Isaiah 29:12

12 And if it is given to those who cannot read, saying, "Read this," they say, "We cannot 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 the Lord has poured out upon you a spirit of deep sleep; he has closed your eyes, you prophets, and covered your heads, you seers.
11 The vision of all this has become for you like the words of a sealed document. If it is given to those who can read, with the command, "Read this," they say, "We cannot, for it is sealed."
12 And if it is given to those who cannot read, saying, "Read this," they say, "We cannot read."
13 The Lord said: Because these people draw near with their mouths and honor me with their lips, while their hearts are far from me, and their worship of me is a human commandment learned by rote;
14 so I will again do amazing things with this people, shocking and amazing. The wisdom of their wise shall perish, and the discernment of the discerning shall be hidden.
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.