He hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart; that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them.
Ver. 40. He hath hardened their hearts] With a judiciary hardness. This is in some respect worse than hell: since (besides that God inflicts it as a punishment of former obstinance) it is one of the greatest sins, and so far greater an evil than any of the greatest punishments. Hence it was the saying of a reverend man, "If I must be put to my choice, I had rather be in hell with a sensible heart, than live on earth with a reprobate mind."