Limitless Word
Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, And the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.
Isaiah 35:5 · New King James Version
Parallel translations
  • WEB Then the eyes of the blind will be opened, and the ears of the deaf will be unstopped.
  • KJV Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.
  • BSB Then the eyes of the blind will be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped.
  • NASB Then the eyes of those who are blind will be opened, And the ears of those who are deaf will be unstopped.
  • NLT And when he comes, he will open the eyes of the blind and unplug the ears of the deaf.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

In God's coming salvation the blind will see and the deaf will hear.

Overview

Isaiah promises the reversal of human brokenness as a sign of God's saving presence. Jesus pointed to his own healings of the blind and deaf as evidence that these promises were being fulfilled in him (Matt. 11:5; Luke 7:22). The verse thus links Old Testament hope directly to the ministry of Christ and the dawning of God's kingdom.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 29

  • Isa 42:6–7“I, Yahweh, have called you in righteousness, and will hold your hand, and will keep you, and make you a covenant for the people, as a light for the nations;
  • Luke 7:20–23When the men had come to him, they said, “John the Baptizer has sent us to you, saying, ‘Are you he who comes, or should we look for another?’”
  • Isa 29:18In that day, the deaf will hear the words of the book, and the eyes of the blind will see out of obscurity and out of darkness.
  • Matt 11:3–5and said to him, “Are you he who comes, or should we look for another?”
  • Isa 32:3–4The eyes of those who see will not be dim, and the ears of those who hear will listen.
  • Ps 146:8Yahweh opens the eyes of the blind. Yahweh raises up those who are bowed down. Yahweh loves the righteous.
  • John 9:39Jesus said, “I came into this world for judgment, that those who don’t see may see; and that those who see may become blind.”
  • Matt 9:27–30As Jesus passed by from there, two blind men followed him, calling out and saying, “Have mercy on us, son of David!”
  • Isa 50:4The Lord Yahweh has given me the tongue of those who are taught, that I may know how to sustain with words him who is weary. He wakens morning by morning, he wakens my ear to hear as those who are taught.
  • Eph 1:17–18that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him;
  • Matt 12:22Then one possessed by a demon, blind and mute, was brought to him and he healed him, so that the blind and mute man both spoke and saw.
  • Matt 21:14The blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he healed them.
  • Matt 20:30–34Behold, two blind men sitting by the road, when they heard that Jesus was passing by, cried out, “Lord, have mercy on us, you son of David!”
  • Luke 4:18“The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to heal the broken hearted, to proclaim release to the captives, recovering of sight to the blind, to deliver those who are crushed,
  • John 9:1–7As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth.
  • Isa 42:16I will bring the blind by a way that they don’t know. I will lead them in paths that they don’t know. I will make darkness light before them, and crooked places straight. I will do these things, and I will not forsake them.
  • Mark 7:32–37They brought to him one who was deaf and had an impediment in his speech. They begged him to lay his hand on him.
  • Isa 43:8Bring out the blind people who have eyes, and the deaf who have ears.
  • Eph 5:14Therefore he says, “Awake, you who sleep, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.”
  • Prov 20:12The hearing ear, and the seeing eye, Yahweh has made even both of them.
  • Mark 9:25–26When Jesus saw that a multitude came running together, he rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to him, “You mute and deaf spirit, I command you, come out of him, and never enter him again!”
  • Exod 4:11Yahweh said to him, “Who made man’s mouth? Or who makes one mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Isn’t it I, Yahweh?
  • Acts 9:17–18Ananias departed, and entered into the house. Laying his hands on him, he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord, who appeared to you on the road by which you came, has sent me, that you may receive your sight, and be filled with the Holy Spirit.”
  • Mark 8:22–25He came to Bethsaida. They brought a blind man to him, and begged him to touch him.
  • Acts 26:18to open their eyes, that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive remission of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’
  • Isa 48:8Yes, you didn’t hear; yes, you didn’t know; yes, from of old your ear was not opened: for I knew that you dealt very treacherously, and were called a transgressor from the womb.
  • John 11:37Some of them said, “Couldn’t this man, who opened the eyes of him who was blind, have also kept this man from dying?”
  • Job 33:16Then he opens the ears of men, and seals their instruction,
  • Jer 6:10To whom shall I speak and testify, that they may hear? Behold, their ear is uncircumcised, and they can’t listen. Behold, Yahweh’s word has become a reproach to them. They have no delight in it.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (5)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Isaiah videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Isaiah 35:5YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on IsaiahMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

Isaiah sees him most clearly: the virgin's son Immanuel, the child on David's throne, the shoot from Jesse, the light to the nations, and above all the Suffering Servant pierced for our transgressions (ch. 53).

How Isaiah 35:5 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.