This verse contains more fully Yahweh’s instructions to Isaiah. The text is difficult because, if translated word-for-word, it seems to imply that God does not want Israel to be healed, at least at this point. This passage has caused many readers to wonder at the way in which God works. The sense of verses 9-10 should be seen as follows: The prophet is to preach, even if the result of his mission will be that the people become tired of hearing and seeing, and refuse to grasp what he is saying to them. As a result, they will miss out on being saved. Therefore Yahweh is telling his prophet that he should continue to speak to Israel, although he, the LORD, knows that the prophet’s words will make the people even more obstinate. It is this obstinacy that will prevent them being saved.
This view is supported by a footnote in New Jerusalem Bible that says (in part): “God does not desire this incomprehension, [but] he foresees it and incorporates it into his designs.” This interpretation means that the imperatives in the first three lines have the same sense as in the previous verse. The commands Make … fat … [make] heavy … shut express what will happen in the future as a result of the prophet’s speaking. So Isaiah is not ordered to deliberately cause the people to become dull and unresponsive. That is something he cannot do anyway since the people themselves will choose to react this way to what he says. But he should speak, knowing in advance that a negative response will be the result, and that the people will not be saved.
Following this view, here is a translation model for verses 9-10: 9 Then Yahweh said to me, “Go and say to this people: ‘Hear as much as you like, you will not understand; see as much as you like, you will not comprehend.’ 10 Speak although your words will make the hearts of these people thick and their ears heavy and their eyes closed. If only they would see, hear and understand, they would change their minds and be healed.” An alternative for the last sentence is “And[, as a result,] because their eyes are closed, their ears heavy and their hearts thick, they will not convert and be healed.”
The view that is implied by Revised Standard Version is much harsher. Its literal translation using lest points to a possible saving outcome that the LORD deliberately wants to avoid. Such an interpretation, resulting from a literal rendering, misses out on the subtlety of the Hebrew thought here. This interpretation is found in most of the major versions with various degrees of harshness; for example, Bible en français courant (1997) renders verse 10 as follows: “Make them unresponsive … otherwise they might see … and be healed.” New International Version is perhaps the harshest with “Make the heart of this people calloused; make their ears dull and close their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.”
Finally, Revised English Bible‘s interpretation of this verse should also be mentioned. Revised English Bible renders it in a way that indicates that the people are already unable or unwilling to listen, rather than it being the result of Isaiah’s preaching. This view seems to follow the Septuagint, which has changed the imperative forms to indicative forms to describe a situation that presently exists (see Matt 13.15). Revised English Bible has “This people’s wits are dulled; they have stopped their ears and shut their eyes, so that they may not see with their eyes, nor listen with their ears, nor understand with their wits, and then turn and be healed.” We consider this to be an attempt to overcome the theological difficulty that appears in a literal rendering of the Hebrew text. Hebrew Old Testament Text Project cautiously endorses the imperatives of Masoretic Text.
For this verse we recommend that translators be careful not to give the impression that Isaiah is told by God to make it impossible for the people to understand what he is saying and so be saved. In many cases, however, only a footnote will be able to bring out the deeper meaning of this text. A fairly literal translation by itself may shock the readers. The footnote may read as follows: “The LORD is not telling Isaiah to preach in such a way that the people will become obstinate and thus fail to change their ways. Rather, he is telling Isaiah to preach, although he knows that this preaching will result in more and more obstinacy, thereby making it impossible for the listeners to be saved.”
Whereas the previous verse spoke only of eyes and ears, this verse adds hearts to the list. These three words form a chiasmus in the first six lines as follows: heart > ears > eyes > < eyes < ears < hearts. The function of this chiastic structure is to focus attention on heart, because the heart in Hebrew culture is essential to “understanding.” Note the key verb understand in both verses.
Make the heart of this people fat: Make … fat is used figuratively here. In some contexts the Hebrew root for fat carries a positive meaning, for example when it refers to a land’s fertility (see “rich land” in Neh 9.25). It can also have a negative connotation when fat means “lazy,” “dull,” or “unreceptive.” That is what is meant here. Even though heart is singular in the Hebrew, it can be rendered as a plural since it belongs to the people, collectively. Good News Translation provides a good model for this line with “Make the minds of these people dull.” Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, freely translated, has “Talk to them so that their hearts become stubborn.” Contemporary English Version is similar with “Make these people stubborn!” Bible en français courant says “Make them unresponsive therefore.” Following the preferred interpretation presented above, translators may say “Talk to them, even if their hearts become stubborn.” This command and the next two point to the result of Isaiah’s preaching. God does not desire this result, but nevertheless foresees it.
And their ears heavy means they will not respond to what they hear. Contemporary English Version has “Make them stop up their ears.” Bible en français courant, freely translated, says “prevent their ears from hearing.”
And shut their eyes: The Hebrew verb here means “to make blind” or “to smear something over the eyes.” Bible en français courant, freely translated, has “prevent their eyes from seeing.”
And turn and be healed: According to Good News Translation (see the discussion above), if the people would accept and understand what Isaiah was about to tell them, they would repent (turn) and be healed. The verb be healed is figurative for restoration and forgiveness in this context (see Hos 6.1). The agent behind this passive verb is God. In languages where an active form of the verb is preferred, translators may render this last line as “and they would turn to me and I would heal them.”
Translation examples for this verse are:
• You will make their minds dull, their ears deaf and their eyes blind,
otherwise [or, if not for that,] they would [certainly] see and hear,
their minds would be opened,
and they would repent and be forgiven.”
• By speaking like this you will make their minds dull,
make their ears deaf and their eyes blind,
otherwise [or, if not for that,] they would see and hear,
and their minds grasp your meaning.
Then they would repent and I would forgive them.”
Quoted with permission from Ogden, Graham S. and Sterk, Jan. A Handbook on Isaiah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2011. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .