New King James Version
Isaiah 6:10
10“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.”
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 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
8Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying: “Whom shall I send, And who will go for Us?” Then I said, “Here am I! Send me.” 9And He said, “Go, and tell this people: ‘Keep on hearing, but do not understand; Keep on seeing, but do not perceive.’ “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.” 11Then I said, “Lord, how long?” And He answered: “Until the cities are laid waste and without inhabitant, The houses are without a man, The land is utterly desolate, 12The Lord has removed men far away, And the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land.
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 The spirit of deep sleep, And has closed your eyes, namely, the prophets; And He has covered your heads, namely, the seers.
- Isaiah 63:17O Lord, why have You made us stray from Your ways, And hardened our heart from Your fear? Return for Your servants’ sake, The tribes of Your inheritance.
- Exodus 7:3And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and multiply My signs and My wonders in the land of Egypt.
- Exodus 10:27But the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he would not let them go.
- Exodus 11:10So Moses and Aaron did all these wonders before Pharaoh; and the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he did not let the children of Israel go out of his land.
- Exodus 14:17And I indeed will harden the hearts of the Egyptians, and they shall follow them. So I will gain honor over Pharaoh and over all his army, his chariots, and his horsemen.
- Deuteronomy 2:30“But Sihon king of Heshbon would not let us pass through, for the Lord your God hardened his spirit and made his heart obstinate, that He might deliver him into your hand, as it is this day.
- Ezekiel 3:6not to many people of unfamiliar speech and of hard language, whose words you cannot understand. Surely, had I sent you to them, they would have listened to you.
- 2 Corinthians 2:16To the one we are the aroma of death leading to death, and to the other the aroma of life leading to life. And who is sufficient for these things?
- Deuteronomy 32:15“But Jeshurun grew fat and kicked; You grew fat, you grew thick, You are obese! Then he forsook God who made him, And scornfully esteemed the Rock of his salvation.
- Psalms 17:10They have closed up their fat hearts; With their mouths they speak proudly.
- Jeremiah 6:10To whom shall I speak and give warning, That they may hear? Indeed their ear is uncircumcised, And they cannot give heed. Behold, the word of the Lord is a reproach to them; They have no delight in it.
- Zechariah 7:11“But they refused to heed, shrugged their shoulders, and stopped their ears so that they could not hear.
- Jeremiah 5:21‘Hear this now, O foolish people, Without understanding, Who have eyes and see not, And who have ears and hear not:
- John 3:19And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
- Acts 3:19Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of 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
New King James Version — © 1982 Thomas Nelson, Inc
Commentaries