Isaiah 29:10

Isa 29:10 For the LORD hath poured out upon you the spirit of deep sleep, and hath closed your eyes: the prophets and your rulers, the seers hath he covered.

Ver. 10. For the Lord hath poured out upon you the spirit of deep sleep.] By a judiciary hardness he hath rolled a stone upon your hearts, and given you up to a reprobate sense. He hath cast you into a dead lethargy, a dedolent disposition; so that "because of the blindness of their hearts," this people are "past feeling," {Eph 4:18-19} and because they have wilfully winked, he hath even dashed out their eyes, bereaving them of the light against which they rebelled, {Job 24:13} so that they have neither sight nor light, lemosorum instar oculos mentis concretos habent; they are miserably benighted.

The prophets, &c.] A blind seer is a monster. How could these, thus blindly led, avoid the ditch of destruction?

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

29:10 a spirit of deep sleep: The people’s folly was reinforced by God’s judgment on them (cp. Rom 1:24-32; 11:8); they had no perception of reality. • Prophets were also sometimes called visionaries. Neither the people nor their prophets would understand what God was doing (Isa 6:9-10).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Jehovah gives them up judicially to their own hardness of heart (compare Zac 14:13). Quoted by Paul, with variations from the Septuagint, Rom 11:8. See Isa 6:10; Psa 69:23.

eyes; the prophets, &c.--rather, "hath closed your eyes, the prophets; and your heads (Margin; see also Isa 3:2), the seers, He hath covered." The Orientals cover the head to sleep; thus "covered" is parallel to "closed your eyes" (Jdg 4:19). Covering the face was also preparatory to execution (Est 7:8). This cannot apply to the time when Isaiah himself prophesied, but to subsequent times.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

(10) The Lord hath poured out upon you . . .—The prophet sees in the stupor and panic of the chief of the people what we call a judicial blindness, the retribution of those who had wilfully closed their eyes against the light. (Comp. Rom_11:8.)

Your rulers.—Literally, your heads, the word being in apposition with the seers. The word is emphasised with a keen irony, precisely because they did not see. They were as those who sleep, and are “covered,” their mantle wrapped round their head, as when men settle themselves to sleep.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

10. Their infatuation is caused by Jehovah; see on ch. Isa_6:10.

deep sleep] The word (tardçmâh) is nearly always used of a profound slumber due to supernatural agency (1Sa_26:12) and favourable for the reception of Divine revelations (Job_4:13). The expressions the prophets and the seers are obviously glosses, based on a misconception of the meaning of the verse. Render: hath closed your eyes, and your heads hath he covered (or muffled).

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

For the Lord hath poured out upon you a spirit of deep sleep,.... Gave them up to a stupid frame of spirit; to a reprobate mind, a mind void of judgment and sense; to judicial blindness and hardness of heart: this was remarkably fulfilled in the Jews, in the times of Christ and his apostles, who choosing darkness rather than the light of the Gospel, which shone around them, were righteously given up to such a temper of mind; and to nothing else can be imputed their obstinate rejection of the Messiah, against the most glaring light and evidence. The Apostle Paul produces this passage, in proof of that blindness that had happened unto them in his time, Rom 11:7,

and hath closed your eyes; that is, the eyes of their understandings, so that they could not see the characters of the Messiah, and the fulfilment of prophecies in Jesus of Nazareth; nor the danger they were in, nor the ruin that was coming upon their nation, nor even when it was come, still flattering themselves with safety and deliverance:

the prophets and your rulers, the seers hath he covered; the eyes of them, as before; not only the common people were blinded, but even the Scribes and Pharisees, the elders of the people, their ecclesiastical rulers, who pretended to be seers, and to know more than others; even "for judgment", for the judicial blindness and hardness of these Christ "came, that they which see might be made blind", Joh 9:39. The words may be rendered, "your heads, the seers, hath he covered" (t); and there may be an allusion to the covering of the head with a veil, an emblem of that veil of ignorance and infidelity which still remains upon the Jews. The Targum renders it,

"the prophets, and the Scribes, and the teachers that teach the law.''

(t) "et capita vestra, videntes, operuit", Montanus. So Cocceius.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

For the Lord hath poured out upon you - The word rendered ‘hath poured out’ (נסך nâsak) is usually referred to the act of pouring out a libation, or drink-offering in worship Exo 30:9; Hos 9:4; Isa 30:1. Here it means that Yahweh had, as it were, “drenched them” (Septuagint, πεπότικε pepotike) with a spirit of stupefaction. This is traced to God in accordance with the usual custom in the Bible, by which his providential agency is recognized in all events (see the notes at Isa 6:9-10). Compare the notes at Rom 11:8), where this passage is quoted from the Septuagint, and is applied to the Jews in the time of the apostle Paul.

The spirit of deep, sleep - The word rendered ‘deep sleep,’ is the same as is used in Gen 2:21, to denote the sleep that God brought on Adam; and in Gen 15:12, to denote the deep sleep that fell on Abraham, and when a horror of great darkness fell upon him; and in 1Sa 26:12, to denote the deep sleep that came upon Saul when David approached and took away the spear and the cruise of water from his bolster. Here it means spiritual sluggishness, inactivity, stupidity, that prevailed everywhere among the people in regard to the things of religion.

