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According as it is written, “God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear, to this very day.”
David says, “Let their table be made a snare, a trap, a stumbling block, and a retribution to them.
Let their eyes be darkened, that they may not see. Always keep their backs bent.”
Romans 11:8-10 sits inside this longer paragraph.
What then? That which Israel seeks for, that he didn’t obtain, but the chosen ones obtained it, and the rest were hardened. According as it is written, “God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear, to this very day.”
David says, “Let their table be made a snare, a trap, a stumbling block, and a retribution to them.
Let their eyes be darkened, that they may not see. Always keep their backs bent.”
According as it is written, “God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear, to this very day.”
David says, “Let their table be made a snare, a trap, a stumbling block, and a retribution to them.
Let their eyes be darkened, that they may not see. Always keep their backs bent.”
accordynge as it is written: God hath geven the the sprete of vnquyetnes: eyes that they shuld not se and eares that they shuld not heare even vnto this daye.
And David sayth: Let their table be made a snare to take them with all and an occasion to faule and a rewarde vnto them.
Let their eyes be blynded that they se not: and ever bowe doune their backes.
According as it is written, God hath giuen them the spirit of slumber: eyes that they should not see, and eares that they should not heare vnto this day.
And Dauid sayth, Let their table be made a snare, and a net, and a stumbling blocke, euen for a recompence vnto them.
Let their eyes be darkened that they see not, and bowe downe their backe alwayes.
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On vv8–9 8. Given them has God, etc. There is no…
8. Given them has God, etc. There is no doubt, I think, but that the passage quoted here from Isaiah is that which Luke refers to in Acts, as quoted from him, only the words are somewhat altered. Nor does he record here what we find in the Prophet, but only collects from him this sentiment, — that they were imbued from above with the spirit of maliciousness, so that they continued dull in seeing and hearing. The Prophet was indeed bidden to harden the heart of the people: but Paul penetrates to the very fountain, — that brutal stupor seizes on all the senses of men, after they are given up to this madness, so that they excite themselves by virulent stimulants against the truth. For he does not call it the spirit of giddiness, but of compunction, when the bitterness of gall shows itself; yea, when there is also a fury in rejecting the truth. And he declares, that by the secret judgment of God the reprobate are so demented, that being stupified, they are incapable of forming a judgment; for when it is said, that by seeing they see nothing, the dullness of their senses is thereby intimated.
Then Paul himself adds, to this very day, lest any one should object and say, that this prophecy had been formerly fulfilled, and that it was therefore absurd to apply it to the time of the gospel: this objection he anticipates, by subjoining, that it was not only a blindness of one day, which is described, but that it had continued, together with the unhealable obstinacy of the people, to the coming of Christ.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv8–9 And yet this hardness of heart cometh not but…
And yet this hardness of heart cometh not but by God’s just decree and judgment, and yet without fault, whom as he so punisheth the unthankful by taking from them all sense and perseverance and by doubling their darkness, that the benefits of God which are offered unto them, do redound to their just destruction.
That is, eyes unjust to see.
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A very dead sleep which taketh away all sense.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv8–10 8 (According as it is written, God hath given…
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;) unto this day.
Ver. 8. The spirit of slumber] So that with those bears in Pliny they cannot be awakened with the sharpest prickles; and with those asses in Etruria, that feeding upon henbane they lie for dead, and awake not till half-hilded. Such a dead lethargy is now befallen Papists.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv8–9 It is written; viz. in Isa 6:9; 29:10.
It is written; viz. in Isa 6:9; 29:10.
The spirit of slumber; the word signifieth, such a dead sleep, as those have, who are pricked or stung with venomous beasts, out of which they hardly or never awake.
