Mark 4:12 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
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 their sins should be forgiven them.
to look at (literally or figuratively) · verb — present active participle, nominative plural masculine
they may see
βλέπωσινblepōsin
G991
to look at (literally or figuratively) · verb — present active subjunctive, 3rd person plural
and
καὶkai
G2532
and · conjunction
not
μὴmē
G3361
(adverb) not · particle — negative
perceive
ἴδωσινidōsin
G1492
used only in certain past tenses · verb — second aorist active subjunctive, 3rd person plural
and
καὶkai
G2532
and · conjunction
hearing
ἀκούοντεςakouontes
G191
to hear (in various senses) · verb — present active participle, nominative plural masculine
they may hear
ἀκούωσινakouōsin
G191
to hear (in various senses) · verb — present active subjunctive, 3rd person plural
and
καὶkai
G2532
and · conjunction
not
μὴmē
G3361
(adverb) not · particle — negative
understand
συνιῶσινsuniōsin
G4920
to put together · verb — present active subjunctive, 3rd person plural
lest at any time
μήποτεmḗpote
G3379
not ever
they should be converted
ἐπιστρέψωσινepistrepsōsin
G1994
to revert (literally · verb — aorist active subjunctive, 3rd person plural
and
καὶkai
G2532
and · conjunction
sins
ἁμάρτημαhamártēma
G265
a sin (properly concrete)
should be forgiven
ἀφεθῇaphethēa
G863
an intensive form of · verb — aorist passive subjunctive, 3rd person singular
them
αὐτοῖςautois
G846
the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — dative 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 6:9-10 And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not.
Isaiah 44:18 They have not known nor understood: for he hath shut their eyes, that they cannot see; and their hearts, that they cannot understand.
Matthew 13:14-15 And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, a…
Jeremiah 5:21 Hear now this, O foolish people, and without understanding; which have eyes, and see not; which have ears, and hear not:
Deuteronomy 29:4 Yet the LORD hath not given you an heart to perceive, and eyes to see, and ears to hear, unto this day.
John 12:37-41 But though he had done so many miracles before them, yet they believed not on him:
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…
2 Timothy 2:25 In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth;
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Mark 4:1-20
The foregoing chapter began with Christ's entering into the synagogue (Mar 4:1); this chapter begins with Christ's teaching again by the sea side. Thus he changed his method, that if possible all might be reached and wrought upon. To gratify the nice and more genteel sort of people that had seats, chief seats, in the synagogue, and did not care for hearing a sermon any where else, he did not preach always by the sea side, but, having liberty, went often into the synagogue, and taught there; yet, to gratify the poor, the mob, that could not get room in the synagogue, he did not always preach there, but began again to teach by the sea side, where they could come within hearing. Thus are we deb…
Unto you it is given to know - Γνωναι, to know, is omitted by ABKL, ten others, the Coptic, and one of the Itala. The omission of this word makes a material alteration in the sense; for without it the passage may be read thus: - To you the mystery of the kingdom of God is given; but all these things are transacted in parables to those without. Griesbach leaves it doubtful. And Professor White says, probabiliter delendum. I should be inclined to omit it, were it not found in the parallel passages in Matthew and Luke, in neither of whom it is omitted by any MS. or version. See the dissertation on parabolical writing at the end of Mat 13:58.
John Gill on Mark 4:12
That seeing they may see,.... Which the end and reason of his speaking to them in parables. The passage referred to is in Isaiah 6:9. See Gill on Matthew 13:14. See Gill on Matthew 13:15.
John Calvin on Mark 4:1-12
Mark 4:1-12, 24-25
Matthew 13:1-17
Mark 4:1-12, 24-25
Luke 8:1-10, 18
1. And on the same day Jesus went out of the house, and sat down near the sea. 2. And great multitudes were gathered to him, so that he entered into a ship, and sat down, and the whole multitude was standing on the shore. 3. And he said many things to them by parables, saying, Lo, one who was sowing, some seeds fell near the road, and the birds came and devoured them. 5. And some fell on stony places, where they had not much earth, and immediately they sprang up, because they had not depth of earth. 6. But when the sun rose, they were burnt up, and because they had not a root, they withered away. 7. Others again fell o…
The Church Fathers
(Quaest. 14, in Matt.) Or else they deserved this, their not understanding, and yet this in itself was done in mercy to them, that they might know their sins, and, being converted, merit pardon.
(Vict. Ant. e Cat. in Marc.) Thus, therefore, they see and they do not see, they hear and do not understand, for their seeing and hearing comes to them from God's grace, but their seeing and not understanding comes to them from their unwillingness to receive grace, and closing their eyes, and pretending that they could not see; neither do they acquiesce in what was said, and so are not changed as to their sins by hearing and seeing, but rather are made worse.
To them therefore it was not granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but rather unto us, who are more ready to embrace the faith. For He hath given unto us, as being perfect wisdom, the ability "to understand parables, and the dark saying, the words of the wise, and their riddles." For parables we may say are the images not of visible objects, but rather of those cognizable by the intellect and spiritual. For that which it is impossible to see with the eyes of the body, the parable points out unto the eyes of the mind, beautifully shaping out the subtilty of things intellectual, by means of the things of sense, and which are as it were palpable to the touch.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Parable — (Gr. parabole), a placing beside; a comparison; equivalent to the Heb. mashal, a similitude. In the Old Testament this is used to denote (1) a proverb (1 Sam. 10:12; 24:13; 2 Chr. 7:20), (2) a…
Apostasy · UNCLASSIFIED SCRIPTURES RELATING TO — UNCLASSIFIED SCRIPTURES RELATING TO
Sermon · Besi — Besi
Sower · Parable of the — Parable of the
Word Of God · .To seed — .To seed
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).
Jesus’ real followers were permitted to understand the secret of the Kingdom of God—namely, that the Kingdom of God had come (1:14-15) and that Christ, the Son of God, was in their midst (1:1). For outsiders, it all seemed like riddles. • Jesus’ reply to the disciples’ question suggests that the parables were intended to prevent outsiders from understanding them, so that they would be unable to repent and be forgiven. The quotation from Isa 6:9-10 (Greek version) suggests that it was an intentional judgment on the hearers. Jesus’ teaching in parables, and the resultant unbelief of outsiders, fulfilled what the Scriptures had predicted. The sensitive nature of Jesus’ teaching about the Kingdo…
