Verses 8-10 are intended to give scriptural support to what Paul has said in the last part of verse 7. The passage to which he has reference in verse 8 seems to be Deuteronomy 29.4, but it has been somewhat modified on the basis of Isaiah 29.10. Paul’s genitive expression (literally “a spirit of numbness”) means “a spirit which causes people to be numb.” Moreover, “to give a spirit of numbness” means “to make numb.” Since the numbness referred to is of a spiritual nature, the Good News Translation renders the entire clause as God made them dull of heart and mind (An American Translation* “God has thrown them into a state of spiritual insensibility”). Dull of heart and mind may be rendered as “not able to feel or think,” “not able to sense or understand,” or simply “not able to comprehend.”

To this very day is an expression found quite often in Deuteronomy; it is apparently intended to be emphatic in the present verse, and for that reason the Good News Translation places it at the beginning of the clause.

Expressions such as see with their eyes or hear with their ears seem utterly redundant and repetitious in many languages. What else could one employ for seeing except the eyes or for hearing except the ears? In some languages one can only translate “and up to this very day they cannot see or hear.” However, the statement must be taken in a somewhat figurative sense, and so one may want to use terms which imply mental activity—for example, “they cannot perceive or comprehend.”

Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on Paul’s Letter to the Romans. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1973. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .