Isaiah 6:10

Updated Bible Version

Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; or else they will see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and turn again, and be healed.

Parallel Translations

Legacy Standard Bible
Render the hearts of this people insensitive,Their ears dull,And their eyes dim,Lest they see with their eyes,And hear with their ears,And understand with their hearts,And return and be healed."

New American Standard Bible (1995)
"Render the hearts of this people insensitive, Their ears dull, And their eyes dim, Otherwise they might see with their eyes, Hear with their ears, Understand with their hearts, And return and be healed."

Bishop's Bible (1568)
Harden the heart of this people, stop their eares, and shut their eyes: lest they see with their eyes, heare with their eares, and vnderstande with their heartes, and conuert and be healed.

Darby Translation
Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and blind their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and be converted, and healed.

New King James Version
"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."

Literal Translation
Make the heart of this people fat, and make his ears heavy, and shut his eyes, that he not see with his eyes, and hear with his ears, and understand with his heart, and turn back, and one heals him.

Easy-to-Read Version
Confuse them. Make them unable to understand what they hear and see. If you don't do this, they might really look with their eyes, hear with their ears, and understand with their minds. Then they might come back to me and be healed!"

World English Bible
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 turn again, and be healed."

King James Version (1611)
Make the heart of this people fat, and make their eares heauy, and shut their eyes: lest they see with their eyes, and heare with their eares, and vnderstand with their heart, and conuert and be healed.

King James Version
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.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Harden the harte of this people, stoppe their eares, and shut their eyes, that they se not wt their eyes, heare not with their eares, and vnderstonde not with their hartes, and conuerte and be healed.

Amplified Bible
"Make the heart of this people insensitive, Their ears dull, And their eyes dim, Otherwise they might see with their eyes, Hear with their ears, Understand with their hearts, And return and be healed."

American Standard Version
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 turn again, and be healed.

Bible in Basic English
Make the hearts of this people fat, and let their ears be stopped, and their eyes shut; for fear that they may see with their eyes, and be hearing with their ears, and their heart may become wise, and they may be turned to me and made well.

Webster's Bible Translation
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 English Translation
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."

Contemporary English Version
"Make these people stubborn! Make them stop up their ears, cover their eyes, and fail to understand. Don't let them turn to me and be healed."

Complete Jewish Bible
"Make the heart of this people [sluggish with] fat, stop up their ears, and shut their eyes. Otherwise, seeing with their eyes, and hearing with their ears, then understanding with their hearts, they might repent and be healed!"

Geneva Bible (1587)
Make the heart of this people fatte, make their eares heauie, and shut their eyes, lest they see with their eyes, and heare with their eares, and vnderstand with their hearts, and conuert, and he heale them.

George Lamsa Translation
For the heart of this people is darkened and their ears are heavy and their eyes closed, so that they may not see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and be converted and be forgiven.

Hebrew Names Version
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 turn again, and be healed."

JPS Old Testament (1917)
Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they, seeing with their eyes, and hearing with their ears, and understanding with their heart, return, and be healed.'

New Living Translation
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."

New Life Bible
Make the hearts of these people hard. May their ears hear little and their eyes see little. Or they will see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their hearts, and turn again and be healed."

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
For the heart of this people has become gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes have they closed; lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them.

English Revised Version
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 turn again, and be healed.

Berean Standard Bible
Make the hearts of this people calloused; deafen their ears and close their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.

New Revised Standard
Make the mind of this people dull, and stop their ears, and shut their eyes, so that they may not look with their eyes, and listen with their ears, and comprehend with their minds, and turn and be healed."

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Stupefy thou the heart of this people, And their ears, make thou heavy, And their eyes, overspread, - Lest they see with their eyes And with their ears, should hear, And their heart should discern and come back. And they be healed.

Douay-Rheims Bible
Blind the heart of this people, 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 be converted and I heal them.

Lexham English Bible
Make the heart of this people insensitive, and make its ears unresponsive, and shut its eyes so that it may not look with its eyes and listen with its ears and comprehend with its mind and turn back, and it may be healed for him."

English Standard Version
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 American Standard Bible
"Make the hearts of this people insensitive, Their ears dull, And their eyes blind, So that they will not see with their eyes, Hear with their ears, Understand with their hearts, And return and be healed."

