SEV Biblia, Chapter 13:15
Porque el corazn de este pueblo est engrosado, y con los oídos oyen pesadamente, y con sus ojos guian; para que no vean con los ojos, y oigan con los oídos, y del corazn entiendan, y se conviertan, y yo los sane.
Clarke's Bible Commentary - Matthew 13:15
Verse 15. Heart is waxed gross] epacunqh, is become fat- inattentive stupid, insensible. They hear heavily with their ears-are half asleep while the salvation of God is preached unto them. Their eyes they have closed] Totally and obstinately resisted the truth of God, and shut their eyes against the light.
Lest-they should see, &c.] Lest they should see their lost estate, and be obliged to turn unto God, and seek his salvation. His state is truly deplorable who is sick unto death, and yet is afraid of being cured. The fault is here totally in the people, and not at all in that God whose name is Mercy and whose nature is love.
John Gill's Bible Commentary
Ver. 15. For this peoples heart is waxed gross , etc.,] Or fat, become stupid and sottish, and without understanding; and so incapable of taking in the true sense and meaning of what they saw with their eyes, and heard with their ears; for they had their outward senses of hearing and seeing, and yet their intellectual powers were stupefied. And their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed ; which is expressive of the blindness and hardness, which were partly brought upon themselves by their own wilfulness and obstinacy, against such clear evidence as arose from the doctrine and miracles of Christ; and partly from the righteous judgment of God, giving them up, for their perverseness, to judicial blindness and obduracy; ( John 12:40) and are in the prophet ascribed to the ministry of the word; that being despised, was in righteous judgment, the savour of death unto death, unto them; and they under it, as clay, under the influence of the sun, grew harder and harder by it, stopping their ears, and shutting their eyes against it: lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart : which may be understood either of Gods intention, and view, in giving them up to judicial blindness, and hardness of heart, under such miracles, and such a ministry, as a punishment for their wilful contempt of them; that so they might never have any true sight, hearing, and understanding of these things, and be turned from the evil of their ways, have repentance unto life, and remission of sins; which seems to be the sense of the other evangelists, ( Mark 4:12 Luke 8:10 John 12:40) or, as if these people purposely stupefied themselves, stopped their ears, and pulled away the shoulder, and wilfully shut their eyes; fearing they should receive some conviction, light, and knowledge, and be converted by the power and grace of God: and I should heal them ; or, as in Mark, and their sins should be forgiven them; for healing of diseases, and forgiveness of sins, are, in Scripture language, one and the same thing; and this sense of the phrase here, is justified by the Chaldee paraphrase, which renders it, whl qbtyw , and they be forgiven, or it be forgiven them, and by a Jewish commentator on the place; who interprets healing, of the healing of the soul, and adds hjylsh ayhw , and this is pardon f785 .
Matthew Henry Commentary
Verses 1-23 - Jesus entered into a boat that he might be the less pressed, and be the better heard by the people. By this he teaches us in the outwar circumstances of worship not to covet that which is stately, but to make the best of the conveniences God in his providence allots to us Christ taught in parables. Thereby the things of God were made mor plain and easy to those willing to be taught, and at the same time mor difficult and obscure to those who were willingly ignorant. The parabl of the sower is plain. The seed sown is the word of God. The sower in our Lord Jesus Christ, by himself, or by his ministers. Preaching to multitude is sowing the corn; we know not where it will light. Some sort of ground, though we take ever so much pains with it, brings fort no fruit to purpose, while the good soil brings forth plentifully. S it is with the hearts of men, whose different characters are her described by four sorts of ground. Careless, trifling hearers, are a easy prey to Satan; who, as he is the great murderer of souls, so he is the great thief of sermons, and will be sure to rob us of the word, i we take not care to keep it. Hypocrites, like the stony ground, ofte get the start of true Christians in the shows of profession. Many ar glad to hear a good sermon, who do not profit by it. They are told of free salvation, of the believer's privileges, and the happiness of heaven; and, without any change of heart, without any abidin conviction of their own depravity, their need of a Saviour, or the excellence of holiness, they soon profess an unwarranted assurance. But when some heavy trial threatens them, or some sinful advantage may be had, they give up or disguise their profession, or turn to some easie system. Worldly cares are fitly compared to thorns, for they came i with sin, and are a fruit of the curse; they are good in their place to stop a gap, but a man must be well armed that has much to do with them they are entangling, vexing, scratching, and their end is to be burned Heb 6:8. Worldly cares are great hinderances to our profiting by the word of God. The deceitfulness of riches does the mischief; they cannot be said to deceive us unless we put our trust in them, then they chok the good seed. What distinguished the good ground was fruitfulness. But these true Christians are distinguished from hypocrites. Christ does no say that this good ground has no stones in it, or no thorns; but non that could hinder its fruitfulness. All are not alike; we should aim a the highest, to bring forth most fruit. The sense of hearing cannot be better employed than in hearing God's word; and let us look to ourselves that we may know what sort of hearers we are.
