Bede : For the heart of this people has grown dull, and their ears barely heard. So that we do not think the dullness of the heart and heaviness of the ears are of nature, not of will, he adds the blame of choice and says: — Commentary on Acts Bede : They have shut their eyes lest they should see with their eyes. That is, by their preceding merits, they were the cause that God shut their eyes. Or it should be joined to the preceding, with the Lord saying to the prophet, "Go to this people, and reproach them with sins that they may have deserved blindness, perhaps if even thus they may be worthy to hear and turn to me" (Isaiah VI). — Commentary on Acts Oecumenius : They first denied themselves, stopping their ears, closing their eyes, and hardening their heart. For not only did they not hear, but they heard with difficulty. And they did this, he says, for fear that perhaps I should turn back and heal them, indicating their malice and deliberate turning away. And he says this, drawing it out and provoking, and showing that if they should turn back, he would heal them. — Commentary on Acts