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Unto this day: q.d. So it was of old, and so it is still. Or else these words (the former being included in a parenthesis) may be joined with the last words of the foregoing verse, thus, the rest were blinded unto this day.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
William Burkitt 1703 · Public Domain On v9 The apostle proceeds here to declare unto us, that…
The apostle proceeds here to declare unto us, that the general unbelief and hardness of heart which was found amongst the rejected Jews, was not to be wondered at, because it was prophetically foretold by holy David, in the person of the Messiah, of whom he was a type, that his own people the Jews should extremely injure and wrong him, oppress and vex him: for which wickedness he foretells what dreadful and tremendous judgments should come upon the Jews; namely,
That their table should be made to them a snare, a trap, and a stumbling-block; that is, that all their pleasant and delightful things should become the instruments of their destruction.
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That their eyes be darkened, that they may not see. The darkening of their eyes signifies the taking away of the judgment and understanding from a people.
And the bowing down of the back always, intimates and implies their grovelling upon this earth; their relishing and savouring nothing but earthly things, never lifting up either head or heart to God.
Now all this which David spake of the wicked Jews in his time, the apostle applies and adapts to the incredulous and unbelieving Jews in his days, to whom the very preaching of the gospel was an occasion of obduration and hardness of heart.
Learn here, 1. That to the obstinate and obdurate enemies of God, the best things become baneful, and through their own corruption become the instruments and means of their own destruction. Let their table be made a snare, a trap, and a stumbling-block.
Learn, 2. That to be deprived of the use of our judgment and understanding, especially in things pertaining unto God, is a very dreadful judgment. Let their eyes be darkened that they may not see.
3. That imprecations are to be used very warily, and only in weighty matters. These and other expressions of David, which look like imprecations, may as well be accounted prophetical predictions, foretelling what will come upon obstinate sinners, rather than praying that evil may come.
Great is the sin and danger of using imprecations lightly, either upon ourselves or others. Some persons use them to gain credit to what they say; but this will not do with wise men, who frequently observe, that persons most guilty are most apt to call for vengeance upon themselves, that they may be thought guiltless.
Lord! how do some sinners wish and call for that at which the devils tremble!--I mean damnation.
Alas! it slumbereth not; within a moment or two thou shalt feel what thou wilt not fear.
William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv8–10 According as it is written,.... In Isa 29:10 which…
According as it is written,.... In Isa 29:10 which passages the apostle seems to refer to, though it is not exactly word for word as here, yet the sense is the same:
God hath given them the spirit of slumber; or of stupidity and insensibility, so that they were as persons in a deep sleep; their senses locked up, without any knowledge of, or concern about, the danger they were in; having no sense of sin, or of the need of a Saviour; or of their being upon the borders of eternal ruin and damnation, or of any ways and means to escape it; but careless and secure, as persons fast asleep in the midst of the sea, or upon the top of a mast, who, when stricken and beaten, feel it not; but if by jogging are awaked at all, immediately return to sleep again, and so sleep the sleep of eternal death:
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eyes that they should not see; which being closed by the deep sleep and stupidity of mind they were judicially given up to, could see no beauty in Christ, wherefore they should desire him; none of the glories and excellencies of his person, blood, righteousness, and sacrifice; noticing amiable and agreeable in his Gospel, and the truths of it; nor had they any light in the prophets of the Old Testament, which were so remarkably fulfilled in him; their minds were blinded, a vail was upon their hearts, and which remains to this day:
and ears that they should not hear; for persons in a sleep, as their eyes are closed that they cannot see, so their ears are stopped that they cannot hear: and thus it was with these Jews, the awful judgment being upon them; they were uncircumcised in heart and ears; they were like the deaf adder, stopping their ears to the charming voice of Christ in the Gospel; and being given up in a judicial way, could neither understand his speech, nor hear his word: and this spirit of stupidity and insensibility, as it appeared in the times of Isaiah, so it continued
unto this day; the then present time, in which the apostle lived; and has continued ever since, at least in part, and will until the fulness of the Gentiles is brought in. These passages, with some others following, are produced by the apostle out of their own prophets, to take off their resentment against him; and lest, he should be thought to be severe upon them, when he said no more of them, but what had been prophesied long before concerning them. So Jarchi on Isa 29:10; says, that Isaiah prophesies , "concerning the transgressors of Israel".
