H8173a H8173a
be blinded, smeared over (eyes closed/obscured)
This rare verb means to be blinded or have one's eyes smeared shut, always used metaphorically for spiritual obtuseness. Isaiah 29:9 uses both Qal and Hithpalpel forms in a staccato command: 'Blind yourselves and be blind!' (parallel to 'delay and be delayed'), calling Israel to persist in willful ignorance. Isaiah 6:10 in God's commission to the prophet commands 'besmear its eyes!'—make their eyes dull. The root relates to Aramaic words for smearing or smoothing over. Some scholars suggest textual emendations, but the basic sense of obscured vision—whether literal or metaphorical blindness—remains clear across the attestations.
Senses
1. sense 1 — Metaphorical blinding or making eyes unable to see truth. Isaiah 29:9 uses it twice in Isaiah's ironic command to his audience: persist in your blindness, stagger in confusion. Isaiah 6:10 instructs the prophet to 'besmear' the people's eyes as part of the hardening judgment—make them unable to see and understand. The doubled reference in 29:9 (imperative in both Qal and Hithpalpel) intensifies the idea: actively blind yourselves and become blind. The multilingual glosses ('cegaos,' 'blind yourselves,' 'quedad ciegos') confirm this involves voluntary or imposed spiritual obtuseness. 3×
AR["أَغلِقْ", "تَلَذَّذُوا", "وَ-تَنَعَّمُوا"]·ben["আনন্দ-করেছিলে", "ও-দৃষ্টিহীন-হয়েছিলে", "বন্ধ-করো"]·DE["[השע]", "[השתעשעו]", "[ושעו]"]·EN["and-be-blind", "blind-yourselves", "shut"]·FR["[השע]", "[השתעשעו]", "[ושעו]"]·heb["השע", "השתעשעו", "ו-שעו"]·HI["आनंद-लो", "और-चिल्लाओ", "बंद-कर"]·ID["bersenang-senanglah", "dan-jadilah-buta", "tutuplah"]·IT["[השע]", "[השתעשעו]", "[ושעו]"]·jav["lan-wuta", "ndadosaken-buntu", "wuta-piyambak"]·KO["감기라", "그리고-소경이-되라", "즐거워하라"]·PT["cegai-vos", "e-ficai-cegos", "fecha"]·RU["закрой", "и-будьте-слепы", "ослепляйтесь"]·ES["cegaos", "ciega", "y-quedad-ciegos"]·SW["jipofusheni", "na-kuwa-vipofu", "yafunge"]·TR["kapat", "kor-edin-kendinizi", "ve-kor-olun"]·urd["اور-اندھے-بنو", "بند-کر", "خوش-رہو"]
Related Senses
H7200 1. Qal: to see, perceive (1257×)G4771 2. you (singular address) (1077×)H8085 1. Qal: hear, perceive aurally (921×)H0859a 1. you (2nd person masculine singular pronoun) (743×)H0398 1. eat (consume food) (697×)H4191 1. die (Qal: natural/general death) (645×)G3708 1. see, perceive visually (419×)G0191 1. hear, perceive sound (360×)H???? 3. (352×)G3708 2. behold, look (exclamatory) (256×)H7272 1. foot (body part) (236×)H8354 1. drink, consume liquid (209×)H3205 1. Qal active: bear/give birth (female subject) (204×)H3205 2. Qal active: beget/father (male subject) (198×)H2421 1. Qal: live, be alive (177×)H8085 2. Qal: listen, heed, pay attention (172×)H2416a 1. alive, living (state/attribute) (146×)H2416e 1. life, lifespan, lifetime (145×)G2198 1. be alive, have life (133×)H8193 1. lip, lips (body part) (123×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
† I. [שָׁעַע] vb. be smeared over, blinded (Aramaic שְׁעַע smear (akin to שׁוּעַ id.), ܐܰܫܰܥ to smooth, שָׁעִיעַ smooth (of words), flattering, ܫܰܥܺܝܥ smooth (cf. also ܫܘܥ, ܫܳܥ smear over, close up));— Qal Imv. + Hithpalp. Imv. mpl. הִשְׁתַּעַשְׁעוּ וָשֹׁ֑עוּ Is 29:9 blind yourselves and be blind! (‖ הִתְמַהְמְהוּ וּתִמָ֔הוּ); > Buhl הִשְׁתָּעוּ וּשְׁעוּ, √ שׁעה look about (2 S 22:42); Is 32:3…