Matthew 13:14

“And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled, which says, ‘You will indeed hear and never understand, and you will indeed see and never perceive.”
Matthew 13:14 · direct translation from the Greek

Study it in the app

With the Greek beneath

Andκαὶin themαὐτοῖςthe prophecyἡ προφητείαof IsaiahἨσαΐουis being fulfilled,ἀναπληροῦταιwhichἡsays,λέγουσα‘You will indeed hearἈκοῇ ἀκούσετεandκαὶneverοὐ μὴunderstand,συνῆτεandκαὶyou will indeed seeβλέποντες βλέψετεandκαὶneverοὐ μὴperceive.ἴδητε

Quotation · Isaiah 6:9-10

Go to Isaiah 6:9-10

Matthew quotes Isaiah 6:9-10. Where the Hebrew gives orders to the prophet (“make the heart of this people dull”), Matthew tells it as a fact (“the heart of this people has grown dull”).

Formula: ἀναπληροῦται αὐτοῖς ἡ προφητεία Ἠσαΐου ἡ λέγουσα “in them the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled, which says” (Matthew 13:14)

See the original texts

Greek of the New Testament: καὶ ἀναπληροῦται αὐτοῖς ἡ προφητεία Ἠσαΐου ἡ λέγουσα Ἀκοῇ ἀκούσετε καὶ οὐ μὴ συνῆτε καὶ βλέποντες βλέψετε καὶ οὐ μὴ ἴδητε ἐπαχύνθη γὰρ ἡ καρδία τοῦ λαοῦ τούτου καὶ τοῖς ὠσὶν βαρέως ἤκουσαν καὶ τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς αὐτῶν ἐκάμμυσαν μήποτε ἴδωσιν τοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς καὶ τοῖς ὠσὶν ἀκούσωσιν καὶ τῇ καρδίᾳ συνῶσιν καὶ ἐπιστρέψωσιν καὶ ἰάσομαι αὐτούς

Hebrew (Masoretic text): וַיֹּאמֶר לֵךְ וְאָמַרְתָּ לָעָם הַזֶּה שִׁמְעוּ שָׁמוֹעַ וְאַל תָּבִינוּ וּרְאוּ רָאוֹ וְאַל תֵּדָעוּ הַשְׁמֵן לֵב הָעָם הַזֶּה וְאָזְנָיו הַכְבֵּד וְעֵינָיו הָשַׁע פֶּן יִרְאֶה בְעֵינָיו וּבְאָזְנָיו יִשְׁמָע וּלְבָבוֹ יָבִין וָשָׁב וְרָפָא לוֹ

Septuagint (Isaiah 6:9-10 in the Septuagint numbering): καὶ εἶπεν Πορεύθητι καὶ εἰπὸν τῷ λαῷ τούτῳ Ἀκοῇ ἀκούσετε καὶ οὐ μὴ συνῆτε, καὶ βλέποντες βλέψετε καὶ οὐ μὴ ἴδητε. ἐπαχύνθη γὰρ ἡ καρδία τοῦ λαοῦ τούτου, καὶ τοῖς ὠσὶν αὐτῶν βαρέως ἥκουσαν, καὶ τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς αὐτῶν ἐκάμμυσαν, μή ποτε ἴδωσιν τοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς καὶ τοῖς ὠσὶν ἀκούσωσιν, καὶ τῇ καρδίᾳ συνῶσιν καὶ ἐπιστρέψωσιν, καὶ ἰάσομαι αὐτούς.

The Greek of the NT matches the Septuagint word for word in 23 consecutive words: “Ἀκοῇ ἀκούσετε καὶ οὐ μὴ συνῆτε καὶ βλέποντες βλέψετε καὶ οὐ μὴ ἴδητε ἐπαχύνθη γὰρ ἡ καρδία τοῦ λαοῦ τούτου καὶ τοῖς ὠσὶν.”

Septuagint, Swete’s text, First1KGreek transcription (with reading errors), CC BY-SA 4.0

Matthew 13:14, word by word

the prophecyπροφητείαprophēteia

prophecy

Prophecy: a message from God spoken by a prophet; also prophesying.

Where else “prophēteia” appears

of IsaiahἨσαΐουĒsaiou

Isaiah

Isaiah, the prophet of Judah whose book announces the Messiah and God's salvation.

Where else “Ēsaiou” appears

is being fulfilledἀναπληροῦταιanaplēroutai

fill up, fulfill

Fill up, complete; fulfill; also fill a place or supply what is lacking.

Where else “anaplēroutai” appears

saysλέγουσαlegousa

say

To express something in words to others.

Where else “legousa” appears

‘You will indeed hearἈκοῇAkoēi

hearing

The ability to perceive sounds and words; repeated, it stresses truly listening.

Where else “Akoēi” appears

‘You will indeed hearἀκούσετεakousete

hear

To perceive a sound, a voice or words with the ears.

Where else “akousete” appears

understandσυνῆτεsynēte

understand

Understand, grasp.

Where else “synēte” appears

you will indeed seeβλέποντεςblepontes

see

To use the eyes to perceive something; also to look with intent.

Where else “blepontes” appears

perceiveἴδητεidēte

perceive

To realize, understand.

Where else “idēte” appears

Translation note

Isaiah 6:9-10 according to the ancient Greek translation; in the Hebrew, God commands the prophet to harden the people.

Parallel passages

Other books that tell the same thing or quote these words.

Why Jesus speaks in parables

Mark 4:10-12 Luke 8:9-10

See them side by side

Matthew 13:10-17

¹⁰And the disciples came and said to him, “Why do you speak to them in parables?” ¹¹But he answered and said to them, “Because to you it has been given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. ¹²For whoever has, more will be given to him, and he will have an abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. ¹³This is why I speak to them in parables: because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. ¹⁴And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled, which says, ‘You will indeed hear and never understand, and you will indeed see and never perceive. ¹⁵For the heart of this people has grown dull, and with their ears they have heard with difficulty, and they have closed their eyes, so that they do not see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn, and I will heal them.’ ¹⁶But happy are your eyes, because they see, and your ears, because they hear. ¹⁷For truly I tell you that many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.

Mark 4:10-12

¹⁰And when he was alone, those around him with the Twelve were asking him about the parables. ¹¹And he was saying to them, “To you the mystery of the kingdom of God has been given; but for those outside, everything comes in parables, ¹²so that ‘seeing they may see and not perceive, and hearing they may hear and not understand, lest they turn and it be forgiven them.’”

Luke 8:9-10

⁹And his disciples were asking him what this parable might mean. ¹⁰And he said, “To you it has been given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to the rest it is in parables, so that seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.

Quotation · Isaiah 6:9-10

Matthew quotes Isaiah 6:9-10. Where the Hebrew gives orders to the prophet (“make the heart of this people dull”), Matthew tells it as a fact (“the heart of this people has grown dull”).

See them side by side

Matthew 13:14

¹⁴And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled, which says, ‘You will indeed hear and never understand, and you will indeed see and never perceive.

Isaiah 6:9-10

⁹And he said, “Go, and say to this people, ‘Keep hearing, but do not understand; keep seeing, but do not know.’

The context

13This is why I speak to them in parables: because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.

14 · This verse (above)

15For the heart of this people has grown dull, and with their ears they have heard with difficulty, and they have closed their eyes, so that they do not see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn, and I will heal them.’

Read all of Matthew 13

To study Matthew 13 in a group

1. What it says
On which four kinds of ground did the sower's seed fall (vv. 4–8)?
2. What it means
Why did Jesus teach the crowds in parables (vv. 10–13)?
3. How I live it
In the sower's parable, worry can choke the word (v. 22). What chokes it most in your day?

How to use it