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv8–9 God hath at length withdrawn his Spirit, and so…
God hath at length withdrawn his Spirit, and so given them up to a spirit of slumber; which is fulfilled unto this day. Isaiah xxix, 10
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv8–10 Verse 8. God hath given them the spirit of…
Verse 8. God hath given them the spirit of slumber] As they had wilfully closed their eyes against the light, so God has, in judgment, given them up to the spirit of slumber. The very word and revelation of God, which should have awakened their consciences, and opened their eyes and ears, have had a very different effect; and because they did not receive the truth in the love thereof, that which would otherwise have been the savour of life unto life, has become the savour of death unto death; and this continues to the present day.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv8–9 According as it is written - That is, they…
According as it is written - That is, they are blinded in accordance with what is written. The fact and the manner accord with the ancient declaration. This is recorded in Isa 29:10, and in Deu 29:4. The same sentiment is found also substantially in Isa 6:9-10. The principal place referred to here, however, is doubtless Isa 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 hath he covered.” The quotation is not however literally made either from the Hebrew or the Septuagint; but the sense is preserved. The phrase “according as” means upon the same principle, or in the same manner.
God hath given - Expressions like this are common in the Scriptures, where God is represented as having an agency in producing the wickedness and stupidity of sinners; see Rom 9:17-18; see the Mat 13:15 note; Mar 4:11-12 note; see also 2Th 2:11. This quotation is not made literally. The Hebrew in Isaiah is, God has poured upon them the spirit of slumber. The sense, however, is retained.
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The spirit of slumber - The spirit of slumber is not different from slumber itself. The word “spirit” is often used thus. The word “slumber” here is a literal translation of the Hebrew. The Greek word, however κατανύξεως katanuxeōs, implies also the notion of compunction, and hence in the margin it is rendered “remorse.” It means any emotion, or any influence whatever, that shall benumb the faculties, and make them insensible. Hence, it here means simply insensibility.
Eyes that they should not see ... - This expression is not taken literally from any single place in the Old Testament; but expresses the general sense of several passages; Isa 6:10; Deu 29:4. It denotes a state of mind not different from a spirit of slumber. When we sleep, the eyes are insensible to surrounding objects, and the ear to sounds. Though in themselves the organs may be perfect, yet the mind is as though they were not; and we have eyes which then do not see, and ears which do not hear. Thus, with the Jews. Though they had all the proper faculties for understanding and receiving the gospel, yet they rejected it. They were stupid and insensible to its claims and its truths.
