2 Korintus 4:3-4

4:3 But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled only to those who are perishing, 4:4 among whom the god of this age has blinded the minds of those who do not believe ¹  so they would not see the light of the glorious gospel ²  of Christ, ³  who is the image of God.

Mazmur 69:23

69:23 May their eyes be blinded! ⁴ 

Make them shake violently! ⁵ 

Yesaya 6:10

6:10 Make the hearts of these people calloused;

make their ears deaf and their eyes blind!

Otherwise they might see with their eyes and hear with their ears,

their hearts might understand and they might repent and be healed.” ⁶ 

Yesaya 26:10-12

26:10 If the wicked are shown mercy,

they do not learn about justice. ⁷ 

Even in a land where right is rewarded, they act unjustly; ⁸ 

they do not see the Lord’s majesty revealed.

26:11 O Lord, you are ready to act, ⁹ 

but they don’t even notice.

They will see and be put to shame by your angry judgment against humankind, ¹⁰ 

yes, fire will consume your enemies. ¹¹ 

26:12 O Lord, you make us secure, ¹² 

for even all we have accomplished, you have done for us. ¹³ 

Yesaya 42:18-20

The Lord Reasons with His People

42:18 “Listen, you deaf ones!

Take notice, ¹⁴  you blind ones!

42:19 My servant is truly blind,

my messenger is truly deaf.

My covenant partner, ¹⁵  the servant of the Lord, is truly blind. ¹⁶ 

42:20 You see ¹⁷  many things, but don’t comprehend; ¹⁸ 

their ears are open, but do not hear.”

Yesaya 44:18

44:18 They do not comprehend or understand,

for their eyes are blind and cannot see;

their minds do not discern. ¹⁹ 

Yesaya 56:10

56:10 All their watchmen ²⁰  are blind,

they are unaware. ²¹ 

All of them are like mute dogs,

unable to bark.

They pant, ²²  lie down,

and love to snooze.

Yesaya 59:10

59:10 We grope along the wall like the blind,

we grope like those who cannot see; ²³ 

we stumble at noontime as if it were evening.

Though others are strong, we are like dead men. ²⁴ 

Yeremia 5:21

5:21 Tell them: ‘Hear this,

you foolish people who have no understanding,

who have eyes but do not discern,

who have ears but do not perceive: ²⁵ 

Yehezkiel 12:2

12:2 “Son of man, you are living in the midst of a rebellious house. ²⁶  They have eyes to see, but do not see, and ears to hear, but do not hear, ²⁷  because they are a rebellious house.

Matius 6:23

6:23 But if your eye is diseased, ²⁸  your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!

Matius 13:11

13:11 He replied, ²⁹  “You have been given ³⁰  the opportunity to know ³¹  the secrets ³²  of the kingdom of heaven, but they have not.

Matius 13:13-15

13:13 For this reason I speak to them in parables: Although they see they do not see, and although they hear they do not hear nor do they understand. 13:14 And concerning them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled that says:

‘You will listen carefully ³³  yet will never understand,

you will look closely ³⁴  yet will never comprehend.

13:15 For the heart of this people has become dull;

they are hard of hearing,

and they have shut their eyes,

so that they would not see with their eyes

and hear with their ears

and understand with their hearts

and turn, and I would heal them.’ ³⁵ 

Yohanes 9:39-41

9:39 Jesus ³⁶  said,] ³⁷  “For judgment I have come into this world, so that those who do not see may gain their sight, ³⁸  and the ones who see may become blind.”

9:40 Some of the Pharisees ³⁹  who were with him heard this ⁴⁰  and asked him, ⁴¹  “We are not blind too, are we?” ⁴²  9:41 Jesus replied, ⁴³  “If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin, ⁴⁴  but now because you claim that you can see, ⁴⁵  your guilt ⁴⁶  remains.” ⁴⁷ 

Yohanes 12:40

12:40 “He has blinded their eyes

and hardened their heart, ⁴⁸ 

so that they would not see with their eyes

and understand with their heart, ⁴⁹ 

and turn to me, ⁵⁰  and I would heal them.” ⁵¹ 

Kisah Para Rasul 28:26-27

28:26 when he said,

‘Go to this people and say,

“You will keep on hearing, ⁵²  but will never understand,

and you will keep on looking, ⁵³  but will never perceive.

28:27 For the heart of this people has become dull, ⁵⁴ 

and their ears are hard of hearing, ⁵⁵ 

and they have closed their eyes,

so that they would not see with their eyes

and hear with their ears

and understand with their heart

and turn, ⁵⁶  and I would heal them.”’ ⁵⁷ 

Roma 11:7-10

11:7 What then? Israel failed to obtain what it was diligently seeking, but the elect obtained it. The ⁵⁸  rest were hardened, 11:8 as it is written,

“God gave them a spirit of stupor,

eyes that would not see and ears that would not hear,

to this very day.” ⁵⁹ 

11:9 And David says,

“Let their table become a snare and trap,

a stumbling block and a retribution for them;

11:10 let their eyes be darkened so that they may not see,

and make their backs bend continually.” ⁶⁰ 

Roma 11:25

11:25 For I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers and sisters, ⁶¹  so that you may not be conceited: A partial hardening has happened to Israel ⁶²  until the full number ⁶³  of the Gentiles has come in.