The seers - Those that see visions, another name for the prophets (see the note at Isa 1:1).

Hath he covered - That is, he has covered their eyes; or they are all blind.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Sleep, or compunction, (Romans xi. 8.; Calmet) denoting their obstinacy. (St. Chrysostom) --- Visions. Protestants, "the seers." (Haydock) --- The Jews perceived but very imperfectly the meaning of the prophets, when they spoke of a future Redeemer, God and man. They are now more infatuated, (Calmet) having a veil on their hearts, 1 Corinthians iv. 3. Both learned and ignorant refuse to believe, excusing themselves, ver. 12. (Haydock) --- The more they read the Scriptures, the less do they understand. (Calmet)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Hath poured out upon you; which phrase notes the plenty and vehemency of this judgment.

The spirit of deep sleep; hardness of heart, and insensibleness of your danger and misery, which God is said to send, because he denies or withdraws his fight and grace, which alone can cure those maladies. The prophets and your rulers, the seers; your magistrates and ministers, whose blindness or stupidity is a great curse and plague to the people. Or, the prophets, even the chief (for the head is oft put for the chief of persons or things, as Exo 30:23; 1Ch 12:18, and elsewhere) of your seers. Hath he covered with the veil of ignorance and stupidity, or as to their eyes, which is understood out of the former clause. And this last clause is and may be rendered thus, The eyes (which may be repeated out of the foregoing clause) of your prophets, and of, or even of, your principal seers, (or, and of your most intelligent rulers,) hath he covered.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

The Lord hath poured out upon you the spirit of deep sleep. "Sleep," in Scripture, is sometimes "rest," "repose from trouble". ("So he giveth his beloved sleep," Psa_128:2) But here it is "spiritual deadness and impassiveness an inability to appreciate, or even to understand, spiritual warnings. The Jews of Isaiah"s time were sunk in a spiritual lethargy, from which he vainly endeavored to arouse them. This spiritual lethargy is here said to have been "poured out upon them by Jehovah;" but we are not to suppose that there was anything exceptional in their treatment they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind", (Rom_1:28) as he does men generally. Hath closed your eyes. (comp. Isa_6:10; and see also Mat_12:13 Mar_4:12 Luk_8:10 Joh_12:40 Joh_11:8, etc.) The prophets. As the text stands, the proper translation would be, "For the Lord hath poured out upon you the spirit of deep sleep, and hath closed your eyes (the prophets), and your heads (the seers) hath he covered." But it is reasonably conjectured that the expressions, "the prophets," "the seers," are glosses, which have crept from the margin into the text (Eichhorn, Koppe, Cheyne). If so, they are probably mistaken glosses, the allusion being, not to particular classes, but to the actual "heads" and "eyes" of individual Hebrews, which were "closed" and "covered" by the judicial action of the Almighty. In the East a covering is often drawn over the head during sleep.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Dead sleep - Hardness of heart, and insensibleness of your danger. Seers - Your magistrates and ministers. Covered - With the veil of ignorance and stupidity.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

“For Jehovah hath poured out upon you a spirit of deep sleep and hath shut your eyes; the prophets and your heads (or even your heads) the seers hath he covered.” On the agency here ascribed to God, see the exposition of Isa 6:9-10. The two ideas expressed in the parallel clauses are those of bandaging the eyes and covering the head so as to obstruct the sight. In the latter case the Prophet makes a special application of the figure to the chiefs or religious leaders of the people, as if he had said, ‘he hath shut your eyes, and covered your heads,’ viz. the prophets.

Joseph Addison Alexander, The Prophecies of Isaiah (1846–1847; New York: Scribner, 1870–1878) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

For the Lord has poured upon you, etc. (נָסַךְ) an expression of mixing wine. Comp. (Prov. 9: 2) “She mixed (מָסְכָה) her wine.” It may also be an expression of princedom (נְסִיכוּת). He caused a spirit of deep sleep to overcome you, (lit., to rule over you). Concerning the transgressors of Israel he was prophesying, for they were stargazers and were experts in adjuring the heavenly princes, each one with the proper name for adjuring him. Therefore, they say, “Who will encamp upon us (Jer. 21:13)? If the enemy comes upon us, we can make for it a wall of fire around, ([Most manuscripts read:] If the enemy comes upon the city, we can make for it a wall of fire around,) or surround it with the Great Sea.” Said the Holy One, blessed be He, “I will change the heavenly princes; the one appointed over fire, is appointed over water. When he adjures the prince of fire to bring him fire, he will reply, “This is not mine,” And, likewise, the prince of water. And even the name by which you adjure him, he does not recognize. This is the closing of the eyes and the covering of the heads of the stargazers.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.

נסך He has covered. Comp. והמסכה and the covering (28:20). Upon you. Upon the inhabitants of Zion.

ויעצם And he closed. Derived from עצם bone; he put, as it were, a bone on your eyes.

כסה He covered. This proves that נסך has also the meaning, he covered.

Ibn Ezra on the Tanakh — English translations: “Sefaria Community Translation” (CC0 1.0 (public-domain dedication)); “Yalkut, Sifsei Chachomim Chumash, Metsudah Publications, 2009” (CC BY 4.0); and “Commentary of Ibn Ezra on Isaiah - trans. by M. Friedlander, 1873” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.