Unto this day - Until the day that Paul wrote. The characteristic of the Jews that existed in the time of Isaiah. existed also in the time of Paul. It was a trait of the people; and their insensibility to the demands of the gospel developed nothing new in them.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On v8 God hath given them, &c. Not by his working,…
God hath given them, &c. Not by his working, or acting in them; but by his permission, and by withdrawing his grace in punishment of their obstinacy. (Challoner) --- Permitted them (says St. John Chrysostom) to fall into the spirit of insensibility. Literally, the spirit of [1] compunction. Compunction is not here taken, as in some spiritual writers, for a great sorrow for sins. In the Latin Vulgate (Isaias vi. 9.) it is called the spirit of slumber, as in the Protestant translation. We cannot have a better judge of the sense of the word than St. John Chrysostom, who tells us, that it signifies a habit of the soul, firmly fixed in evil, and an insensible disposition: as, saith he, persons under a pious compunction are not to be removed from their good resolutions; so the wicked, under a hardened compunction, are nailed, as it were, to vice. And that here this is the true sense, appears by the following words out of Isaias: he hath given them eyes that they should not see, &c. And also out of David, (Psalm lxviii. 23.) let their table be made a snare, &c. We may understand the spiritual food of the word of God, and of the Scriptures; which by the blindness of this people, have served to their great condemnation. --- And a recompense, that is, for a just punishment of their obstinacy. --- And bow down their back always, a metaphor to represent the condition of such, as are under heavy oppressions. (Witham) --- Although by bending their back is literally understood the yoke of servitude and captivity, with which the Jews were oppressed at the destruction of Jerusalem; yet it seems more conformable to the apostle’s meaning, when considered in a spiritual sense, and then it will signify the insensibility of the Jews, as to heavenly things, and their anxious solicitude for the things of the earth. This their avaricious and carnal disposition was so manifest, that the poet said of them--- O curvæ in terram animæ et cœlestium inanes.--- (Estius)
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[BIBLIOGRAPHY]
Spiritum compunctionis; Greek: pneuma katanuxeos. In the Latin Vulgate, Isaias xxix. 10, the same Greek words are translated, spiritum soporis; the spirit of slumber. See Mr. Legh, Crit. Sacr. on the word Greek: katanusso. St. John Chrysostom, Greek: om ith. p. 163. Greek: katanuxin, entautha ten peri to cheiron exin tes psuches, &c. See Corn. a Lap. S. Chrys. in the same place; Greek: katanugenai gar ouden eteron esti to empagenai, kai proselosthai.
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv8–10 as it is written-- (Isa 29:10; Deu 29:4).
as it is written-- (Isa 29:10; Deu 29:4).
God hath given--"gave"
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them the spirit of slumber--"stupor"
unto this day--"this present day."
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv8–10 8. God hath given them—Because they would have it…
8. God hath given them—Because they would have it from him; just as God gives stupor and death to the man who swallows a large dose of laudanum. But he does this purely as the God of nature, carrying out the established laws of cause and effect. So upon the man who swallows moral opiates in order to a false repose, and who silences the voice of truth that he may not be awakened, God, sustaining the laws of cause and effect, will bestow the spirit of slumber. (See note on Act_28:26.)
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv8–9 8. according as it is written] Isa_29:10, and Deu_29:4.…
8. according as it is written] Isa_29:10, and Deu_29:4. (Hebrews , 3.) The two passages combined read thus, from the Heb., “The Lord hath poured out (or spread) over you the spirit of deep sleep, and the Lord hath not given to you eyes to see, and ears to hear, unto this day:” The unbelief of Israel of old, traced by Moses and Isaiah to the mysterious withholding of grace, is here interpreted by St Paul to be a “prophecy in act” of the unbelief of Israel, and of its cause, in the days of Messiah.—It will be seen that the words “unto this day” are part of the quotation, and that therefore no brackets should be used in this verse. As Moses indicated by them a continuous “hardening” of the mass of the nation in his day, so St Paul takes them to foreshadow the like continuousness in the Gospel age.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv8–10 (8) The spirit of slumber.—This phrase, again, has a…
(8) The spirit of slumber.—This phrase, again, has a curious history. Etymologically, the word translated “slumber” would seem to agree better with the marginal rendering, “remorse.” It comes from a root meaning to “prick or cut with a sharp instrument.” There happens to be another root somewhat similar, but certainly not connected, which means “drowsiness,” “slumber.” Hence, where the word in the text has been used to render the Hebrew word for “slumber,” it has been thought that there was a confusion between the two. It appears, however, from the LXX. usage, that the sense of “slumber” had certainly come to attach to the word here used by St. Paul. From the notion of a sharp wound or blow came to be derived that of the bewilderment or stupefaction consequent upon such a blow, and hence it came to signify stupor in general.
