Discovery BoxIsaiah 29:10-11 
Context29:10 For the Lord has poured out on you
a strong urge to sleep deeply. 1
He has shut your eyes (the prophets),
and covered your heads (the seers).
29:11 To you this entire prophetic revelation 2 is like words in a sealed scroll. When they hand it to one who can read 3 and say, “Read this,” he responds, “I can’t, because it is sealed.”
1 tn Heb “a disposition [or “spirit”] of deep sleep.” Through this mixed metaphor (sleep is likened to a liquid which one pours and in turn symbolizes spiritual dullness) the prophet emphasizes that God himself has given the people over to their spiritual insensitivity as a form of judgment.
2 tn Heb “vision” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV).
3 tn Heb “one who knows a/the scroll.”
