New English Translation
Isaiah 6:10
10Make the hearts of these people calloused; make their ears deaf and their eyes blind! Otherwise they might see with their eyes and hear with their ears, their hearts might understand and they might repent and be healed.”
Isaiah 6:10 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)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.
- New International Version (NIV)Make the heart of this people calloused; make their ears dull and close their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.”
- English Standard Version (ESV)Make the heart of this people dull, and their ears heavy, and blind their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed."
- New King James Version (NKJV)“Make the heart of this people dull, And their ears heavy, And shut their eyes; Lest they see with their eyes, And hear with their ears, And understand with their heart, And return and be healed.”
Context of Isaiah 6:10
8I heard the voice of the sovereign master say, “Whom will I send? Who will go on our behalf?” I answered, “Here I am, send me!” 9He said, “Go and tell these people: ‘Listen continually, but don’t understand! Look continually, but don’t perceive!’ Make the hearts of these people calloused; make their ears deaf and their eyes blind! Otherwise they might see with their eyes and hear with their ears, their hearts might understand and they might repent and be healed.” 11I replied, “How long, sovereign master?” He said, “Until cities are in ruins and unpopulated, and houses are uninhabited, and the land is ruined and devastated, 12and the Lord has sent the people off to a distant place, and the very heart of the land is completely abandoned.
Read all of Isaiah 6Isaiah 6:10 word by word
הַשְׁמֵן֙ לֵב־הָעָ֣ם הַזֶּ֔ה וְאָזְנָ֥יו הַכְבֵּ֖ד וְעֵינָ֣יו הָשַׁ֑ע פֶּן־יִרְאֶ֨ה בְעֵינָ֜יו וּבְאָזְנָ֣יו יִשְׁמָ֗ע וּלְבָב֥וֹ יָבִ֛ין וָשָׁ֖ב וְרָ֥פָא לֽוֹ׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- Make the heartלֵבlêb · heartH3820
- of this peopleעַם‛am · peopleH5971
- fatשָׁמֵןshâman · to grow fatH8080
- and make their earsאֹ֫זֶן'ôzen · earH241
- heavyכָּבֵדkâbad kâbêd · to honor: heavyH3513
- and shutשָׁעַעshâ‛a‛ · to smearH8173
- their eyesעַ֫יִן‛ayin · eyeH5869
- lest they seeרָאָהrâ'âh · to see: seeH7200
- and hearשָׁמַעshâma‛ · to hear: hearH8085
- and understandבִּיןbîyn · to understandH995
- with their heartלֵבָבlêbâb · heartH3824
- and convertשׁוּבshûb · to return: repentH7725
- and be healedרָפָאrâphâ' râphâh · to healH7495
Cross-references for Isaiah 6:10
- Isaiah 29:10For 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).
- Isaiah 63:17Why, Lord, do you make us stray from your ways, and make our minds stubborn so that we do not obey you? Return for the sake of your servants, the tribes of your inheritance!
- Exodus 7:3But I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and although I will multiply my signs and my wonders in the land of Egypt,
- Exodus 10:27But the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he was not willing to release them.
- Exodus 11:10So Moses and Aaron did all these wonders before Pharaoh, but the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he did not release the Israelites from his land.
- Exodus 14:17And as for me, I am going to harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they will come after them, that I may be honored because of Pharaoh and his army and his chariots and his horsemen.
- Deuteronomy 2:30But King Sihon of Heshbon was unwilling to allow us to pass near him because the Lord our God had made him obstinate and stubborn so that he might deliver him over to you this very day.
- Ezekiel 3:6not to many peoples of unintelligible speech and difficult language, whose words you cannot understand – surely if I had sent you to them, they would listen to you!
- 2 Corinthians 2:16to the latter an odor from death to death, but to the former a fragrance from life to life. And who is adequate for these things?
- Deuteronomy 32:15But Jeshurun became fat and kicked, you got fat, thick, and stuffed! Then he deserted the God who made him, and treated the Rock who saved him with contempt.
- Psalms 17:10They are calloused; they speak arrogantly.
- Jeremiah 6:10I answered, “Who would listen if I spoke to them and warned them? Their ears are so closed that they cannot hear! Indeed, what the Lord says is offensive to them. They do not like it at all.
- Zechariah 7:11“But they refused to pay attention, turning away stubbornly and stopping their ears so they could not hear.
- Jeremiah 5:21Tell them: ‘Hear this, you foolish people who have no understanding, who have eyes but do not discern, who have ears but do not perceive:
- John 3:19Now this is the basis for judging: that the light has come into the world and people loved the darkness rather than the light, because their deeds were evil.
- Acts 3:19Therefore repent and turn back so that your sins may be wiped out,
Commentaries on Isaiah 6:10
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 10Make the heart of this people fat "Gross" - The prophet speaks of the event, the fact as it would actually happen, not of God's purpose and act by his ministry. The prophets are in other places said to perform the thing which they only foretell: - "Lo! I have given thee a charge this day Over the nations, and over the kingdoms; To pluck up, and to pull down; To destroy, and to demolish; To build, and to plant." Jeremiah 1:10. And Ezekiel says, "When I…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 10Make the heart - The word “heart” here is used in the sense of the “mind” - to denote all their mental powers. It is commonly used in this sense in the Scriptures. Fat - Gross, heavy, dull, stupid. That is, go and proclaim such “truth” to them as shall have this effect - as shall irritate, provoke, enrage them; truth, whose delivery shall be attended, in their gross and corrupt hearts, with this blinding and infatuating influence the effect would be…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 9-13Verses 9-13 God sends Isaiah to foretell the ruin of his people. Many hear the sound of God's word, but do not feel the power of it. God sometimes, in righteous judgment, gives men up to blindness of mind, because they will not receive the truth in the love of it. But no humble inquirer after Christ, need to fear this awful doom, which is a spiritual judgment on those who will still hold fast their sins. Let every one pray for the enlightening of the Holy…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 10Isaiah was God’s messenger. Through his message, the wicked became more blind and deaf (they refused to see and hear the truth). But those who honored God gained spiritual sight and hearing (they understood and obeyed; see also Isaiah 29:9–10, 18; 35:5; 42:7, 16–19; 43:8; 56:10; 59:10). turn and be healed: The Lord was ready to heal those who truly repented, but not those who only wanted to avoid judgment while continuing their sinful ways.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1010. Make ... fat--(Psa 119:17). "Render them the more hardened by thy warnings" [Maurer]. This effect is the fruit, not of the truth in itself, but of the corrupt state of their hearts, to which God here judicially gives them over (Is 63:17). Gesenius takes the imperatives as futures. "Proclaim truths, the result of which proclamation will be their becoming the more hardened" (Ro 1:28; Ep 4:18); but this does not so well as the former set forth God as…Read the comment
Topics related to Isaiah 6:10
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Isaiah 6
- 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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