¶Bring out the people who are blind, even though they have eyes, And those who are deaf, even though they have ears.
Parallel translations
- WEB Bring out the blind people who have eyes, and the deaf who have ears.
- KJV Bring forth the blind people that have eyes, and the deaf that have ears.
- BSB Bring out a people who have eyes but are blind, and who have ears but are deaf.
- NKJV Bring out the blind people who have eyes, And the deaf who have ears.
- NLT Bring out the people who have eyes but are blind, who have ears but are 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
God calls forth a people who have eyes yet are blind and ears yet are deaf. It summons spiritually dull Israel to serve as witnesses despite their weakness.
Overview
The blind and deaf are God's own people, called to testify to what He has done. Their inability is no obstacle, for the truth rests on God's acts, not their perception. The scene sets up the courtroom of the nations where God will prove He alone is God, a truth ultimately confirmed in Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- Isa 6:9He said, “Go, and tell this people, ‘You hear indeed, but don’t understand; and you see indeed, but don’t perceive.’
- Ezek 12:2“Son of man, you dwell in the middle of the rebellious house, who have eyes to see, and don’t see, who have ears to hear, and don’t hear; for they are a rebellious house.
- 2 Cor 4:4–6in whom the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving, that the light of the Good News of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should not dawn on them.
- Isa 42:18–20“Hear, you deaf, and look, you blind, that you may see.
- Deut 29:2–4Moses called to all Israel, and said to them: Your eyes have seen all that Yahweh did in the land of Egypt to Pharaoh, and to all his servants, and to all his land;
- Jer 5:21‘Hear now this, foolish people, and without understanding; who have eyes, and don’t see; who have ears, and don’t hear:
- Isa 44:18–20They don’t know, neither do they consider: for he has shut their eyes, that they can’t see; and their hearts, that they can’t understand.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 43:8 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
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