The quotation is a free combination of two passages of the LXX. (Isa_29:10, and Deu_29:4), no doubt put together by the Apostle from memory.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On v8 Vers. 8-10. According as it is written, God gave…
Vers. 8-10. According as it is written, God gave them a spirit of slumber (rather, stupor. The word is katanuxiv , cited from Isa_29:10 in the LXX Cf. Psa_60:3, where the LXX has oinon katanuxewv . It is from the verb which means katanussein , properly "to prick". (see Act_2:37, katenughsan th kardia) The noun seems to have got its sense as above from the idea of a pricking shock, causing stupefaction, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear, unto this day. And David saith, Let their table be made a snare, and a trap, and a stumbling-block, and a recompense unto them. Let their eyes be darkened, that they may not see, and bow down their back alway. The references in ver. 8 are a combination of Deu_29:3 and Isa_29:10, quoted freely from the LXX; that in ver. 9 is to Psa_69:23, Psa_69:24, also quoted freely. (For similar combination and free quotation of texts, so as to bring out Old Testament ideas, cf. Rom_3:10-19 Rom_9:32, Rom_9:33) It is not necessary that the passages here referred to should be regarded as directly prophetic of the time of Christ. It is enough for the purpose of the argument that God"s people should be shown to be liable to the state of stupefaction described, without ceasing to be his people. And so the thought, which has been in view all along, is now taken up, of the present hardening of Israel as a nation not being intended to be permanent.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain On vv8–10 8. As it is written. Isaiah 29:10. The deep…
8. As it is written. Isaiah 29:10. The deep sleep spoken of by the prophet was sent because Israel abused its opportunities. They who love darkness will finally be left in darkness.
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.
J. W. McGarvey 1914 · Public Domain On vv8–10 according as it is written [ Isa_29:10 ; Eze_12:2…
according as it is written [ Isa_29:10 ; Eze_12:2 ; Deu_29:4 ], God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear, unto this very day . [As the passage quoted is a combination of Isaiah and Deuteronomy, and is found in part also in Ezekiel, it suggests that the spirit of stupor, deafness and blindness characterized the course of Israel from beginning to end; and it was therefore to be guarded against as a chronic sin. Katanuxis (stupor) may be derived from katanussoo (Fritsche, Meyer), which means to prick or sting, and hence, as in bites of reptiles, etc., to cause stupefaction; or it may come from katanuzoo (Volkmar), which means to bend the head in order to sleep, to fall asleep. It is used in Psa_60:3 ; where it is translated "wine of staggering," though Hammond contends that the passage refers to the stupefying wine given to them who were to be put to death. It means, then, that condition of stupor, or intellectual numbness, which is almost wholly insensate; for the term "spirit" means a pervading tendency. "Such expressions," says Gifford, "as 'the spirit of heaviness' ( Isa_61:3 ), 'a spirit of meekness' ( 1Co_4:21 ), 'the spirit of bondage' ( Rom_8:15 ), show that 'spirit' is used for the pervading tendency and tone of mind, the special character of which is denoted by the genitive which follows."]
J. W. McGarvey (with Philip Y. Pendleton), Commentaries on the New Testament (The Fourfold Gospel, 1914; Acts; and the epistles) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain On v8 Jehovah. Isa 29:10.
God
Jehovah. Isa 29:10.
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v9 Let their table become a net and a trap
Let their table become a net and a trap
"Table" here is a metonym that represents feasting, and "net" and "trap" are metaphors that represent punishment. You can translate this in an active form. AT: "Please, God, make their feasts like a trap that catches them" (See: Metonymy and Metaphor and Active or Passive)
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a stumbling block
A "stumbling block" is anything that causes a person to trip so that he falls down. Here it represents something that tempts a person to sin. AT: "something that tempts them to sin" (See: Metaphor)
a retribution for them
"something that allows you to take revenge on them"
bend their backs continually
Here "bend their back" is a metonym for forcing slaves to carry heavy loads on their backs. This is a metaphor for making them suffer. AT: "make them suffer like people carrying heavy loads" (See: Metonymy and Metaphor)
translationWords
David
stumbling block
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.