Charles Ellicott Commentary Matthew 13:14

"And unto them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall in no wise understand; And seeing ye shall see, and shall in no wise perceive:" — Matthew 13:14 (ASV)

In them is fulfilled — The Greek verb expresses complete fulfillment, but its tense indicates a work still in progress. The prominence of these words from Isaiah in the New Testament is very noticeable. Our Lord quotes them here, St. John in John 12:40, and St. Paul in Acts 28:26. The quotation is from the Septuagint version.

It is as though these words, which sounded at the very opening of Isaiah’s prophecy as the death knell of the nation’s life, dwelt on the minds of the Master and His disciples and prepared them for the seeming fruitlessness and hopelessness of their work.