A quiz question - on seeing and hearing (not)

 A quiz: Who was the first in the Bible to make the point of having ears and not hearing, and eyes and not seeing? This question was prompted by having found the following in Jeremiah (5:21): Hear now this, O foolish people, and without understanding; which have eyes, and see not; which have ears, and hear not

I had thought that Jesus was the first to give this warning, but like so many of his statements, he had them from the prophets. He said... O! Wait a minute... He mentions Isaiah (Esaias): Therefore speak to them in parables: because they seeing see not, and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand. And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand: and seeing seeing ye shall not see, and shall not perceive: For this people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them. (See Matthew 13:13-17, where he quotes Isaiah 6:10.)

But Jesus adds a healing message: But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear. For verily I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear and have not heard them (Matt. 13:16-17). He then interprets to them the parable of the sower.

Paul also quotes from Isaiah. See Acts 28:26-29. (Ed. This is a fascinating passage to read in the context of Paul's imprisonment by the Romans.)

Yes. Isaiah was the first to share this idea. And, yes, he wrote before Jeremiah, although Deuteronomy has, “Yet the Lord hath not given you an heart to perceive, and eyes to see, and ears to hear, unto this day” (29:4).

In her Bible timeline Ann Putcamp tells us that Jeremiah was the greatest prophet of the Old Testament (Guide for Bible Teaching II, published 1975 by The Christian Science Publishing Society).

And what of Mary Baker Eddy (from the Christian Science angle)? She gives specific meanings of the ideas of ears and eyes in the Glossary to Science and Health - see pages 585 and 586. 

Here is a related quote at page 38 line 24: “Jesus mapped out the path for others. He unveiled the Christ, the spiritual idea of divine Love. To those buried in the belief of sin and self, living only for pleasure or the gratification of the senses, he said in substance: Having eyes ye see not, and having ears ye hear not; lest ye should understand and be converted and I might heal you. He taught that the material senses shut out Truth and its healing power.”

Joyce Voysey 

ed. So, any more quiz questions anyone?

ed. The Christian Science Monitor's Perspective article a few days ago had a related article of interest.