Isaiah 6:10

Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed.

Cross-reference

In Isaiah 63:17, the people ask why God hardens their heart — directly echoing God's active hardening here.

In Isaiah 29:10, God pours out a spirit of deep sleep, closing eyes and covering heads — identical imagery of divine blinding.

Isaiah 59:1 Contrast

In Isaiah 59:1, God's ear is not heavy — contrast to the heavy ears in Isaiah 6:10. The problem is not God's ability but the people's hardness.

In Isaiah 44:18, idolaters have plastered eyes and hearts so they cannot see or understand — directly parallel to the hardened condition in Isaiah 6:10.

In Isaiah 29:14, God hides the wisdom of the wise — parallel to blinding eyes in Isaiah 6:10, both removing understanding as judgment.

In Isaiah 28:13, God's word becomes a trap causing them to fall — same result as in Isaiah 6:10: the word meant to heal becomes judgment.

Isaiah 48:8 Related theme

In Isaiah 48:8, God says Israel's ears were not opened from of old — similar theme of deafness, but less direct than other parallels.

Exodus 7:3 Parallel

In Exodus 7:3, God hardens Pharaoh's heart to multiply signs — same divine hardening of a human heart.

In Ezekiel 3:6-11, God sends Ezekiel to a rebellious people who will not listen — same commission to speak to a hardened audience.

Zechariah 7:11 describes people stopping their ears and refusing to hear, matching the stubbornness God commands in Isaiah.

Jeremiah 6:10 speaks of uncircumcised ears that cannot listen, reflecting the same refusal to hear as in Isaiah.

Jeremiah 5:21 directly says 'eyes but see not, ears but hear not', echoing the condition God imposes in Isaiah.

In Matthew 13:15, Jesus directly quotes this verse to explain why people reject his parables — their hearts are hardened.

In Exodus 10:27, the Lord hardens Pharaoh's heart so he refuses to let Israel go — parallel to God hardening Israel's heart here.

In Exodus 11:10, the Lord hardens Pharaoh's heart after wonders — same pattern of divine hardening preventing repentance.

In Exodus 14:17, God hardens the Egyptians' hearts to pursue Israel — another instance of God hardening hearts for judgment.

Acts 28:27 Citation

Acts 28:27 directly quotes Isaiah 6:9-10, applying the same hardening to Paul's audience.

In Deuteronomy 2:30, God hardens Sihon's spirit and makes his heart obstinate — exactly the same divine action as here.

2 Corinthians 3:14 applies this dullness to Jewish readers whose minds were hardened, preventing understanding of Christ.

Hebrews 5:11 uses the exact phrase 'dull of hearing' from this verse, applying it to believers who became sluggish in understanding.

Exodus 4:21 Parallel

In Exodus 4:21, God hardens Pharaoh's heart — a parallel to the divine hardening of Israel's heart here, both preventing repentance.

Zechariah 7:12 says they made their hearts hard as flint — directly parallels the hardened hearts here.

In Matthew 13:14, Jesus directly quotes this verse to explain his parables — a clear citation.

2 Thessalonians 2:11 parallels this divine hardening — God sends delusion so they believe lies as judgment.

Ephesians 1:18 contrasts this — Paul prays for eyes of the heart to be enlightened, the very healing Isaiah's prophecy withheld.

John 12:41 Citation

In John 12:41, John explains that Isaiah saw Christ's glory when he had the vision — directly related to the same passage.

Romans 11:7 Allusion

Romans 11:7 echoes this hardening — the rest were hardened, fulfilling the division Isaiah announced.

Acts 28:26 Citation

Acts 28:26 quotes this verse verbatim, showing Paul applying Isaiah's hardening prophecy to the Jewish rejection of the gospel.

Mark 3:5 Parallel

In Mark 3:5, Jesus is grieved at the Pharisees' hardened hearts, directly echoing Isaiah's description of spiritual dullness.

Mark 4:12 Citation

In Mark 4:12, Jesus quotes Isaiah 6:9-10 to explain why parables hide truth from hardened listeners.

Mark 8:18 Allusion

In Mark 8:18, Jesus asks 'having eyes do you not see?' — a direct echo of Isaiah's theme of blind perception.

Luke 19:42 Allusion

In Luke 19:42, Jesus laments that Jerusalem's eyes are hidden from peace — echoing Isaiah's hidden understanding.

John 10:6 Parallel

In John 10:6, the listeners fail to understand Jesus' figure — a direct parallel to Isaiah's dullness.

John 12:39 Citation

In John 12:39, John explicitly quotes Isaiah 6:10 to explain why they could not believe.

Job 33:16 Contrast

In Job 33:16, God opens ears for instruction—the opposite of shutting ears here.

Exodus 10:20 repeats the hardening of Pharaoh's heart — another parallel example of God hardening a heart to prevent repentance.

Deuteronomy 29:4 states God has not given Israel eyes to see or ears to hear — a clear parallel to the same divine withholding of understanding.

In Joshua 11:20, the LORD hardens the hearts of Israel's enemies to bring judgment — same divine hardening motif as here.

In 1 Kings 22:23, God uses a lying spirit to deceive Ahab's prophets — a parallel to divine agency in causing spiritual blindness.

2 Chronicles 18:22 repeats the same account of God placing a lying spirit — parallel to the theme of God causing spiritual deception.

Ezekiel 12:2 describes Israel with eyes that don't see and ears that don't hear — identical imagery of spiritual blindness.

Psalm 51:13 Contrast

In Psalm 51:13, David teaches sinners to convert—opposite of Isaiah's commission to prevent conversion.

Psalm 69:23 Parallel

In Psalm 69:23, the psalmist asks for enemies' eyes to be darkened—directly parallel to shutting eyes.

In Psalm 119:70, 'heart as fat as grease' describes the wicked's insensitivity, matching the fat heart here.

In Psalm 119:144, the psalmist pleads for understanding—the very thing God withholds in Isaiah.

Psalm 135:16 Related theme

In Psalm 135:16, idols have eyes but see not—mirroring the people made unable to see.

In Jeremiah 4:22, God's people are foolish and know not — same diagnosis of spiritual blindness and ignorance as in Isaiah 6:10.

In Jeremiah 7:27, the people will not listen to the prophet — same dynamic: God sends a messenger to a resistant audience, echoing Isaiah's commission.

In Jeremiah 36:3, there is hope that the people will listen and turn — the opposite of the hardened response here.

Lamentations 3:65 prays for a hard heart on enemies — mirroring the judicial hardening described here.

Deuteronomy 32:15 uses 'grew fat' to depict Israel's rebellious prosperity, mirroring the heart-fatness commanded here.

2 Corinthians 4:4 parallels this blinding — Satan obscures the gospel light to prevent seeing Christ's glory.

Job 12:24 Parallel

In Job 12:24, God removes understanding from leaders—a similar divine blinding judgment.

In Deuteronomy 28:28, blindness and confusion are curses for covenant breaking — similar imagery of divine-induced inability to perceive.