Augustine of Hippo : If they could not believe, what is the sin of a person not doing what he cannot do? But if they sinned by not believing, then they could believe and did not.… Then what will we answer about another testimony of the prophet that the apostle Paul cites, saying, "Israel did not obtain what he was seeking, but the election did obtain it. The rest indeed have been blinded, as it has been written, 'God gave them a spirit of insensibility, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear until this present day.' "You have heard, brothers, the question proposed; you see, of course, how profound it is. But we answer as best we can. "They could not believe," because Isaiah the prophet foretold this. But the prophet foretold it because God foreknew that it would be. Why they could not, however, if it should be asked of me, I quickly answer, because they were not willing. For God foresaw their evil will and he, from whom the future cannot be hidden, foretold it through the prophet. But, you say, the prophet states another cause, not of their will. What cause does the prophet state? That "God gave them a spirit of insensibility, eyes that they should not see and ears that they should not hear, and he blinded their eyes and hardened their heart." I answer that their will earned even this. For thus God blinds, thus God hardens by abandoning and not helping; and he can do this by a hidden judgment, but he cannot do it by an evil one. The piety of the religious ought altogether keep this unshaken and inviolate; as the apostle says when he was discussing this very same, most difficult question: "What shall we say, then? Is there injustice with God? Not at all!" Therefore, if it is not at all the case that there is injustice with God, either when he helps, he acts mercifully, or when he does not help, he acts justly, because he does all things not with rashness but in judgment. Accordingly, if the judgments of the saints are just, how much more so those of the sanctifying and justifying God! Therefore they are just but hidden. — TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF John 53:5.2-6:2 Cyprian : Not to recognize sins lest penance follow is the wrath of God, as it is written: "And the Lord gave to them the spirit of a deep sleep," lest they actually return and be cured and be healed by their lamentations and just satisfactions after their sins.…The first degree of felicity is not to sin; the second, to recognize the sins committed. In the former, innocence runs upright and unimpaired to save; in the latter, there follows the remedy to cure. They have lost both of these by offending God.… Or do you think, brother, that crimes against God are light matters, small and of little moment, because through them the majesty of an offended God is not sought, because the wrath and fire and day of the Lord are not feared, because, with Antichrist at hand, the faith of a militant people is disarmed while vigor and the fear of Christ are taken away? — Epistle LIV:13 Jerome : (Verse 10) For the Lord has mixed into you the spirit of deep sleep: he will close your eyes, your prophets and leaders who see visions he will cover. For the spirit of sleep, LXX, is interpreted as compunction: Theodotius, the passing away of the mind: Aquila, καταφορὰν, that is, a heavy sleep; which in Hebrew is called Thardema (), which Scripture commemorates as sent by God to Adam (Gen. II), when woman was made from the rib of his side. And Jonah snored in the same sleep on the ship (Jon. I). Therefore, know this, O scribes and Pharisees, who are the leaders of the Jews, that the Lord will render to you your recompense. For you, who have heard the Lord Savior, did not want to understand, and you closed your eyes so that you would not see him, and you weighed down your ears so that you would not hear. Therefore, he will also close your eyes, you who are the prophets through whom you saw the knowledge of God. Or he will close the eyes of your prophets, who are your leaders. For as the Law and the Prophets testified until John, so that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind, as it is written: They will hear the words of the book, even the deaf will hear, and the blind will see and rejoice. For judgment I have come into this world, so that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind, that is to say, the people of the nations who were blind, may see and contemplate the Lord. — Commentary on Isaiah