[4:4]  ¹ tn Or “of unbelievers.”

[4:4]  ² tn Grk “the gospel of the glory”; δόξης (doxhs) has been translated as an attributive genitive.

[4:4]  ³ tn Or “so that the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ would not be evident to them” (L&N 28.37).

[69:23]  ⁴ tn Heb “may their eyes be darkened from seeing.”

[69:23]  ⁵ tn Heb “make their hips shake continually.”

[6:10]  ⁶ sn Do we take this commission at face value? Does the Lord really want to prevent his people from understanding, repenting, and being healed? Verse 9, which ostensibly records the content of Isaiah’s message, is clearly ironic. As far as we know, Isaiah did not literally proclaim these exact words. The Hebrew imperatival forms are employed rhetorically and anticipate the response Isaiah will receive. When all is said and done, Isaiah might as well preface and conclude every message with these ironic words, which, though imperatival in form, might be paraphrased as follows: “You continually hear, but don’t understand; you continually see, but don’t perceive.” Isaiah might as well command them to be spiritually insensitive, because, as the preceding and following chapters make clear, the people are bent on that anyway. (This ironic command is comparable to saying to a particularly recalcitrant individual, “Go ahead, be stubborn!”) Verse 10b is also clearly sarcastic. On the surface it seems to indicate Isaiah’s hardening ministry will prevent genuine repentance. But, as the surrounding chapters clearly reveal, the people were hardly ready or willing to repent. Therefore, Isaiah’s preaching was not needed to prevent repentance! Verse 10b reflects the people’s attitude and might be paraphrased accordingly: “Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their mind, repent, and be restored, and they certainly wouldn’t want that, would they?” Of course, this sarcastic statement may also reveal that the Lord himself is now bent on judgment, not reconciliation. Just as Pharaoh’s rejection of Yahweh’s ultimatum ignited judgment and foreclosed, at least temporarily, any opportunity for repentance, so the Lord may have come to the point where he has decreed to bring judgment before opening the door for repentance once more. The sarcastic statement in verse 10b would be an emphatic way of making this clear. (Perhaps we could expand our paraphrase: “Otherwise they might…repent, and be restored, and they certainly wouldn’t want that, would they? Besides, it’s too late for that!”) Within this sarcastic framework, verse 10a must also be seen as ironic. As in verse 9 the imperatival forms should be taken as rhetorical and as anticipating the people’s response. One might paraphrase: “Your preaching will desensitize the minds of these people, make their hearing dull, and blind their eyes.” From the outset the Lord might as well command Isaiah to harden the people, because his preaching will end up having that effect. Despite the use of irony, we should still view this as a genuine, albeit indirect, act of divine hardening. After all, God did not have to send Isaiah. By sending him, he drives the sinful people further from him, for Isaiah’s preaching, which focuses on the Lord’s covenantal demands and impending judgment upon covenantal rebellion, forces the people to confront their sin and then continues to desensitize them as they respond negatively to the message. As in the case of Pharaoh, Yahweh’s hardening is not arbitrarily imposed on a righteous or even morally neutral object. Rather his hardening is an element of his righteous judgment on recalcitrant sinners. Ironically, Israel’s rejection of prophetic preaching in turn expedites disciplinary punishment, and brings the battered people to a point where they might be ready for reconciliation. The prophesied judgment (cf. 6:11-13) was fulfilled by 701 b.c. when the Assyrians devastated the land (a situation presupposed by Isa 1:2-20; see especially vv. 4-9). At that time the divine hardening had run its course and Isaiah is able to issue an ultimatum (1:19-20), one which Hezekiah apparently took to heart, resulting in the sparing of Jerusalem (see Isa 36-39 and cf. Jer 26:18-19 with Mic 3:12).This interpretation, which holds in balance both Israel’s moral responsibility and the Lord’s sovereign work among his people, is consistent with other pertinent texts both within and outside the Book of Isaiah. Isa 3:9 declares that the people of Judah “have brought disaster upon themselves,” but Isa 29:9-10 indicates that the Lord was involved to some degree in desensitizing the people. Zech 7:11-12 looks back to the pre-exilic era (cf. v. 7) and observes that the earlier generations stubbornly hardened their hearts, but Ps 81:11-12, recalling this same period, states that the Lord “gave them over to their stubborn hearts.”

[26:10]  ⁷ tn As in verse 9b, the translation understands צֶדֶק (tsedeq) in the sense of “justice,” but it is possible that it carries the nuance “righteousness,” in which case one might translate, “they do not learn to live in a righteous manner.”

[26:10]  ⁸ tn Heb “in a land of uprightness they act unjustly”; NRSV “they deal perversely.”

[26:11]  ⁹ tn Heb “O Lord, your hand is lifted up.”

