καμμύω G2576
they closed, shut tight, especially the eyes to avoid seeing or understanding
This verb describes the deliberate closing of the eyes, a physical act that becomes a metaphor for spiritual refusal. Jesus quotes Isaiah 6:10 in Matthew 13:15: 'For this people's heart has grown dull, and with their ears they can barely hear, and their eyes they have closed.' Paul repeats the same indictment in Acts 28:27, applying Isaiah's words to the Jewish leaders in Rome who reject the gospel. The aorist tense signals a decisive act—not a gradual drift but a willful shutting out of the light. It captures the tragedy of those who, confronted with truth, choose blindness.
Senses
1. sense 1 — Both instances quote or echo Isaiah 6:10, describing Israel's hardness of heart. Classical usage (LSJ) includes shutting the eyes or gills (of fish), a physical closing. The Spanish 'cerraron' and French 'fermer les yeux' (close the eyes) preserve the metaphor. The tragic irony is that sight is available—Jesus and the apostles proclaim the kingdom openly—but the hearers close their eyes, preferring darkness. This self-imposed blindness becomes a form of judgment, confirming the division between those who receive the word and those who refuse it. 2×
AR["أَغلَقوا", "أَغمَضُوا"]·ben["বন্ধ-করিল", "বন্ধ-করেছে"]·DE["ἐκάμμυσαν"]·EN["they-closed"]·FR["fermer", "fermer-les-yeux"]·heb["עָצְמוּ"]·HI["उन्होंने-बंद-कीं,", "मोओन्द-लिय"]·ID["menutup,", "mereka-menutup"]·IT["chiudere", "ekammusan"]·jav["merem;", "meremaken,"]·KO["감았다"]·PT["fecharam", "fecharam,"]·RU["закрыли", "закрыли,"]·ES["cerraron"]·SW["wameyafunga"]·TR["görsünler", "kapadılar"]·urd["بند-کر-لیا", "بند-کر-لیں"]
Related Senses
H3808 1. simple negation (not) (4839×)G1722 1. locative: in, within (2442×)H1004b 1. house, dwelling, building (2015×)G3756 1. not (negation particle) (1635×)H4480a 1. source or separation (1198×)H5892b 1. city, town (1093×)G1519 1. direction: into, to, toward (1061×)H3427 1. Qal: to dwell, inhabit (937×)G1537 1. from, out of (source/origin) (886×)H8034 1. Name (designation / identifier) (856×)G3361 1. subjective negation (not) (834×)G1909 1. on, upon (spatial surface) (757×)H0369 1. existential negation: there is not (738×)H5869a 1. in the eyes/sight of (evaluative) (734×)H5650 1. Servant, attendant, subject (723×)H0408 1. prohibitive negation do-not (712×)G2443 1. so that, in order that (purpose/result) (665×)G0575 1. from (649×)G1223 1. through, by means of (582×)H3541 1. thus, so, in this manner (569×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
καμμύω, Epic dialect for καταμύω, variant in Refs: also in later Gr., τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς ἐκάμμυσαν LXX+2nd c.BC+: perfect κεκάμμυκα Refs 2nd c.AD+