The Meaning of Isaiah 6:10 Explained

Isaiah 6:10

KJV: 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.

YLT: Declare 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.'

Darby: Make 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.

ASV: Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they sea with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and turn again, and be healed.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

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. 

What does Isaiah 6:10 Mean?

Verse Meaning

The effect of Isaiah"s preaching would not be that the people would repent, but that they would harden their hearts against his messages (cf. Matthew 13:14-15; Mark 4:10-12; Luke 8:10; John 12:39-41; Acts 28:26-27; Romans 11:8).
The Apostle John quoted this verse (and Isaiah 53:1) in reference to the Jews" inability in Jesus" day to believe on Him ( John 12:40). John then added, "These things Isaiah said, because he saw His glory, and he spoke of Him" ( John 12:41). Isaiah may or may not have realized that his words had prophetic significance, in addition to being applicable to his own situation.
". . . this chapter immediately follows and precedes examples of wrong reaction to God"s word [1]." [2]
God told Moses before he went to Pharaoh with the Lord"s message that the Egyptian king would harden his heart ( Exodus 3:19). From the divine viewpoint, God had raised Pharaoh up to demonstrate His sovereignty and power in liberating the Israelites. However, from the human viewpoint, Pharaoh had the freedom to choose to submit to God or resist. His freedom was not complete; human freedom never is. We cannot do everything we want to do. But his freedom was genuine; he really could have submitted to Yahweh. God justly held him responsible for his choice because he did have genuine, though limited, freedom.
In both cases, Moses" commission and Isaiah"s, God was not ruling out the possibility of repentance from the start. He was letting His prophet see beforehand what the outcome of his ministry would be. In both cases, too, those who heard God"s Word had the opportunity and the ability to respond to it positively, but they chose to respond negatively. Consequently, God as their Judge hardened their hearts so that they became harder, and eventually it became impossible for them to repent ( Exodus 10:1; cf. Romans 1:18-32; Hebrews 6:4-6). The Israelites in Isaiah"s day had already hardened their hearts against the Lord, and His retributive judgment on them had already begun when Isaiah received his commission.
"The elect are not saved because they are creatures of light; they too were creatures of darkness and in them there was no goodness, nothing that would attract the light. God, however, out of His mere good pleasure did choose them and ordain them to life eternal, and when the blessed gospel was heard by them, they were given a heart that was then willing and able to hear and to respond. Those, however, whom God did not ordain to life eternal, He passed by and for their sin ordained to dishonor and wrath." [3]
The success of our ministry should not be our prime motivation to continue in the work of the gospel. Our loving commitment to remain faithful to the Lord who has graciously saved us and called us into His service, despite our lack of outward success, should be.

Context Summary

Isaiah 6:1-13 - A Call To Heroic Service
Kings die; Jesus lives. See John 12:41. We are here reminded of Acts 22:17-18. How great the contrast between the worship of these seraphim in the Unseen-Holy and man's perfunctory rites! Six wings-two for meditation, two for humility, and two for service. Service should take only a third of our energy. One cried unto another-one inspired spirit will awaken others. The threefold repetition of the word holy, implies the Trinity. If door-posts tremble, much more should the hearts of sinful men! Isaiah, in the previous chapter, had uttered six woes against others, but his seventh and sorest woe is against himself. The sinner, like the leper, cries, Unclean! Leviticus 13:45. The seraph did not wait to be told; he knew that there was only one cure for such need as the prophet's, Isaiah 6:9-13. When men refuse God's offered grace, every refusal hardens. It is either "the savour of death unto death" or of "life unto life," 2 Corinthians 2:16. The life of the oak and the terebinth only seems to become extinct in winter; there is revival in the spring. Is it winter with you? Pray for the springtime! [source]

Chapter Summary: Isaiah 6

1  Isaiah, in a vision of the Lord in his glory
5  Being terrified, has apprehensions removed
8  He offers himself, and is sent to show the obstinacy of the people
13  A remnant shall be saved

What do the individual words in Isaiah 6:10 mean?

Make dull the heart of people this and their ears heavy and their eyes shut lest they see with their eyes and with their ears hear and with their heart understand and return and be healed to
הַשְׁמֵן֙ לֵב־ הָעָ֣ם הַזֶּ֔ה וְאָזְנָ֥יו הַכְבֵּ֖ד וְעֵינָ֣יו הָשַׁ֑ע פֶּן־ יִרְאֶ֨ה בְעֵינָ֜יו וּבְאָזְנָ֣יו יִשְׁמָ֗ע וּלְבָב֥וֹ יָבִ֛ין וָשָׁ֖ב וְרָ֥פָא לֽוֹ

הַשְׁמֵן֙  Make  dull 
Parse: Verb, Hifil, Imperative, masculine singular
Root: שָׁמֵן  
Sense: to be or become fat, grow fat.
לֵב־  the  heart 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: לֵב 
Sense: inner man, mind, will, heart, understanding.
הָעָ֣ם  of  people 
Parse: Article, Noun, masculine singular
Root: עַם 
Sense: nation, people.
הַזֶּ֔ה  this 
Parse: Article, Pronoun, masculine singular
Root: זֶה  
Sense: this, this one, here, which, this … that, the one … the other, another, such.
וְאָזְנָ֥יו  and  their  ears 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Noun, fdc, third person masculine singular
Root: אֹזֶן  
Sense: ear, as part of the body.
הַכְבֵּ֖ד  heavy 
Parse: Verb, Hifil, Imperative, masculine singular
Root: כָּבֵד  
Sense: to be heavy, be weighty, be grievous, be hard, be rich, be honourable, be glorious, be burdensome, be honoured.
וְעֵינָ֣יו  and  their  eyes 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Noun, cdc, third person masculine singular
Root: עֹונָה 
Sense: eye.
הָשַׁ֑ע  shut 
Parse: Verb, Hifil, Imperative, masculine singular
Root: שָׁעַע 
Sense: to stroke, be smeared over, be blinded.
פֶּן־  lest 
Parse: Conjunction
Root: פֶּן  
Sense: lest, not, beware lest adv.
יִרְאֶ֨ה  they  see 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: רָאָה 
Sense: to see, look at, inspect, perceive, consider.
בְעֵינָ֜יו  with  their  eyes 
Parse: Preposition-b, Noun, cdc, third person masculine singular
Root: עֹונָה 
Sense: eye.
וּבְאָזְנָ֣יו  and  with  their  ears 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Preposition-b, Noun, fdc, third person masculine singular
Root: אֹזֶן  
Sense: ear, as part of the body.
יִשְׁמָ֗ע  hear 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: שָׁמַע 
Sense: to hear, listen to, obey.
וּלְבָב֥וֹ  and  with  their  heart 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Noun, masculine singular construct, third person masculine singular
Root: לֵבָב  
Sense: inner man, mind, will, heart, soul, understanding.
יָבִ֛ין  understand 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: בִּין  
Sense: to discern, understand, consider.
וָשָׁ֖ב  and  return 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Conjunctive perfect, third person masculine singular
Root: שׁוּב  
Sense: to return, turn back.
וְרָ֥פָא  and  be  healed 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Conjunctive perfect, third person masculine singular
Root: רָפָא  
Sense: to heal, make healthful.