New Century Version
Make the minds of these people dumb. Shut their ears. Cover their eyes. Otherwise, they might really understand what they see with their eyes and hear with their ears. They might really understand in their minds and come back to me and be healed."

Good News Translation
Then he said to me, "Make the minds of these people dull, their ears deaf, and their eyes blind, so that they cannot see or hear or understand. If they did, they might turn to me and be healed."

Christian Standard Bible®
Dull the minds of these people; deafen their ears and blind their eyes; otherwise they might see with their eyes and hear with their ears, understand with their minds, turn back, and be healed.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Make thou blynde the herte of this puple, and aggrege thou the eeris therof, and close thou the iyen therof; lest perauenture it se with hise iyen, and here with hise eeris, and vndurstonde with his herte, and it be conuertid, and Y make it hool.

Revised Standard Version
Make the heart of this people fat, and their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed."

Young's Literal Translation
Declare fat the heart of this people, And its ears declare heavy, And its eyes declare dazzled, Lest it see with its eyes, And with its ears hear, and its heart consider, And it hath turned back, and hath health.'

Contextual Overview

⁹ And he said, Go, and tell this people, You indeed hear, but don't understand; and you indeed see, but don't perceive. ¹⁰ Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; or else they will see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and turn again, and be healed. ¹¹ Then I said, Lord, how long? And he answered, Until cities are waste without inhabitant, and houses without man, and the land becomes completely waste, ¹² and Yahweh has removed man far away, and the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land. ¹³ And if there is yet a tenth in it, it also shall in turn be eaten up: as a terebinth, and as an oak, whose stock remains, when they are felled; so the holy seed is the stock thereof.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

the heart: Isaiah 29:10, Isaiah 63:17, Exodus 7:3, Exodus 10:27, Exodus 11:10, Exodus 14:17, Deuteronomy 2:30, Ezekiel 3:6-11, 2 Corinthians 2:16

fat: Deuteronomy 32:15, Psalms 17:10

ears heavy: Jeremiah 6:10, Zechariah 7:11

lest: Jeremiah 5:21, John 3:19, John 3:20, Acts 3:19, Acts 28:27

convert: Isaiah 19:22, Matthew 13:15

Reciprocal: Genesis 48:10 - dim Exodus 4:21 - I will harden Exodus 10:20 - General Leviticus 3:3 - the fat Deuteronomy 28:28 - General Deuteronomy 29:4 - General Joshua 11:20 - it was 1 Kings 22:23 - the Lord 2 Chronicles 18:19 - Who shall entice Nehemiah 9:25 - did eat Job 12:24 - He taketh Job 15:27 - he covereth Job 33:16 - openeth Psalms 51:13 - converted Psalms 69:23 - Their eyes Psalms 119:70 - heart is as fat Psalms 119:144 - understanding Psalms 135:16 - eyes have they Proverbs 16:30 - shutteth Proverbs 30:3 - the holy Song of Solomon 5:7 - watchmen Isaiah 28:13 - that Isaiah 29:14 - for the wisdom Isaiah 44:18 - for he hath Isaiah 48:8 - thou heardest Isaiah 59:1 - his ear Jeremiah 4:22 - For my Jeremiah 7:27 - hearken Jeremiah 17:14 - Heal Jeremiah 36:3 - that I Lamentations 3:65 - sorrow Ezekiel 12:2 - which Daniel 4:16 - be changed Zechariah 7:12 - lest Zechariah 11:15 - a foolish Zechariah 11:17 - the sword Matthew 13:14 - the prophecy Matthew 18:3 - Except Matthew 21:27 - We cannot tell Mark 3:5 - hardness Mark 4:12 - That seeing Mark 8:18 - see Mark 11:33 - We Luke 11:34 - but Luke 19:42 - but Luke 20:7 - that John 10:6 - they understood not John 12:39 - because John 12:41 - when Acts 28:26 - Go Romans 11:7 - and the rest 2 Corinthians 3:14 - their 2 Corinthians 4:4 - blinded Ephesians 1:18 - eyes 2 Thessalonians 2:11 - God Hebrews 5:11 - dull Revelation 22:2 - healing

Cross-References

Genesis 5:32
And Noah was 500 years old: And Noah begot Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Make the heart of this people fat,.... Gross and heavy, stupid and unteachable, hard and obdurate; which is sometimes done by the preaching of the Gospel, through the wickedness of man's heart, that being the savour of death unto death to some, just as the sun hardens the clay; or declare that their hearts are thus gross and stupid; or that I will give them up to a judicial hardness of heart:

and make their ears heavy: that they cannot hear the word, so as to understand it; they having stopped the ear, and plucked away the shoulder, it is in righteous judgment that they are given up to such an insensibility as not to be capable of hearing and understanding what is delivered in the ministry of the word:

and shut their eyes; they having wilfully shut their own eyes against all evidence of the Messiah, and the truth of his doctrines, they are given up to a judicial blindness; which still continues upon them, and will until the fulness of the Gentiles is brought in:

lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understated with their heart; though only in a notional way, the things relating to the Messiah, the truths of the Gospel, and the ordinances thereof, and what may belong to their outward peace:

and convert; or turn themselves by external repentance and reformation:

and be healed: or forgiven in such sense as to be preserved from national ruin; which God willed not; for seeing they went such great lengths in sin, in rejecting the Messiah, and his Gospel, they were given up to a reprobate mind, to do things that were not convenient, that they might be destroyed; which destruction is after prophesied of.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Make 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 produced by the corrupt state of their hearts, not by any native tendency of the truth, and still less by any direct divine influence. ‘Go, and proclaim truth to a corrupt and sensual people, and the result will be that they will not hear; they are so wicked that they will not attend to it; they will become even more hardened; yet go, and though certain of producing this effect, still proclaim it;’ see this passage explained in the notes at John 12:40.

Their ears heavy - Dull, stupid, insensible.

And shut their eyes - The word used here means “to spread over,” and then to close. It denotes here the state of mind which is more and more indisposed to attend to the truth.

And be healed - Be restored from the malady of sin; be recovered and pardoned. Sin is often represented as a painful, loathsome malady, and forgiveness as restoration from such a malady; Isaiah 30:26; Psalms 103:0; Psalms 41:3-4; 2 Chronicles 7:14; Jeremiah 3:22; Jeremiah 17:14. We may learn here,

(1) That the effect of truth is often to irritate people and make them more wicked.

(2) The truth must, nevertheless, be proclaimed.

This effect is not the fault of the truth; and it is often well that the heart should be known, and the true effect should be seen.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Isaiah 6:10. Make 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 came to destroy the city," that is, as it is rendered in the margin of our version, "when I came to prophesy that the city should be destroyed; " Ezekiel 43:3. To hear, and not understand; to see, and not perceive; is a common saying in many languages. Demosthenes uses it, and expressly calls it a proverb: ὡστε το της παροιμιας ὁρωντας μη ὁρᾳν, και ακουοντας μη ακουειν; Contra Aristogit. I., sub fin. The prophet, by the bold figure in the sentiment above mentioned, and the elegant form and construction of the sentence, has raised it from a common proverb into a beautiful mashal, and given it the sublime air of poetry.

Or the words may be understood thus, according to the Hebrew idiom: "Ye certainly hear, but do not understand; ye certainly see, but do not acknowledge." Seeing this is the case, make the heart of this people fat - declare it to be stupid and senseless; and remove from them the means of salvation, which they have so long abused.

There is a saying precisely like this in AEschylus: -

- - - βλεποντες εβλεπον ματην,

Κλυοντες ουκ ηκουον. AESCH. Prom. Vinct. 456.

"Seeing, they saw in vain; and hearing, they

did not understand."

And shut - "Close up"] השע hasha. This word Sal. ben Melec explains to this sense, in which it is hardly used elsewhere, on the authority of Onkelos. He says it means closing up the eyes, so that one cannot see; that the root is שוע shava, by which word the Targum has rendered the word טח tach, Leviticus 14:42, וטח את בית vetach eth beith, "and shall plaster the house." And the word טח tach is used in the same sense, Isaiah 44:18. So that it signifies to close up the eyes by some matter spread upon the lids. Mr. Harmer very ingeniously applies to this passage a practice of sealing up the eyes as a ceremony, or as a kind of punishment used in the East, from which the image may possibly be taken. Observ. ii. 278.

With their heart - "With their hearts"] ובלבבו ubilebabo, fifteen MSS. of Kennicott's and fourteen of De Rossi's, and two editions, with the Septuagint, Syriac, Chaldee, and Vulgate.

And be healed - "And I should heal"] veer pa, Septuagint, Vulgate. So likewise Matthew 13:14; John 12:40; Acts 28:27.