32 Bible Verses about Being Without Understanding

Most Relevant Verses

Isaiah 42:20


You have seen many things, but you do not observe them;
Your ears are open, but no one hears.

Isaiah 6:10


“Make the heart of this people insensitive,
Their ears dull,
And their eyes dim,
Otherwise they might see with their eyes,
Hear with their ears,
Understand with their hearts,
And return and be healed.”

Matthew 13:13

This is the reason I speak to the crowds in parables: because while [having the power of] seeing they do not see, and while [having the power of] hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand and grasp [spiritual things].

Isaiah 6:9

And He said, “Go, and tell this people:

‘Keep on listening, but do not understand;
Keep on looking, but do not comprehend.’

Matthew 13:14

In them the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled, which says,

You will hear and keep on hearing, but never understand;
And you will look and keep on looking, but never comprehend;

Mark 4:12

so that they will continually look but not see, and they will continually hear but not understand, otherwise they might turn [from their rejection of the truth] and be forgiven.”

Acts 28:26

Go to this people and say,

You will keep on hearing, but will not understand,
You will keep on seeing, but will not perceive;

Luke 8:10

And He said, “To you [who have been chosen] it has been granted to know and recognize the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to the rest it is in parables, so that though seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.

Matthew 13:15


For this nation’s heart has grown hard,
And with their ears they hardly hear,
And they have [tightly] closed their eyes,
Otherwise they would see with their eyes,
And hear with their ears,
And understand with their heart, and turn [to Me]
And I would heal them [spiritually].’

John 12:40

He has blinded their eyes and He hardened their heart, to keep them from seeing with their eyes and understanding with their heart and being converted; otherwise, I [their God] would heal them.”

Acts 28:27


For the heart (the understanding, the soul) of this people has become dull (calloused),
And with their ears they scarcely hear,
And they have shut their eyes [to the truth];
Otherwise they might see with their eyes,
And hear with their ears,
And understand with their heart and return [to Me],
And I would heal them.”’

Deuteronomy 32:28


“For they are a nation devoid of counsel,
And there is no understanding in them.

Matthew 15:16

And He said, “Are you still so dull [and unable to put things together]?

Mark 7:18

And He said to them, “Are you, too, so foolish and lacking in understanding? Do you not understand that whatever goes into the man from outside cannot defile and dishonor him,

Mark 8:17

Jesus, aware of this [discussion], said to them, “Why are you discussing [the fact] that you have no bread? Do you still not see or understand? Are your hearts hardened?

Isaiah 56:11


And the dogs are greedy; they never have enough.
They are shepherds who have no understanding;
They have all turned to their own way,
Each one to his unlawful gain, without exception.

Isaiah 29:16


You turn things upside down [with your perversity]!
Shall the potter be considered equal with the clay,
That the thing that is made would say to its maker, “He did not make me”;
Or the thing that is formed say to him who formed it, “He has no understanding”?

Daniel 5:23

And you have exalted yourself against the Lord of heaven, and the vessels of His house have been brought before you, and you and your nobles, your wives and your concubines have been drinking wine from them; and you have praised the gods of silver and gold, of bronze, iron, wood and stone, which do not see or hear or understand. But the God who holds in His hand your breath of life and your ways you have not honored and glorified [but have dishonored and defied].

Hosea 4:14


I will not punish your daughters when they play the prostitute
Or your brides when they commit adultery,
For the men themselves slip away with prostitutes,
And they offer sacrifices with temple prostitutes [who give their bodies in honor of the idol].
So the people without understanding [stumble and fall and] come to ruin.

Hosea 4:11


Prostitution, wine, and new wine take away the mind and the [spiritual] understanding.

John 16:18

So they were saying, “What does He mean when He says, ‘A little while’? We do not know what He is talking about.”

2 Corinthians 10:12

We do not have the audacity to put ourselves in the same class or compare ourselves with some who [supply testimonials to] commend themselves. When they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they lack wisdom and behave like fools.

Isaiah 1:3


“The ox [instinctively] knows its owner,
And the donkey its master’s feeding trough,
But Israel does not know [Me as Lord],
My people do not understand.”

Isaiah 44:18

They do not know, nor do they understand, for God has muddied their eyes so that they cannot see, and their hearts (minds) as well so that they cannot understand.

Hebrews 5:11

Concerning this we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull and sluggish in [your spiritual] hearing and disinclined to listen.

Mark 8:18

Though you have eyes, do you not see? And though you have ears, do you not hear and listen [to what I have said]? And do you not remember,

Mark 8:21

And He was saying to them, “Do you still not understand?”

John 3:10

Jesus replied, “You are the [great and well-known] teacher of Israel, and yet you do not know nor understand these things [from Scripture]?

1 Timothy 1:7

wanting to be teachers of the Law [of Moses], even though they do not understand the terms they use or the subjects about which they make [such] confident declarations.

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