“(According as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear;) unto this day.”
as it is written: "God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes so that they could not see and ears so that they could not hear, to this very day." — Paul combines Isaiah 29:10 and Deuteronomy 29:4 to establish that hardening of Israel has scriptural precedent. The spirit of deep sleep (pneuma katanuxeōs) describes insensibility not as mere failure to comprehend but as divinely permitted blindness.
Church Fathers on Romans 11:8
“According as it is written, God has given them the spirit of slumber.” Isaiah 29:10 Or rather we should go back to the beginning of his argument. Having then mentioned the state of things in Elijah's time, and shown what grace is, he proceeds, “What then? Israel has not obtained that which he seeks for.” Now this is as much what an accuser would say, as what one who was putting a question. For the Jew, he means, is inconsistent with himself when he seeks for righteousness,…
Nicene & Post-Nicene / Ante-Nicene Fathers translations · public domain
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