New International Version
Isaiah 6:10
10Make 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.”
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.
- 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.”
- New Living Translation (NLT)Harden the hearts of these people. Plug their ears and shut their eyes. That way, they will not see with their eyes, nor hear with their ears, nor understand with their hearts and turn to me for healing.”
Context of Isaiah 6:10
8Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am I. Send me!” 9He said, “Go and tell this people: “ ‘Be ever hearing, but never understanding; be ever seeing, but never perceiving.’ 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.” 11Then I said, “For how long, Lord?” And he answered: “Until the cities lie ruined and without inhabitant, until the houses are left deserted and the fields ruined and ravaged, 12until the Lord has sent everyone far away and the land is utterly forsaken.
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 29:10The Lord has brought over you a deep sleep: He has sealed your eyes (the prophets); he has covered your heads (the seers).
- Isaiah 63:17Why, Lord, do you make us wander from your ways and harden our hearts so we do not revere you? Return for the sake of your servants, the tribes that are your inheritance.
- Exodus 7:3But I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and though I multiply my signs and wonders in Egypt,
- Exodus 10:27But the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he was not willing to let them go.
- Exodus 11:10Moses and Aaron performed all these wonders before Pharaoh, but the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he would not let the Israelites go out of his country.
- Exodus 14:17I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they will go in after them. And I will gain glory through Pharaoh and all his army, through his chariots and his horsemen.
- Deuteronomy 2:30But Sihon king of Heshbon refused to let us pass through. For the Lord your God had made his spirit stubborn and his heart obstinate in order to give him into your hands, as he has now done.
- Ezekiel 3:6not to many peoples of obscure speech and strange language, whose words you cannot understand. Surely if I had sent you to them, they would have listened to you.
- 2 Corinthians 2:16To the one we are an aroma that brings death; to the other, an aroma that brings life. And who is equal to such a task?
- Deuteronomy 32:15Jeshurun grew fat and kicked; filled with food, they became heavy and sleek. They abandoned the God who made them and rejected the Rock their Savior.
- Psalms 17:10They close up their callous hearts, and their mouths speak with arrogance.
- Jeremiah 6:10To whom can I speak and give warning? Who will listen to me? Their ears are closed so they cannot hear. The word of the Lord is offensive to them; they find no pleasure in it.
- Zechariah 7:11“But they refused to pay attention; stubbornly they turned their backs and covered their ears.
- Jeremiah 5:21Hear this, you foolish and senseless people, who have eyes but do not see, who have ears but do not hear:
- John 3:19This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.
- Acts 3:19Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord,
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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