Isaiah 29:12

12 And if you give it to someone who can't read and tell him, "Read this," he'll say, "I can't read."

Isaiah 29:12 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 29:12

And the book is delivered to him that is not learned
Or that knows not a book or letters, as before, and so consequently cannot read, having never been put to school, or learned to read:

saying, Read this, I pray thee;
or "now" F23, at once, immediately:

and he saith, I am not learned;
he does not excuse himself on account of its being sealed, but on account of his want of learning; which shows the former was but an excuse. In short, the sum of it is this, that neither the learned nor unlearned, among the Jews, cared to read their Bibles, or to search the Scriptures, and the prophecies in them, concerning the Messiah, and that neither of them understood them; these things were hid from the wise and prudent, as well as from the ignorant and unlearned of the people, in common, and were only made known to a few babes and sucklings. There was great ignorance of the Scriptures in the times of Christ, to which these passages truly belong, ( Matthew 11:25 Matthew 11:26 ) ( 22:29 ) .


FOOTNOTES:

F23 (an) "nunc", Pagninus, Montanus.

Isaiah 29:12 In-Context

10 For God has rocked you into a deep, deep sleep, put the discerning prophets to sleep, put the farsighted seers to sleep. You Have Everything Backwards
11 What you've been shown here is somewhat like a letter in a sealed envelope. If you give it to someone who can read and tell her, "Read this," she'll say, "I can't. The envelope is sealed."
12 And if you give it to someone who can't read and tell him, "Read this," he'll say, "I can't read."
13 The Master said: "These people make a big show of saying the right thing, but their hearts aren't in it. Because they act like they're worshiping me but don't mean it,
14 I'm going to step in and shock them awake, astonish them, stand them on their ears. The wise ones who had it all figured out will be exposed as fools. The smart people who thought they knew everything will turn out to know nothing."
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.