New English Translation
Isaiah 42:18
18“Listen, you deaf ones! Take notice, you blind ones!
Isaiah 42:18 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Hear, ye deaf; and look, ye blind, that ye may see.
- New International Version (NIV)“Hear, you deaf; look, you blind, and see!
- English Standard Version (ESV)Hear, you deaf, and look, you blind, that you may see!
- New King James Version (NKJV)“Hear, you deaf; And look, you blind, that you may see.
Context of Isaiah 42:18
16I will lead the blind along an unfamiliar way; I will guide them down paths they have never traveled. I will turn the darkness in front of them into light, and level out the rough ground. This is what I will do for them. I will not abandon them. 17Those who trust in idols will turn back and be utterly humiliated, those who say to metal images, ‘You are our gods.’” “Listen, you deaf ones! Take notice, you blind ones! 19My servant is truly blind, my messenger is truly deaf. My covenant partner, the servant of the Lord, is truly blind. 20You see many things, but don’t comprehend; their ears are open, but do not hear.”
Read all of Isaiah 42Isaiah 42:18 word by word
הַחֵרְשִׁ֖ים שְׁמָ֑עוּ וְהַעִוְרִ֖ים הַבִּ֥יטוּ לִרְאֽוֹת׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Isaiah 42:18
- 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 43:8Bring out the people who are blind, even though they have eyes, those who are deaf, even though they have ears!
- Exodus 4:11The Lord said to him, “Who gave a mouth to man, or who makes a person mute or deaf or seeing or blind? Is it not I, the Lord?
- Proverbs 20:12The ear that hears and the eye that sees – the Lord has made them both.
- Mark 7:34Then he looked up to heaven and said with a sigh, “Ephphatha” (that is, “Be opened”).
- Luke 7:22So he answered them, “Go tell John what you have seen and heard: The blind see, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have good news proclaimed to them.
- Revelation 3:17Because you say, “I am rich and have acquired great wealth, and need nothing,” but do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked,
Commentaries on Isaiah 42:18
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 18Hear, ye deaf - This is evidently an address to the Jews, and probably to the Jews of the time of the prophet. He had been predicting the coming of the Messiah, and the influence of his religion on the Gentile world. He had said that God would go forth to destroy the idolatry of the pagan nations, and to convince them of the folly of the worship of images, and to confound them for putting their trust in them. He seems here to have recollected that this…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 18-25Verses 18-25 Observe the call given to this people, and the character given of them. Multitudes are ruined for want of observing that which they cannot but see; they perish, not through ignorance, but carelessness. The Lord is well-pleased in the making known his own righteousness. For their sins they were spoiled of all their possessions. This fully came to pass in the destruction of the Jewish nation. There is no resisting, nor escaping God's anger. See…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 18-20The Israelites who ignored God's words and actions became spiritually blind and deaf (see Isaiah 6:9–10). They knew the truth from God's word and the prophets, but their closed minds refused to respond.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1818. deaf--namely, to the voice of God. blind--to your duty and interest; wilfully so (Is 42:20). In this they differ from "the blind" (Is 42:16). The Jews are referred to. He had said, God would destroy the heathen idolatry; here he remembers that even Israel, His "servant" (Is 42:19), from whom better things might have been expected, is tainted with this sin.Read the comment
Topics related to Isaiah 42:18
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Isaiah 42
- 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
New English Translation — © 1996-2016 Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C.
Commentaries