John 12:40 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
John 12:40
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.
to make blind · verb — perfect active indicative, 3rd person singular
their
αὐτῶνautōn
G846
the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — genitive plural masculine
eyes
ὀφθαλμοὺςophthalmous
G3788
the eye (literally or figuratively) · noun — accusative plural masculine
and
καὶkai
G2532
and · conjunction
hardened
ἐπώρωσενepōrōsen
G4456
to petrify · verb — aorist active indicative, 3rd person singular
their
αὐτῶνautōn
G846
the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — genitive plural masculine
heart
καρδίαν,kardian
G2588
the heart · noun — accusative singular feminine
that
ἵναina
G2443
compare G3588 (ὁ)) · conjunction
should
ἴδωσινidōsin
G1492
used only in certain past tenses · verb — second aorist active subjunctive, 3rd person plural
not
μὴmē
G3361
(adverb) not · particle — negative
see
εἴδωeídō
G1492
used only in certain past tenses
with
ὀφθαλμοῖςophthalmois
G3788
the eye (literally or figuratively) · noun — dative plural masculine
eyes
ὀφθαλμόςophthalmós
G3788
the eye (literally or figuratively)
nor
καὶkai
G2532
and · conjunction
understand
νοήσωσινnoēsōsin
G3539
to exercise the mind (observe) · verb — aorist active subjunctive, 3rd person plural
with
καρδίᾳkardia
G2588
the heart · noun — dative singular feminine
heart
καρδίαkardía
G2588
the heart
and
καὶkai
G2532
and · conjunction
converted
ἐπιστρέφωepistréphō
G1994
to revert (literally
and
καὶkai
G2532
and · conjunction
heal
ἰάσομαιiasomai
G2390
to cure (literally or figuratively) · verb — future middle deponent indicative, 1st person singular
them
αὐτούς.¶autous
G846
the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — accusative plural masculine
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Isaiah 6:10 Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears,…
Matthew 13:13-15 Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.
Luke 8:10 And he said, Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God: but to others in parables; that seeing they might not see, an…
Mark 4:12 That seeing they may see, and not perceive; and hearing they may hear, and not understand; lest at any time they should be converted, and th…
Joshua 11:20 For it was of the LORD to harden their hearts, that they should come against Israel in battle, that he might destroy them utterly, and that…
Isaiah 29:10 For the LORD hath poured out upon you the spirit of deep sleep, and hath closed your eyes: the prophets and your rulers, the seers hath he c…
Isaiah 57:18-19 I have seen his ways, and will heal him: I will lead him also, and restore comforts unto him and to his mourners.
Hosea 6:1 Come, and let us return unto the LORD: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on John 12:37-41
We have here the honour done to our Lord Jesus by the Old Testament prophets, who foretold and lamented the infidelity of the many that believed not on him. It was indeed a dishonour and grief to Christ that his doctrine met with so little acceptance and so much opposition; but this takes off the wonder and reproach, makes the offence of it to cease, and made it no disappointment to Christ, that herein the scriptures were fulfilled. Two things are here said concerning this untractable people, and both were foretold by the evangelical prophet Isaiah, that they did not believe, and that they could not believe.
I. They did not believe (Joh 12:37): Though he had done so many miracles before them…
Therefore they could not believe, because Esaias said again, He hath blinded their eyes, that they should not see, &c.--That this expresses a positive divine act, by which those who wilfully close their eyes and harden their hearts against the truth are judicially shut up in their unbelief and impenitence, is admitted by all candid critics [as OLSHAUSEN], though many of them think it necessary to contend that this is in no way inconsistent with the liberty of the human will, which of course it is not.
Adam Clarke on John 12:40
And I should heal them - This verse is taken from Isa 6:9, and, perhaps, refers more to the judgments that should fall upon them as a nation, which God was determined should not be averted, than it does to their eternal state. To suppose that the text meant that God was unwilling that they should turn unto him, lest he should be obliged to save them, is an insupportable blasphemy.
John Gill on John 12:40
He hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart,.... It is of no great moment, whether the he, who is said to blind and harden, be God or Christ, or whether the words be rendered, "it hath blinded", &c. that is, malice or wickedness; or whether they be read impersonally, "their eyes are blinded", &c. since God or Christ blind and harden not by any positive act, but by leaving and giving men up to the blindness and hardness of their hearts, and denying them the grace which could only cure them, and which they are not obliged to give; and which was the case of these Jews, so as never to be converted, or be turned even by external repentance and reformation, that they might be healed in a…
The Church Fathers
Through them, to wit, had "the heart of the People been made thick, lest they should see with the eyes, and hear with the ears, and understand with a heart" obstructed by the "fats" of which He had expressly forbidden the eating, teaching man not to be studious of the stomach.
(Hom. lxviii) For He does not leave us, except we wish Him, as He saith in Hosea, Seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children. (Hos. 4:6) Whereby it is plain that we begin to forsake first, and are the cause of our own perdition. For as it is not the fault of the sun, that it hurts weak eyes, so neither is God to blame for punishing those who do not attend to His words.
But the prophet, sayest thou, assigns another cause than that of their will. What cause does the prophet assign? That "God hath given them the spirit of remorse, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear; and hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart." This also, I reply, their will deserved. For God thus blinds and hardens, simply by letting alone and withdrawing His aid: and God can do this by a judgment that is hidden, although not by one that is unrighteous. This is a doctrine which the piety of the God-fearing ought to preserve unshaken and inviolable in all its integrity: even as the apostle, when treating of the same intricate question, says, "What shall we say then? is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid." If, then, we must be far from thinking that there is unrighteousness with God, this only can it be, that, when He giveth His aid, He acteth mercifully; and, when He withholdeth it, He acteth righteously: for in all He doeth, He acteth not rashly, but in accordance with judgment.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Deafness · .Of moral insensibility — .Of moral insensibility
Unbelief · 5:12-14; — 5:12-14;
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
John 12:37-41
37. And though he had done so many signs in their presence, they believed not in him: 38. That the saying of Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spoke, Lord, who hath believed our report? [28] and to whom hath the arm of the Lord been revealed? 39. Therefore they could not believe, because Isaiah saith again, 40. He hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart, lest they should see with their eyes, and under- stand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them. 41. These things said Isaiah, when he saw his glory, and spoke of him.
37. And though he had done so many signs. That no man may be disturbed or perplexed at seeing that Christ was despise…
The people couldn’t believe: John quotes Isa 6:10 to explain Israel’s unbelief (see Matt 13:13-15; Mark 4:12; Luke 8:10; Acts 28:26-27). When revelation comes, we must believe. If we refuse, the light disappears (John 12:35-36). When God’s light departs from the world, the darkness closes over unbelieving hearts.
