to say (used with great latitude) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
Go
יָלַךְyâlak
H3212
to walk (literally or figuratively)
tell
וְאָמַרְתָּ֖ve.'a.mar.Ta
H559
to say (used with great latitude) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential perfect, 2nd person masculine singular
people
לָעָ֣םla.'Am
H5971
a people (as a congregated unit) · preposition with the article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
Hear
שִׁמְע֤וּshim.'U
H8085
to hear intelligently (often with implication of attent… · verb, qal imperative, 2nd person masculine plural
indeed
שָׁמ֙וֹעַ֙sha.Mo.a'
H8085
to hear intelligently (often with implication of attent… · verb, qal infinitive absolute
understand
תָּבִ֔ינוּta.Vi.nu
H995
to separate mentally (or distinguish) · verb, qal jussive, 2nd person masculine plural
see
וּרְא֥וּu.re.'U
H7200
to see · conjunction + verb, qal imperative, 2nd person masculine plural
indeed
רָא֖וֹra.'O
H7200
to see · verb, qal infinitive absolute
perceive
תֵּדָֽעוּte.Da.'u
H3045
to know (properly · verb, qal jussive, 2nd person masculine plural
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Matthew 13:14-15 And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, a…
Luke 8:10 And he said, Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God: but to others in parables; that seeing they might not see, an…
Mark 4:12 That seeing they may see, and not perceive; and hearing they may hear, and not understand; lest at any time they should be converted, and th…
John 12:40 He hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart; that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be conv…
Acts 28:26-27 Saying, Go unto this people, and say, Hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and not perceive:
Romans 11:8 (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;)…
Isaiah 29:13 Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their he…
Isaiah 43:8 Bring forth the blind people that have eyes, and the deaf that have ears.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Isaiah 6:9–end
God takes Isaiah at his word, and here sends him on a strange errand - to foretel the ruin of his people and even to ripen them for that ruin - to preach that which, by their abuse of it, would be to them a savour of death unto death. And this was to be a type and figure of the state of the Jewish church in the days of the Messiah, when they should obstinately reject the gospel, and should thereupon be rejected of God. These verses are quoted in part, or referred to, six times, in the New Testament, which intimates that in gospel time these spiritual judgments would be most frequently inflicted; and though they make the least noise, and come not with observation, yet they are of all judgment…
Hear . . . indeed--Hebrew, "In hearing hear," that is, Though ye hear the prophet's warnings again and again, ye are doomed, because of your perverse will (Joh 7:17), not to understand. Light enough is given in revelation to guide those sincerely seeking to know, in order that they may do, God's will; darkness enough is left to confound the wilfully blind (Isa 43:8). So in Jesus' use of parables (Mat 13:14).
see . . . indeed--rather, "though ye see again and again," yet, &c.
John Gill on Isaiah 6:9
And he said, go, and tell this people,.... What is and will be their case and condition, as follows:
hear ye indeed; the words of the prophets sent unto them, yea, Christ himself incarnate preaching among them; the great Prophet Moses said should be raised up unto them:
but understand not; neither that he is the Messiah, nor the doctrines delivered by him; which were spoken to them in parables; see Matthew 13:13,
and see ye indeed: the miracles wrought by him, as raising the dead, cleansing the lepers, restoring sight to the blind, causing the deaf to hear, and the dumb to speak:
but perceive not; that he is the Messiah, though all the characteristics pointed at in prophecy are upon him,…
But he appeared not so much for the eyes of human beings as for their salvation, for even though he was first seen by fleshly eyes when he was born of the virgin, still he did not appear because the eye of faith did not as yet recognize his power. Hence it is said to the Jews by the prophet: "Seeing you will see and will not see"; that is, the Savior whom they discerned with their fleshly eyes they did not see in a spiritual light.
(Verse 9 and following) And he said: Go, and say to this people: Hearing, you shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing, you shall see, and shall not perceive. 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. The Septuagint translates this passage as follows, as the evangelist Luke placed it in the Acts of the Apostles: And when they did not agree with one another, it is certain that the Jews departed, as Paul said one word: Because the Holy Spirit has spoken well through Isaiah the prophet to our fathers, saying: Go to this people, and say: Hearing, you shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing, you shall see, and shall not perceive; for the heart of this people has grown fat, and they have heavily heard with their ears, and have 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 (Acts 28:25 and following). But as for the time when this prophecy was fulfilled, the Apostle Paul himself speaks in the following words: Therefore let it be known to you that this salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles; they will listen. (Acts 28:28) Hence, in the same Acts of the Apostles, we read that Paul and Barnabas, when the Jews refused to believe, said: It was necessary that the word of God be spoken first to you. But since you reject it and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we are turning to the Gentiles. (Acts 13:46, 47) For thus the Lord commanded us: I have set you as a light for the Gentiles, that you may be for salvation to the ends of the earth (Isaiah 49:6). Therefore, according to the easy interpretation of the Septuagint, Isaiah the prophet declares what the people will do by the command of the Lord. In Hebrew, there is a difficulty in how God Himself commands the people to hear but not understand, to see but not perceive, and then the prophet comes and prays to the Lord and says: 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 be healed (Isaiah 6:10). First of all, the question that can be posed to us must be answered: why did the apostle Paul,…
Dictionary and topics
Blindness · 21:14;22:13,14; — 21:14;22:13,14;
Call Of God, The · Rejection of, leads to: Judicial blindness — Rejection of, leads to: Judicial blindness
Holy Spirit, The, Is God · As Jehovah of hosts — As Jehovah of hosts
Missionary Work By Ministers · God qualifies for — God qualifies for
Prophets · Extraordinary: Specially raised up on occasions of emergency — Extraordinary: Specially raised up on occasions of emergency
Quotations And Allusions · with — with
Reprobacy · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Unbelief · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
on Isaiah 6:9
Then he said, Go, and tell that people. [95] This shows still more clearly how necessary the vision was, that Isaiah might not all at once fail in his course. It was a grievous stumblingblock, that he must endure such obstinacy and rebellion in the people of God, and that not only for a year or two, but for more than sixty years. On this account he needed to be fortified, that he might be like a brazen wall against such stubbornness. The Lord, therefore, merely forewarns Isaiah that he will have to do with obstinate men, on whom he will produce little effect; but that so unusual an occurrence must not lead him to take offense, and lose courage, or yield to the rebellion of men; that, on the…
This is confirmed by the words in which his commission is expressed, and the substance of the message. "He said, Go, and tell this people, Hear on, and understand not; and look on, but perceive not. Make ye the heart of this people greasy, and their ears heavy, and their eyes sticky; that they may not see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and their heart understand, and they be converted, and one heal them." "This people" points back to the people of unclean lips, among whom Isaiah had complained of dwelling, and whom the Lord would not call "my people." It was to go to this people and preach to them, and therefore to be the prophet of this people, that he was called. But how mournf…
do not understand . . . learn nothing: The prophet’s words brought out the heart response of his audience. The people were so sunk in sin that when they heard the truth it did not bring them closer to God but actually drove them away (e.g., Ahaz, ch 7). Yet the truth had to be declared. Jesus also applied this principle in his own preaching (Matt 13:14-15; Luke 8:10; 19:42; John 12:40; see also Acts 28:26-27; Rom 11:8).
Rashi on Isaiah 6:9
Indeed you hear I say to you, Indeed you hear, but you do not strive to understand, and indeed you see miracles that I have performed for you, yet you do not strive to know Me.
