complete verse (Romans 11:8)

Following are a number of back-translations of Romans 11:8:

  • Uma: “As it was written long ago in the Holy Book: ‘God gave them a stubborn [lit., stiff] heart. He closed their eyes so they won’t see the true road. He stopped their ears so they won’t hear the true message. up to the present time.'” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “There is something the holy-book says about these people whose heads are hard. The holy-book says, ‘God has made their thoughts/minds dull. Until now it is as if they do not see even though they have eyes, it is as if they do not hear even though they have ears.'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “For there is a written word of God which says, ‘God made their minds to become numb so that they might not understand. And up till now they don’t know what is right and they don’t understand what is proper.'” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “This very-thing is what God caused-to-be-written is talking-about saying, ‘God made their minds like the mind of a sleeping person. So until today, even though they have eyes, they are not able-to-see and even though they have ears, they are not able-to-hear.'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “It says in the Holy Book: God caused that the people do not understand the word they hear. They do not understand about what they see. They will hear the words but will not understand about the words they will hear. This happened in past days and this again is happening now.'” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
  • Huehuetla Tepehua: “And since that is the way they were done to, it was fulfilled like it is written where it says this: God made their hearts stupid. In this way, even though they read the truth, they don’t understand. And even though they hear the truth, they don’t believe. And that is the way it is even until now.” (Source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.)

Translation commentary on Romans 11:8

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 .

SIL Translator’s Notes on Romans 11:8

11:8a–b

God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that could not see, and ears that could not hear: There are several ways to interpret the connection of eyes that could not see, and ears that could not hear (11:8b) to God gave them a spirit of stupor (11:8a):

(1) It is an additional description of the Jews, as with the comma in the Berean Standard Bible.

(Berean Standard Bible, REV, New International Version, English Standard Version, New American Bible, Revised Edition, King James Version, New American Standard Bible, NET Bible, New Living Translation (2004), God’s Word)

(2) Both parts describe the same thing. The semi-colon implies this in English. For example:

God has infused them with a spirit of lethargy; until today they have not eyes to see or ears to hear (New Jerusalem Bible)

(Good News Translation, New Jerusalem Bible, Revised English Bible)

(3) The stupor is the cause for the eyes not seeing and ears not hearing. For example:

God made them so stupid that their eyes are blind, and their ears are still deaf (Contemporary English Version)

(Contemporary English Version, New Century Version)

It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1), because many scholars also use a comma here.

In some languages adding an “and” would be more natural. For example:

God gave them a spirit of stupor, ⌊and⌋ eyes that would not see and ears that would not hear

11:8a

11:8a–c is a quote from parts of Isaiah 29:10 and Deuteronomy 29:4. If you indicate the location of quotes from the Old Testament with cross-references, you may want to do so here.

as it is written: This phrase introduces a quote from the Old Testament. Paul quoted what God said to the nation of Israel. See how you translated this phrase in 1:17 or 10:15.

God gave them a spirit of stupor: Here the word spirit refers to a condition or state of being. The Jews would always be in a stupor until the time God takes that stupor away. Here are other ways to translate this phrase:

God made their minds and hearts dull (Good News Translation)

stupor: This word refers to being unable to respond, like when someone cannot think well or is deeply asleep. Here the Jews could not understand God’s truth, in particular about his Christ/Messiah, Jesus. Here are other ways to translate this word:

being unable to think
-or-
not able to sense/be-aware-of (anything)
-or-
God made their minds to become numb so that they might not understand

11:8b

eyes that could not see, and ears that could not hear: The Greek is literally “eyes of-the not seeing and ears of-the not hearing.” It is a figure of speech. It indicates that the Jews could not see or understand God’s truth, in particular about his Christ/Messiah, Jesus. Here are other ways to translate this phrase:

eyes that could not see and ears that could not hear (New International Version (2011))
-or-
they have not eyes to see or ears to hear (New Jerusalem Bible)
-or-
he has shut their eyes so they do not see, and closed their ears so they do not hear (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
they could not understand (New Century Version)

11:8c

to this very day: The Greek is literally “until the today day.” In the passage Paul quoted from, it referred to the forty years that the Jews wandered in the desert before reaching the promised land, going to the day Moses spoke these words. Paul implied that it was still true over a thousand years later when he wrote this letter to the Roman believers. Here are other ways to translate this phrase:

down to this very day (English Standard Version)
-or-
and so it is to this day (Revised English Bible)
-or-
This continues until today. (New Century Version)

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