Bible Strands
Acts 28:26
‘Go to this people and say, “You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Paul addresses a Jewish audience in Rome after they dispute his message and begin to depart. He delivers a quoted prophecy to explain their resistance to his teaching.
The words — πορεύθητι (poreuthēti) means "do go" and εἰπόν (eipon) means "do say," framing the direct command to deliver the message to this specific group.
The thread — The text quotes Isaiah 6:9 and parallels the sensory descriptions in Ezekiel 12:2, while Isaiah 42:19 applies similar blindness and deafness imagery metaphorically to the servant and covenant partner.
Why it lands — The verse states that persistent exposure to the message will not produce understanding or perception, requiring readers to confront how repeated rejection of divine communication alters spiritual receptivity.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
Saying, Go unto this people, and say, Hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and not perceive:
Cross-references
- Isaiah 6:9 And He replied: “Go and tell this people, ‘Be ever hearing, but never understanding; be ever seeing, but never perceiving.’
- Ezekiel 12:2 “Son of man, you are living in a rebellious house. They have eyes to see but do not see, and ears to hear but do not hear, for they are a rebellious house.
- Isaiah 42:19 Who is blind but My servant, or deaf like the messenger I am sending? Who is blind like My covenant partner, or blind like the servant of the LORD?
- Matthew 13:14 In them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled: ‘You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.
- Mark 4:12 so that, ‘they may be ever seeing but never perceiving, and ever hearing but never understanding; otherwise they might turn and be forgiven.’”
- Luke 24:45 Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures.
- 2 Corinthians 4:4 The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
- John 12:38 This was to fulfill the word of Isaiah the prophet: “Lord, who has believed our message? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?”
- Romans 11:8 as it is written: “God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that could not see, and ears that could not hear, to this very day.”
- Jeremiah 5:21 “Hear this, O foolish and senseless people, who have eyes but do not see, who have ears but do not hear.