6.10
The Book of Isaiah 6.10 · Make the heart of this people fat6.10Make the heart of this people fat
The command goes on. The prophet's message is to dull the people's heart, ears, and eyes, so that they will not turn and be healed.
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הַשְׁמֵן1
hašmēn
Make fatmake dull
לֵב־2
lēḇ-
the heart of
הַזֶּה3
ha-zzeh
this
הָעָם4
hā-ʿām
peoplethe people
, and
הַכְבֵּד5
haḵbēḏ
make heavy
וְאָזְנָיו6
wə-ʾoznāyw
its earsand his ears
, and
הָשַׁע7
hāšaʿ
shutsmear over
וְעֵינָיו8
wə-ʿênāyw
its eyesand his eyes
, פֶּן־9
pen-
lest it
יִרְאֶה10
yirʾeh
seehe sees
בְעֵינָיו11
ḇə-ʿênāyw
with its eyeswith his eyes
and
יִשְׁמָע12
yišmāʿ
hearhe hears
וּבְאָזְנָיו13
ū-ḇə-ʾoznāyw
with its earsand with his ears
, וּלְבָבוֹ14
ū-ləḇāḇô
and its heartand his heart
יָבִין15
yāḇîn
understandhe understands
, וָשָׁב16
wā-šāḇ
and turn backand he returns
וְרָפָא17
wə-rāp̄āʾ
and someone healand he heals
לוֹ׃18
lô
itto it
. Make fat the heart of this people, and make its ears heavy, and shut its eyes, lest it see with its eyes and hear with its ears, and its heart understand, and turn back and someone heal it.
Make fat the heart of this people, and make its ears heavy, and shut its eyes, lest it see with its eyes and hear with its ears, and its heart understand, and turn back and someone heal it.
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6.11
The Book of Isaiah 6.11 · How long, Lord?6.11How long, Lord?
Isaiah asks how long this must last. The answer is a picture of ruin: empty cities and a ruined land.
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And I said, “Until when, my Lord?” And he said, “Until cities lie in ruins without inhabitant, and houses without anyone, and the land is laid waste, desolate.”
The hardest sentence in the call. In Hebrew the three verbs are commands to the prophet: hašmēn, “make fat” the heart, hakbēd, “make heavy” the ears, hāšaʿ, “smear shut” the eyes, so that they will not turn and be healed. The prophet is sent to harden.
The Greek Bible turned the command into a report: ἐπαχύνθη γὰρ ἡ καρδία τοῦ λαοῦ τούτου, “for the heart of this people has grown fat”. The fault moves from God’s order to the people’s condition. When Jesus explains why he speaks in parables (Matthew 13:14–15), and when Paul speaks his last words in Acts (28:26–27), they quote the Greek form almost word for word. Mark 4:12 and John 12:40 keep the harder sense. The early church read this verse in both versions at once.
The Greek Bible (Septuagint, Swete 1894): ἐπαχύνθη γὰρ ἡ καρδία τοῦ λαοῦ τούτου, “for the heart of this people has grown fat”. the printed page, p. 111