just as it is written: “God gave them a spirit of stupor, Eyes to see not and ears to hear not, Down to this very day.”
Parallel translations
- WEB According as it is written, “God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear, to this very day.”
- KJV (According as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear;) unto this day.
- BSB as it is written: “God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that could not see, and ears that could not hear, to this very day.”
- NKJV Just as it is written: “God has given them a spirit of stupor, Eyes that they should not see And ears that they should not hear, To this very day.”
- NLT As the Scriptures say, “God has put them into a deep sleep. To this day he has shut their eyes so they do not see, and closed their ears so they do not hear.”
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
Scripture testifies that God gave unbelieving Israel a spirit of stupor, dull eyes and ears, to this day.
Overview
Paul weaves together Deuteronomy 29:4 and Isaiah 29:10 to show that this hardening was foretold in Israel's own Scriptures. The imagery of unseeing eyes and unhearing ears describes a spiritual insensibility under God's judgment. Yet, as the chapter will argue, this hardening is neither total nor final, leaving room for mercy.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Deut 29:4But Yahweh has not given you a heart to know, eyes to see, and ears to hear, to this day.
- Isa 29:10For Yahweh has poured out on you a spirit of deep sleep, and has closed your eyes, the prophets; and he has covered your heads, the seers.
- 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.
- 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:
- 2 Cor 3:14–15But their minds were hardened, for until this very day at the reading of the old covenant the same veil remains, because in Christ it passes away.
- Luke 8:10He said, “To you it is given to know the mysteries of God’s Kingdom, but to the rest in parables; that ‘seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.’
- Matt 13:13–14Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they don’t see, and hearing, they don’t hear, neither do they understand.
- Acts 28:26saying, ‘Go to this people, and say, in hearing, you will hear, but will in no way understand. In seeing, you will see, but will in no way perceive.
- Mark 4:11–12He said to them, “To you is given the mystery of God’s Kingdom, but to those who are outside, all things are done in parables,
- Isa 6:9He said, “Go, and tell this people, ‘You hear indeed, but don’t understand; and you see indeed, but don’t perceive.’
- 2 Kgs 17:41So these nations feared Yahweh, and also served their engraved images. Their children likewise, and their children’s children, as their fathers did, so they do to this day.
- 2 Kgs 17:34To this day they do what they did before. They don’t fear Yahweh, and they do not follow the statutes, or the ordinances, or the law, or the commandment which Yahweh commanded the children of Jacob, whom he named Israel;
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Christ at the center
Paul unfolds the gospel in full: Christ our righteousness received by faith, the second Adam in whom many are made righteous, in whose death and resurrection we are buried and raised.
How Romans 11:8 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
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.