Isaiah 43:8

8 Lead thou forth the blind people, and having eyes; the deaf people, and ears be to it. (Lead thou forth the people who have eyes, but be blind; the people who have ears, but be deaf.)

Isaiah 43:8 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 43:8

Bring forth the blind people that have eyes, and the deaf that
have ears
The Targum applies this to the bringing of the people of Israel out of Egypt; and others understand it of their deliverance from the Babylonish captivity; and some of the exclusion of them from the kingdom of heaven, and casting them into outward darkness, according to ( Matthew 8:12 ) , but it is rather to be understood of the conviction of them; though better of the Gentiles, and of the enlightening of them, who before were blind; and causing them to hear, who before were deaf to spiritual things, agreeably to what goes before. It seems best to consider the words as a summons to the Heathens uncalled, to the Roman Pagan empire, to come forth and appear, who were as blind and deaf as the idols they worshipped, and plead their cause, agreeably to what follows.

Isaiah 43:8 In-Context

6 I shall say to the north, Give thou (them up), and to the south, Do not thou forbid (them); bring thou my sons from afar, and my daughters from the last parts of [the] earth (and my daughters from the ends of the earth).

7 And each that calleth my name to help, into my glory I made him of nought; I formed him, and made him. (Yea, each person who is called by my name, for I made them out of nothing, for my glory; I formed them, and I made them.)

8 Lead thou forth the blind people, and having eyes; the deaf people, and ears be to it. (Lead thou forth the people who have eyes, but be blind; the people who have ears, but be deaf.)

9 All heathen men be gathered together, and lineages be gathered together. Who among you, who shall tell this, and shall make you to hear those things, that be the first? give they [the] witnesses of them, and be they justified, and hear they, and say, (That is the truth). (All the heathen be gathered together, and the tribes be gathered together. Who among you, who shall tell out this, and shall help us to understand the former things? bring they in their witnesses, and be they justified, or proven right, and listen they, and say, That is the truth.)

10 Verily ye be my witnesses, saith the Lord, and my servant(s), whom I chose; that ye know, and believe to me, and understand, for I myself am; before me is no God former, and after me shall none be. (Truly ye be my witnesses, saith the Lord, and my servants, whom I chose; so that ye would know me, and believe me, and understand, that I am he; before me no God was formed, and there shall be no one after me.)