Greek Textus Receptus
επαχυνθη 3975 5681 V-API-3S γαρ 1063 CONJ η 3588 T-NSF καρδια 2588 N-NSF του 3588 T-GSM λαου 2992 N-GSM τουτου 5127 D-GSM και 2532 CONJ τοις 3588 T-DPN ωσιν 3775 N-DPN βαρεως 917 ADV ηκουσαν 191 5656 V-AAI-3P και 2532 CONJ τους 3588 T-APM οφθαλμους 3788 N-APM αυτων 846 P-GPM εκαμμυσαν 2576 5656 V-AAI-3P μηποτε 3379 ADV ιδωσιν 1492 5632 V-2AAS-3P τοις 3588 T-DPM οφθαλμοις 3788 N-DPM και 2532 CONJ τοις 3588 T-DPN ωσιν 3775 N-DPN ακουσωσιν 191 5661 V-AAS-3P και 2532 CONJ τη 3588 T-DSF καρδια 2588 N-DSF συνωσιν 4920 5632 V-2AAS-3P και 2532 CONJ επιστρεψωσιν 1994 5661 V-AAS-3P και 2532 CONJ ιασωμαι 2390 5667 V-ADS-1S αυτους 846 P-APM
Vincent's NT Word Studies
15. Is waxed gross (epacunqh). Lit., was made fat. Wyc., enfatted.Are dull of hearing (toiv wsin barewv hkousan). Lit., They heard heavily with their ears.
They have closed (ekammusan), kata, down, muw, to close, as in musthria above. Our idiom shuts up the eyes. The Greek shuts them down. The Hebrew, in Isa. vi. 10, is besmear. This insensibility is described as a punishment. Compare Isa. xxix. 10; xliv. 18; in both of which the closing of the eyes is described as a judgment of God. Sealing up the eyes was an oriental punishment. Cheyne ("Isaiah") cites the case of a son of the Great Mogul, who has his eyes sealed up three years by his father as a punishment. Dante pictures the envious, on the second cornice of Purgatory, with their eyes sewed up:
"For all their lids an iron wire transpierces, And sews them up, as to a sparhawk wild Is done, because it will not quiet stay." Purg., xiii. 70-72.
Be converted (epistreywsin). Rev., turn again; ejpi, to or toward, strefw, to turn; with the idea of their turning from their evil toward God.
Robertson's NT Word Studies
13:15 {Is waxed gross} (epacunqe). Aorist passive tense. From pachus, thick, fat, stout. Made callous or dull -- even fatty degeneration of the heart. {Dull of hearing} (tois "Sin bare"s ekousan). Another aorist. Literally, "They heard (or hear) heavily with their ears." The hard of hearing are usually sensitive. {Their eyes they have closed} (tous ofqalmous autwn ekammusan). The epic and vernacular verb kammu" is from katamu" (to shut down). We say shut up of the mouth, but the eyes really shut down. The Hebrew verb in #Isa 6:10 means to smear over. The eyes can be smeared with wax or cataract and thus closed. "Sealing up the eyes was an oriental punishment" (Vincent). See #Isa 29:10; 44:18. {Lest} (mepote). this negative purpose as a judgment is left in the quotation from Isaiah. It is a solemn thought for all who read or hear the word of God. {And I should heal them} (kai iasomai autous). Here the LXX changes to the future indicative rather than the aorist subjunctive as before.
