Isaiah 42:20

20 You've seen a lot, but looked at nothing. You've heard everything, but listened to nothing.

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 Pay attention! Are you deaf? Open your eyes! Are you blind?
19 You're my servant, and you're not looking! You're my messenger, and you're not listening! The very people I depended upon, servants of God, blind as a bat - willfully blind!
20 You've seen a lot, but looked at nothing. You've heard everything, but listened to nothing.
21 God intended, out of the goodness of his heart, to be lavish in his revelation.
22 But this is a people battered and cowed, shut up in attics and closets, Victims licking their wounds, feeling ignored, abandoned.
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.