Mark 8:18 kjv
Having eyes, see ye not? and having ears, hear ye not? and do ye not remember?
Mark 8:18 nkjv
Having eyes, do you not see? And having ears, do you not hear? And do you not remember?
Mark 8:18 niv
Do you have eyes but fail to see, and ears but fail to hear? And don't you remember?
Mark 8:18 esv
Having eyes do you not see, and having ears do you not hear? And do you not remember?
Mark 8:18 nlt
'You have eyes ? can't you see? You have ears ? can't you hear?' Don't you remember anything at all?
Mark 8 18 Cross References
| Verse | Text | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Spiritual Blindness/Deafness (OT) | ||
| Isa 6:9-10 | Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not. Make the heart of this people fat... lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart... | God pronounces spiritual hardening on Israel. |
| Jer 5:21 | Hear now this, O foolish people, and without understanding; which have eyes, and see not; which have ears, and hear not: | Prophet's rebuke for Judah's lack of discernment. |
| Ezek 12:2 | Son of man, thou dwellest in the midst of a rebellious house, which have eyes to see, and see not; they have ears to hear, and hear not: for they are a rebellious house. | Ezekiel addresses Israel's obstinacy despite witnessing divine acts. |
| Isa 42:18 | Hear, ye deaf; and look, ye blind, that ye may see. | Call to those spiritually insensitive. |
| Ps 115:5-6 | They have mouths, but they speak not: eyes have they, but they see not: They have ears, but they hear not: noses have they, but they smell not: | Idols are contrasted with God who truly sees and hears; applies metaphorically to spiritual inability. |
| Ps 135:16-17 | They have mouths, but they speak not; eyes have they, but they see not; They have ears, but they hear not; neither is there any breath in their mouths. | Similar to Ps 115, a commentary on the futility of idols and spiritual deadness. |
| Spiritual Blindness/Deafness (NT) | ||
| Mk 4:11-12 | ...unto them that are without, all these things are done in parables: That seeing they may see, and not perceive; and hearing they may hear, and not understand... | Purpose of parables: revelation to some, concealment to others. |
| Mt 13:13-15 | Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand... lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart... | Jesus' explanation of spiritual unresponsiveness, citing Isa 6. |
| Jn 9:39-41 | And Jesus said, For judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind... If ye were blind, ye should have no sin: but now ye say, We see; therefore your sin remaineth. | Condemnation of the Pharisees' willful spiritual blindness. |
| Acts 28:26-27 | Saying, Go unto this people, and say, Hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and not perceive: For the heart of this people is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes have they closed... | Paul quotes Isaiah to explain Jewish unbelief. |
| Rom 11:8 | (According as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear;) unto this day. | Divine hardening for a purpose within God's redemptive plan. |
| 2 Cor 3:14-15 | But their minds were blinded: for until this day remaineth the same vail untaken away in the reading of the old testament; which vail is done away in Christ... Even unto this day, when Moses is read, the vail is upon their heart. | Spiritual veil hindering understanding of the Old Testament. |
| 2 Cor 4:3-4 | But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not... | Satan's work in blinding unbelievers. |
| Eph 4:18 | Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart: | Gentile unbelievers described as having darkened understanding. |
| Lack of Understanding/Remembering | ||
| Deut 8:2 | And thou shalt remember all the way which the LORD thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or no. | Call to remember God's past provisions and trials. |
| Lk 24:25 | Then he said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken: | Jesus rebukes disciples for slowness to believe scriptures. |
| Lk 9:45 | But they understood not this saying, and it was hid from them, that they perceived it not: and they feared to ask him of that saying. | Disciples' repeated failure to grasp Jesus' teachings on His suffering. |
| Heb 3:7-11 | Wherefore (as the Holy Ghost saith, To day if ye will hear his voice, Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness: When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my works forty years... | Warning against hardening hearts and failing to remember God's past works. |
| Call to See/Hear/Understand | ||
| Prov 20:12 | The hearing ear, and the seeing eye, the LORD hath made even both of them. | God gives faculties for perception, implying accountability. |
| Jas 1:23-24 | For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. | Hearers who forget are contrasted with doers of the Word. |
| Rev 2:7 | He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches;... | Repeated exhortation to spiritual listening and obedience in Revelation. |
| 1 Cor 2:14 | But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. | Spiritual truths require spiritual discernment, not just human intellect. |
Mark 8 verses
Mark 8 18 Meaning
Mark 8:18 is a poignant rhetorical question from Jesus to His disciples, exposing their profound spiritual dullness and lack of understanding. Despite having physical faculties (eyes and ears) to witness His miracles and hear His teachings, they failed to grasp the deeper spiritual truths He presented, specifically the implications of His miraculous feedings and His warning about the "leaven" of false doctrine. It underscores their inability to perceive, comprehend, and recall past divine provisions and instructions, highlighting a critical disconnect between physical proximity to truth and spiritual apprehension of it.
Mark 8 18 Context
Mark 8:18 is situated immediately following Jesus' warning to His disciples to "take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, and of the leaven of Herod" (Mk 8:15). The disciples, fresh from the miracle of feeding the four thousand, reveal their profound spiritual myopia by misunderstanding Jesus, thinking He was admonishing them for forgetting to bring bread (Mk 8:16). This gross material interpretation prompts a series of exasperated rhetorical questions from Jesus, culminating in verse 18. His questions progressively escalate from their initial lack of physical bread to their deeper spiritual failure to recall His previous provisions (the feeding of 5,000 and 4,000, where much bread remained over) and, critically, to comprehend His spiritual warnings. The context reveals that despite their intimate companionship with Jesus and witnessing His abundant miracles, the disciples were still struggling to transcend a physical, earthly understanding of His kingdom and mission, remaining spiritually dull and prone to forgetfulness regarding God's power and provision.
