Exploring the Meaning of Kammuo in Greek

καμμύω means “to close.” It appears twice, both times in a citation describing a people whose inner responsiveness has hardened so that their eyes are shut and they do not perceive.

Root and Related Words

καμμύω is connected with kata (κατά), “according to,” and mysterion (μυστήριον), “mystery.”

Occurrences

“for this people’s heart has grown callous, their ears are dull of hearing, they have closed their eyes; or else perhaps they might perceive with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their heart, and would turn again; and I would heal them.’” (Matthew 13:15)

Here the verb is placed alongside a sequence of bodily organs that represent responsiveness: heart, ears, eyes. The statement “they have closed their eyes” sits between two descriptions of impairment—“heart has grown callous” and “ears are dull of hearing”—and together the three lines portray a comprehensive blockage of reception. The closing of the eyes is not presented as a neutral physical action but as part of a larger condition that prevents “perceiv[ing]” and “understand[ing].” The clause that follows (“or else perhaps they might perceive… and would turn again; and I would heal them”) frames the closed eyes as a decisive barrier: if the eyes were not closed, perception could lead to understanding, turning, and healing.

“For this people’s heart has grown callous. Their ears are dull of hearing. Their eyes they have closed. Lest they should see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their heart, and would turn again, then I would heal them.’” (Acts 28:27)

This occurrence keeps the same cluster of heart, ears, and eyes, but the phrasing turns the closing into a pointed emphasis: “Their eyes they have closed.” The short sentences isolate each organ and its condition, as if to mark each stage of blocked reception. The verb’s force is further clarified by the following purpose-like line, “Lest they should see with their eyes…,” which links the act of closing directly to the prevention of seeing, hearing, and understanding. In this setting, closing the eyes functions as the hinge between the outward faculties (“see… hear”) and the inward outcome (“understand with their heart”), and it is treated as the immediate obstacle that keeps the final movement—“turn again”—from taking place, even though that turning would be met with healing.

Sense and Usage

Across both texts, “to close” is used with “eyes” and is embedded in a larger description of dulled hearing and a calloused heart. The action is expressed as something the people do (“they have closed”), and it stands in direct contrast to the series of verbs that would follow if the eyes were open: “perceive,” “hear,” “understand,” “turn again.” In other words, closing is portrayed as a concrete act with extended consequences: it shuts down perception at the entry point and thereby interrupts the chain that would otherwise lead from sensory recognition to inward comprehension and finally to a change of direction.

The two passages also show how “closing” works as a vivid metaphor while remaining anchored in bodily language. Eyes are the explicit object, and the surrounding lines keep the imagery consistent: ears can be “dull,” the heart can become “callous,” and the eyes can be “closed.” Within that set, closing is the most active description. Dullness and callousness can be heard as conditions that have developed (“has grown callous”), but closing is an act performed, and both quotations treat it as a decisive refusal of sight. The result is not merely lack of information, but the prevention of the outcome described at the end of each quotation: turning again and being healed.

Imagery

In these citations, καμμύω carries the image of eyes intentionally shut in the face of available light and meaning. The closed eyes match the calloused heart and dull ears, forming a single picture of a person who will not receive what is before them—so that seeing, hearing, and understanding do not converge in the turning that the closing lines associate with healing.

Sources: Lexical data from Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance and the Translators Brief Lexicon of Extended Strongs for Greek (STEPBible, CC BY). Occurrence data from the Translators Amalgamated Greek New Testament (STEPBible, CC BY). Scripture quotations from the World English Bible (public domain).