Isaiah 42:20

20 You have seen many things, but don't keep watch. With ears open, you don't hear.

Isaiah 42:20 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 42:20

Seeing many things, but thou observest not
The Scribes and Pharisees, saw Christ in the flesh; they saw the miracles he did; they saw the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers cleansed, the deaf hear, and the dead raised; yet they did not give note to these things, and keep them in their minds, and regard them as clear proofs of his being the Messiah: opening the ears, but he heareth not;
they heard John Baptist preach, the forerunner of Christ, and the testimony he bore of him; they heard Christ himself and his apostles; they sometimes opened their ears, and seemed to listen and hear with attention, and wonder at what they heard; and some would own, that never man spake like Jesus; and yet understood not his speech, and hardened their hearts against him; they saw many things with their bodily eyes, but perceived them not with the eyes of their understandings; they heard with their ears, but understood not in their hearts; for their eyes were shut and their ears heavy, ( Isaiah 6:9 ) ( Matthew 13:14 Matthew 13:15 ) .

Isaiah 42:20 In-Context

18 Hear, deaf ones, and blind ones, look and see!
19 Who is blind if not my servant and deaf like my messenger whom I send? Who is blind like the restored one, blind like the servant of the LORD?
20 You have seen many things, but don't keep watch. With ears open, you don't hear.
21 The LORD desired for the sake of his righteousness to expand and glorify the Instruction.
22 But this is a people plundered and looted, everyone trapped in holes and hidden in dungeons. They have become plunder with no one to rescue, loot with no one to say, "Give it back."

Footnotes 1

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