Romans 11:8 – Divine Stupidity
Just as it is written: “God has given them a spirit of stupor, eyes that they should not see and ears that they should not hear, to this very day.”
Truth to Learn
God is the one who enlightens or stupefies.
Behind the Words
The word translated “stupor” is katanuxis, which is the noun form of katanussō, made up of kata (used as an intensifier) and nussō, meaning “to pierce” or “to stab.” Hence, katanuxis refers to a condition of having been deeply penetrated. Figuratively, it refers to a condition of deep sleep, or of intellectual stupor following a penetrating wound or a heavy blow. In today’s vernacular we might say that it is “a spirit of stupidity.”
“This very day” is translated from the Greek words sēmeron hēmeras. Sēmeron is from an earlier form, tē hēmera, meaning “the day” or “now.” Hēmeras is also a form of hēmera, which means “day.” In Greek, repetition indicates emphasis, so we see that this could be translated as “the now day” or “this very day” as we have in our translation here.
Meaning Explained
In the previous verse Paul introduced the idea that those Israelites who were not chosen were hardened (or blinded). In the current verse he paraphrases Isaiah 29:10 which says,
For the LORD has poured out on you the spirit of deep sleep, And has closed your eyes, namely, the prophets; And He has covered your heads, namely, the seers.
This could also be a reference to Deuteronomy 29:4,
Yet the LORD has not given you a heart to perceive and eyes to see and ears to hear, to this very day.
Or to Isaiah 6:9,10 which says,
And He said, “Go, and tell this people: ‘Keep on hearing, but do not understand; keep on seeing, but do not perceive.’ Make the heart of this people dull, and their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and return and be healed.”
Though Paul’s reference is most likely to Isaiah 29:10, clearly his declaration is that God has made them stupid, unable to see the facts clearly presented to them and unable to hear the truth even as it is being proclaimed to them. His point is that God is the one who has caused the unbelieving Israelites to not understand the true message about the Messiah from days of old even to the present day (in Paul’s time, and in our time).
In the following verse Paul will quote from King David to show that he expressed a similar sentiment.
Application
We have a commission to spread the Gospel truth to all people throughout the world. We do not know whom God has chosen and whom He has stupefied. That’s not up to us. We are simply to continue proclaiming the message of salvation and leave it up to God to give understanding or blindness. We may be called fools by the very people we witness to, but God sees us as a beautiful flower every time we proclaim the truth of Christ, the Lamb of God. Given the choice of being admired by the world or being called a fool by the world and admired by God, which would you choose? Which do you choose?
In God’s service, for His glory,
Copyright © 2010 Will Krause. All rights reserved.
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
If this message or this link was forwarded to you by a friend and you wish to receive future verses directly to your inbox, send an e-mail to: