Later text
Romans 11:8BSB
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.”
Intertextuality Pair
Romans 11:8 → Deuteronomy 29:4
Quotation
Earlier text
Yet to this day the LORD has not given you a mind to understand, eyes to see, or ears to hear.
+ 2 more earlier texts
Earlier text
Isaiah 29:10BSB
For the LORD has poured out on you a spirit of deep sleep. He has shut your eyes, O prophets; He has covered your heads, O seers.
Earlier text
Isaiah 29:18BSB
On that day the deaf will hear the words of the scroll, and out of the deep darkness the eyes of the blind will see.
Significance
Paul combines Deuteronomy and Isaiah to show God has brought judicial hardening on Israel. But the hardening is temporary ("until this day"), pointing to future awakening, especially given Isaiah 29:18 ("the deaf shall hear... blind shall see"). Beale/Carson note that while Paul cites Isaiah 29:10 for the judgment of spiritual slumber, the broader Isaianic context provides the hope of reversal: "The Isaianic prophecy accordingly goes on to announce the day in which 'the deaf shall hear the words of a scroll, and out of their gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind shall see' (Isa. 29:18). Paul, too, anticipates the salvation of the nation." This contextual connection reinforces Paul's argument that Israel's hardening is temporary, not permanent, and that God who brought the slumber will end it.
- Found via
- Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
- Reference Type
- Direct Quotation
- Connection Method(s)
- Analogy + Redemptive-Historical Progression
Hermeneutical Notes
NT Use Pattern: Assimilated — The Deuteronomy 29:4 half of the Isa 29:10 + Deut 29:4 composite at Romans 11:8.
Linked Mentions 1