Isaiah 6 · Verse 10

Isaiah 6:10

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.
Isaiah 6:10, King James Version

Isaiah 6:10 in other translations

BSBMake 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.”
WEBMake the heart of this people fat. Make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their heart, and turn again, and be healed.”
ASVMake 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.
YLTDeclare 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.'
DARBYMake 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.
BBEMake 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.
WebsterMake 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.

What does Isaiah 6:10 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
10. 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 designedly giving up sinners to judicial hardening (Ro 11:8; 2Th 2:11). In the first member of the sentence, the order is, the heart, ears, eyes; in the latter, the reverse order, the eyes, ears, heart. It is from the heart that corruption flows into the ears and eyes (Mr 7:21, 22); but through the eyes and ears healing reaches the heart (Ro 10:17), [Bengel]. (Jr 5:21; Eze 12:2; Zec 7:11; Ac 7:57; 2Ti 4:4). In Mt 13:15, the words are quoted in the indicative, "is waxed gross" (so the Septuagint), not the imperative, "make fat"; God's word as to the future is as certain as if it were already fulfilled. To see with one's eyes will not convince a will that is opposed to the truth (compare Joh 11:45, 46; 12:10, 11). "One must love divine things in order to understand them" [Pascal]. be healed--of their spiritual malady, sin (Is 1:6; Psa 103:3; Jr 17:14).

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 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." Jer 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;" Eze 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; Conttra 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, Lev 14:42, וטח את בית vetach eth beith, "and shall plaster the house." And the word טח tach is used in the same sense, Isa 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. 2:278. 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" - ואר פא veer pa, Septuagint, Vulgate. So likewise Mat 13:14; Joh 12:40; Act 28:27.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Isaiah 6:9-13

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…

Read the full comment on Isaiah 6:9-13 →

Isaiah 6:10 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

הַשְׁמֵן֙hash.Menmake fatH8080
לֵב\־lev-[the] heart ofH3820
הָעָ֣םha.'Amthe peopleH5971
הַזֶּ֔הha.Zeh<the> thisH2088
וְאָזְנָ֥יוve.'a.ze.Navand ears itsH241
הַכְבֵּ֖דhakh.Bedmake heavyH3513
וְעֵינָ֣יוve.'ei.Navand eyes itsH5869
הָשַׁ֑עha.Sha'seal overH8173
פֶּן\־pen-lestH6435
יִרְאֶ֨הyir.'Ehit should seeH7200
בְעֵינָ֜יוve.'ei.Navwith eyes itsH5869
וּבְאָזְנָ֣יוu.ve.'a.ze.Navand with ears itsH241
יִשְׁמָ֗עyish.Ma'it will hearH8085
וּלְבָב֥וֹu.le.va.Voand heart itsH3824
יָבִ֛יןya.Vinit will understandH995
וָשָׁ֖בva.Shavand it will returnH7725
וְרָ֥פָאve.Ra.fa'and someone will healH7495
לֽוֹ\׃lo<to> it

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Isaiah 6:10

  • Matthew 13:15

    For this people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.

  • Acts 28:27

    For the heart of this people is waxed 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 should be converted, and I should heal them.

  • Jeremiah 5:21

    Hear now this, O foolish people, and without understanding; which have eyes, and see not; which have ears, and hear not:

  • Jeremiah 6:10

    To whom shall I speak, and give warning, that they may hear? behold, their ear is uncircumcised, and they cannot hearken: behold, the word of the Lord is unto them a reproach; they have no delight in it.

  • John 3:19-20

    And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.

  • Zechariah 7:11

    But they refused to hearken, and pulled away the shoulder, and stopped their ears, that they should not hear.

  • Isaiah 29:10

    For the Lord hath poured out upon you the spirit of deep sleep, and hath closed your eyes: the prophets and your rulers, the seers hath he covered.

  • Isaiah 63:17

    O Lord, why hast thou made us to err from thy ways, and hardened our heart from thy fear? Return for thy servants’ sake, the tribes of thine inheritance.

  • Deuteronomy 2:30

    But Sihon king of Heshbon would not let us pass by him: for the Lord thy God hardened his spirit, and made his heart obstinate, that he might deliver him into thy hand, as appeareth this day.

  • Ezekiel 3:6-11

    Not to many people of a strange speech and of an hard language, whose words thou canst not understand. Surely, had I sent thee to them, they would have hearkened unto thee. But the house of Israel will not hearken unto thee; for they will not hearken unto me: for all the house of Israel are impudent and hardhearted. Behold, I have made thy face strong against their faces, and thy forehead strong against their foreheads. As an adamant harder than flint have I made thy forehead: fear them not, neither be dismayed at their looks, though they be a rebellious house. …

  • Psalms 17:10

    They are inclosed in their own fat: with their mouth they speak proudly.

  • Deuteronomy 32:15

    But Jeshurun waxed fat, and kicked: thou art waxen fat, thou art grown thick, thou art covered with fatness; then he forsook God which made him, and lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
the heart.
29:10; 63:17; Ex 7:3; 10:27; 11:10; 14:17; De 2:30; Eze 3:6-11
2Co 2:16
fat.
De 32:15; Ps 17:10
ears heavy.
Jer 6:10; Zec 7:11
lest.
Jer 5:21; Joh 3:19,20; Ac 3:19; 28:27
convert.
19:22; Mt 13:15

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Isaiah 6:9

    And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not.

  • Isaiah 6:10

    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.

  • Isaiah 6:11

    Then said I, Lord, how long? And he answered, Until the cities be wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land be utterly desolate,

Read all of Isaiah 6

Isaiah 6:10 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909
Engruesa el corazón de aqueste pueblo, y agrava sus oídos, y ciega sus ojos; porque no vea con sus ojos, ni oiga con sus oídos, ni su corazón entienda, ni se convierta, y haya para él sanidad.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885
Engraisse le cœur de ce peuple, et rends ses oreilles pesantes, et bouche ses yeux, de peur qu’il ne voie des yeux, et n’entende de ses oreilles, et ne comprenne de son cœur, et ne se convertisse, et qu’il ne soit guéri.
German
Elberfelder 1871
Mache das Herz dieses Volkes fett, und mache seine Ohren schwer, und verklebe seine Augen: damit es mit seinen Augen nicht sehe und mit seinen Ohren nicht höre und sein Herz nicht verstehe, und es nicht umkehre und geheilt werde.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate
Excæca cor populi hujus, et aures ejus aggrava, et oculos ejus claude: ne forte videat oculis suis, et auribus suis audiat, et corde suo intelligat, et convertatur, et sanem eum.