Mark 8 18 Word analysis
Having eyes: ἔχοντες ὀφθαλμοὺς (echontes ophthalmois)
- Meaning: Possessing physical organs of sight.
- Significance: This highlights the paradox; they had the physical capacity to see, to witness miracles, to observe Jesus' actions, but this physical presence did not automatically translate into spiritual perception or understanding. The Greek emphasizes the active state of "having" eyes.
see ye not?: οὐ βλέπετε (ou blepete?)
- Meaning: Are you not seeing/perceiving? (A continuous state of not perceiving).
- Significance: This is a direct, strong rhetorical question. It's not about a momentary lapse but an ongoing, habitual failure to perceive the true meaning and significance of what they've witnessed. "Βλέπετε" implies looking with intelligence and perceiving.
and having ears: καὶ ἔχοντες ὦτα (kai echontes ota)
- Meaning: And possessing physical organs of hearing.
- Significance: Similar to "having eyes," this underlines their physical capability to hear Jesus' words, parables, and warnings. Yet, this physical hearing was insufficient for spiritual comprehension.
hear ye not?: οὐκ ἀκούετε (ouk akouete?)
- Meaning: Are you not hearing/understanding? (A continuous state of not understanding).
- Significance: "Ἀκούετε" implies hearing in a way that leads to understanding and obedience, not just the reception of sound waves. Jesus implies their ears are physically functional, but spiritually they are deaf to the truth. This follows the Old Testament prophetic tradition where having ears does not guarantee understanding of divine messages.
and do ye not remember?: καὶ οὐ μνημονεύετε (kai ou mnēmoneuete?)
- Meaning: And are you not remembering/recalling? (A continuous failure to recall past lessons).
- Significance: This adds a critical dimension: forgetfulness or failure to learn from experience. It's not just a present inability to see/hear, but a lack of processing and retaining past spiritual lessons. The verb "μνημονεύετε" refers to active remembrance and bringing to mind. The two prior feeding miracles (5,000 and 4,000) should have ingrained in them the reality of Jesus' boundless power and His provision, dispelling fears about literal bread shortages and teaching them spiritual discernment about the "leaven."
Having eyes, see ye not? and having ears, hear ye not?:
- This dual question is a powerful rhetorical device, often used in Old Testament prophecy (e.g., Isa 6:9-10; Jer 5:21) to expose Israel's spiritual insensitivity despite having direct access to God's revelation. Jesus applies it to His closest disciples, emphasizing that external exposure to divine truth does not automatically confer spiritual understanding. It challenges them on their active responsibility to use the faculties God has given them for spiritual discernment.
And do ye not remember?:
- This third question compounds the first two, suggesting a deeper problem than mere sensory perception failure. It points to a failure of spiritual retention and application. Their lack of remembrance concerning the abundance of bread left over after the two great feedings is particularly pointed. Jesus expected them to connect those miracles to their present lack of literal bread and His teaching about spiritual leaven, indicating that their anxieties were baseless in light of His divine power. This failure to remember indicates a fundamental inability to draw spiritual conclusions from past experiences.
Mark 8 18 Bonus section
The direct sequence of this rebuke in Mark 8, followed immediately by Jesus' healing of the blind man in Bethsaida in two stages (Mk 8:22-26), is highly symbolic. The gradual healing of the blind man (seeing people like trees walking, then clearly) is often interpreted as a visual metaphor for the disciples' own slow and often incomplete spiritual comprehension. Like the man whose sight was only gradually restored, the disciples, too, would come to understand more fully only after Pentecost when the Spirit enlightened their understanding. Jesus' repeated questioning in Mark 8:17-21, asking how many baskets of leftovers were collected after each feeding miracle, specifically pushes them to remember and quantify, underscoring their present lack of discernment compared to the tangible evidence of His power. The "leaven" also links to teachings and influence; thus, their dullness also implied susceptibility to negative spiritual influences that they were failing to "hear" warnings against.
Mark 8 18 Commentary
Mark 8:18 is a profound indictment of spiritual dullness, even among those closest to the Lord. Jesus' questions are saturated with frustration and disappointment. He highlights a tragic irony: the disciples had front-row seats to the revelation of God's power and truth in Christ, yet remained stuck in a worldly, literal understanding. Their physical senses were fully functional—they saw the miracles, heard the teachings—but their spiritual senses were inert. This wasn't merely intellectual deficiency; it was a deeper heart problem—a failure to genuinely perceive, grasp, and recall the profound spiritual significance of Jesus' words and deeds. Their continued anxiety about literal bread, immediately after two extraordinary feeding miracles, symbolized their inability to trust Jesus' abundant provision and understand His warning about the insidious "leaven" of false teachings (hypocrisy, legalism, worldly ambition). The verse serves as a timeless warning: proximity to truth does not guarantee apprehension of it. True spiritual understanding requires an open heart and a receptive spirit, cultivated by remembrance and discernment.
- Example for Practical Usage:
- A believer regularly reads the Bible but never truly applies its principles to their daily life, similar to having eyes but not seeing the truth it conveys.
- A church member hears numerous sermons on grace but continues to live under legalism, akin to having ears but not hearing the message of freedom.
- Someone who forgets past deliverances or provisions from God in times of present difficulty, failing to remember God's faithfulness from earlier experiences.