Deaf Ears, Hard Hearts

...Et aures suas aggravaverunt ne audirent. Et cor suum posuerunt ut adamantem, ne audirent legem, et verba quæ misit Dominus exercituum in spiritu suo per manum prophetarum priorum: et facta est indignatio magna a Domino exercituum. Et factum est sicut locutus est, et non audierunt: sic clamabunt et non exaudiam, dicit Dominus exercituum. Et aures, inquit, suas aggravaverunt ne audirent, sicut aspidis, surdae obturantis aures suas, quae non audiet vocem incantantium, et venefici incantantis sapienter. Ingravaverunt enim aures sua ut non audirent, et cor suum posuerunt, ut non acquiescerent legi Dei. Unde Isaias ad eos comminans loquitur: Incrassatum est cor populi hujus, et auribus suis graviter audierunt, et oculos suos clauserunt, ne forte viderent oculis suis, et audirent auribus, et corde intelligerent, et converterentur, et ego sanarem eos. Porro quod dicitur juxta Hebraicum: Et cor suum posuerunt adamentem, duritiam cordis ostendit, et cor lapideum, quod noluerint verba Dei suscipere. Adamas enim lapis fortissimus, qui Hebraice dicitur שׁמי־ intantum durus est, ut omnia metalla confringat, et ipse non confringatur ab ullo. Unde a Graecis indomabilis dicitur. Ab hoc adamante induratum est cor Pharaonis, ne dimitterent populum Dei. Et quia habuerunt, immo posuerunt cor suum adamantem, propria voluntate cordis duritiam suscipientes, ne audirent verba Domini, quae misit in spiritu suo, id est, in Spiritu sancto per manum prophetarum priorum, Isaiae, Osee, et caeterorum, qui mundas habuerunt manus, quos ante captivitatem fuisse manifestum est: idcirco ad magna peccata, magna facta est indignatio, et Domini verba completa sunt, par pari referentis, it sicut illi ambulaverunt ad eum perversi, et ipse adversum eos perversus incederet, et non audiret verba inclamantium, quia et illi verba Domini surda aure contempserint. Sanctus Hieronymous, Commentariorum In Zachariam Prophetam, Liber II Cap VII Source: Migne PL 25.1462c- 1463b

...They made their ears made heavy lest they hear, and they set their hearts like adamant lest they hear the Law, even the words which the Lord of hosts sent with His spirit through the hands of the prophets in times before, and the indignation of the Lord of hosts was great. And it was done as was said, they did not hear. So when they shall cry out I shall not attend to them, says the Lord of hosts. 1 They have made their ears heavy, he says, lest they hear,  just like the asp, which closes up its ears, that it not hear the voice of the singer clearly, nor the song of the enchanter. 2 They have made their ears heavy so that they shall not hear, and their hearts they have set so that they shall not obey the law of God. Whence Isaiah admonishing them, says: 'The heart of this people is bloated, and with their ears they hear dully, and they close up their eyes, lest perhaps they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts, and they turn and I heal them.' 3 In the Hebrew it is said: 'And they have set their hearts as adamant,' which shows the hardness of the heart, the stony heart, which does not wish to receive the words of God. Adamant is the strongest stone, which in Hebrew is called 'Samir,' and it is so hard that it shatters every metal, and it is not broken by anything. Whence in Greek it is called 'unbreakable.' With this adamant the heart of Pharaoh was made hard, lest he let the people of God go. 4 And because they have set their hearts as adamant, by their own will adopting this hardness of heart, lest they hear the words of the Lord, which He sent by His spirit, that is, the Holy Spirit working through the Prophets who came before, like Isaiah and Hosea, and the rest, who had clean hands, those who came forth before the captivity, therefore because of their grave sins, His indignation is great, and the word of the Lord is fulfilled, a part referring to a part, that as they had walked to Him in perversity, He would thus perversely set Himself against them and not hear the words of those who cry out to Him, because in scorn they turned a deaf ear to the word of the Lord. Saint Jerome, Commentary on The Prophet Zechariah, Book 2, Chapter 7 1 Zech 7.11-13 2 Ps 57.5-6 3 Isaiah 6.9-10, Acts 18.27 4 Exod 7