6:9Meaning
Isaiah is told to speak, but the people will not grasp it. God commands Isaiah to go and address “this people.” The message is paradoxical: they really will “hear” and “see,” yet they will not “understand” or “perceive.” The wording stresses continuing exposure without inward reception.
Unit 2 (v. 10a): Their inner capacities are described as dulled and closed.
The commission depicts three linked centers of response: heart, ears, and eyes. The heart becomes “fat” (insensitive), the ears “heavy” (unresponsive), and the eyes “shut” (blocked). The point is not lack of information but a blocked pathway from hearing/seeing to comprehension.
Unit 3 (v. 10b): The intended result is to prevent recognition, turning, and healing.
A “lest” clause spells out what would happen if the blockage were removed: they would see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their heart, “turn again,” and be “healed.” The sentence frames genuine perception as leading to changed direction and restoration, which the described hardening prevents.