says, “I can’t read.” 13The sovereign master says, “These people say they are loyal to me; they say wonderful things about me, but they are not really loyal to me. Their worship consists of nothing but man-made ritual. 14Therefore I will again do an amazing thing for these people – an absolutely extraordinary deed. Wise men will have nothing to say, the sages will have no explanations.”
Read all of Isaiah 29Isaiah 29:12 word by word
וְנִתַּ֣ן הַסֵּ֗פֶר עַל֩ אֲשֶׁ֨ר לֹֽא־יָדַ֥ע סֵ֛פֶר לֵאמֹ֖ר קְרָ֣א נָא־זֶ֑ה וְאָמַ֕ר לֹ֥א יָדַ֖עְתִּי סֵֽפֶר׃ סRead the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Isaiah 29:12
- Isaiah 29:18At that time the deaf will be able to hear words read from a scroll, and the eyes of the blind will be able to see through deep darkness.
- Isaiah 28:12In the past he said to them, “This is where security can be found. Provide security for the one who is exhausted! This is where rest can be found.” But they refused to listen.
- Jeremiah 5:4I thought, “Surely it is only the ignorant poor who act this way. They act like fools because they do not know what the Lord demands. They do not know what their God requires of them.
- Hosea 4:6You have destroyed my people by failing to acknowledge me! Because you refuse to acknowledge me, I will reject you as my priests. Because you reject the law of your God, I will reject your descendants.
- John 7:15Then the Jewish leaders were astonished and said, “How does this man know so much when he has never had formal instruction?”
Commentaries on Isaiah 29:12
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 12And 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.Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 9-16Verses 9-16 The security of sinners in sinful ways, is cause for lamentation and wonder. The learned men, through prejudice, said that the Divine prophecies were obscure; and the poor urged their want of learning. The Bible is a sealed book to every man, learned or unlearned, till he begins to study it with a simple heart and a teachable spirit, that he may thence learn the truth and the will of God. To worship God, is to approach him. And if the heart be…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 8-12Jerusalem’s blindness kept its people from understanding God’s plan. Here, blindness does not mean physical blindness. It means spiritual blindness. The people could see with their eyes, but they did not understand what God was doing.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1212. The unlearned succeed no better than the learned, not from want of human learning, as they fancy, but from not having the teaching of God (Is 54:13; Jr 31:34; Joh 6:45; 1Co 2:7-10; 1Jo 2:20).Read the comment
Topics related to Isaiah 29:12
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Isaiah 29
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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