[26:11]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “They will see and be ashamed of zeal of people.” Some take the prefixed verbs as jussives and translate the statement as a prayer, “Let them see and be put to shame.” The meaning of the phrase קִנְאַת־עָם (qin’at-’am, “zeal of people”) is unclear. The translation assumes that this refers to God’s angry judgment upon people. Another option is to understand the phrase as referring to God’s zealous, protective love of his covenant people. In this case one might translate, “by your zealous devotion to your people.”

[26:11]  ¹¹ tn Heb “yes, fire, your enemies, will consume them.” Many understand the prefixed verb form to be jussive and translate, “let [fire] consume” (cf. NAB, NIV, NRSV). The mem suffixed to the verb may be enclitic; if a pronominal suffix, it refers back to “your enemies.”

[26:12]  ¹² tn Heb “O Lord, you establish peace for us.”

[26:12]  ¹³ tc Some suggest emending גַּם כָּל (gam kol, “even all”) to כִּגְמֻל (kigmul, “according to the deed[s] of”) One might then translate “for according to what our deeds deserve, you have acted on our behalf.” Nevertheless, accepting the MT as it stands, the prophet affirms that Yahweh deserved all the credit for anything Israel had accomplished.

[42:18]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “look to see”; NAB, NCV “look and see”; NRSV “look up and see.”

[42:19]  ¹⁵ tc The precise meaning of מְשֻׁלָּם (mÿshullam) in this context is uncertain. In later biblical Hebrew the form (which appears to be a Pual participle from the root שָׁלַם, shalam) occurs as a proper name, Meshullam. The Pual of שָׁלַם (“be complete”) is attested with the meaning “repaid, requited,” but that makes little sense here. BDB 1023 s.v. שָׁלַם relates the form to the denominative verb שָׁלַם (“be at peace”) and paraphrases “one in a covenant of peace” (J. N. Oswalt suggests “the covenanted one”; Isaiah [NICOT], 2:128, n. 59) Some emend the form to מֹשְׁלָם (moshÿlam, “their ruler”) or to מְשֻׁלָּחִי (mÿshullakhi, “my sent [or “commissioned”] one”), which fits nicely in the parallelism (note “my messenger” in the previous line). The translation above assumes an emendation to כְּמוֹ שֹׁלְמִי (kÿmo sholÿmi, “like my ally”). Isaiah uses כְּמוֹ in 30:22 and perhaps 51:5; for שֹׁלְמי (“my ally”) see Ps 7:5 HT (7:4 ET).

[42:19]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “Who is blind but my servant, and deaf like my messenger I send? Who is blind like my commissioned one, blind like the servant of the Lord?” The point of the rhetorical questions is that no one is as blind/deaf as this servant. In this context the Lord’s “servant” is exiled Israel (cf. 41:8-9), which is spiritually blind and deaf and has failed to fulfill God’s purpose for it. This servant stands in contrast to the ideal “Israel” of the servant songs.

[42:20]  ¹⁷ tn The consonantal text (Kethib) has a perfect, 2nd person masculine singular; the marginal reading (Qere) has an infinitive absolute, which functions here as a finite verb.

[42:20]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “but you do not guard [i.e., retain in your memory]”; NIV “but have paid no attention.”

[44:18]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “for their eyes are smeared over so they cannot see, so their heart cannot be wise.”

[56:10]  ²⁰ sn The “watchmen” are probably spiritual leaders, most likely prophets and priests, responsible for giving the people moral direction.

[56:10]  ²¹ tn Heb “they do not know”; KJV “they are all ignorant”; NIV “they all lack knowledge.”

[56:10]  ²² tn The Hebrew text has הֹזִים (hozim), which appears to be derived from an otherwise unattested verbal root הָזָה (hazah). On the basis of alleged cognates, BDB 223 s.v. הָזָה offers the definition “dream, rave” while HALOT 243 s.v. הזה lists “pant.” In this case the dog metaphor of the preceding lines continues. The reference to dogs at the beginning of v. 11 favors the extension of the metaphor. The Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a has חזים (“seers”) here. In this case the “watchmen” are directly identified as prophets and depicted as lazy.

[59:10]  ²³ tn Heb “like there are no eyes.”

[59:10]  ²⁴ tn Heb among the strong, like dead men.”

[5:21]  ²⁵ tn Heb “they have eyes but they do not see, they have ears but they do not hear.”

[12:2]  ²⁶ sn The book of Ezekiel frequently refers to the Israelites as a rebellious house (Ezek 2:5, 6, 8; 3:9, 26-27; 12:2-3, 9, 25; 17:12; 24:3).

[12:2]  ²⁷ sn This verse is very similar to Isa 6:9-10.

[6:23]  ²⁸ tn Or “if your eye is sick” (L&N 23.149).

[6:23]  sn There may be a slight wordplay here, as this term can also mean “evil,” so the figure uses a term that points to the real meaning of being careful as to what one pays attention to or looks at.

[13:11]  ²⁹ tn Grk “And answering, he said to them.” This construction is somewhat redundant in English and has been simplified in the translation. Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[13:11]  ³⁰ tn This is an example of a “divine passive,” with God understood to be the source of the revelation (see ExSyn 437-38).

[13:11]  ³¹ tn Grk “to you it has been given to know.” The dative pronoun occurs first, in emphatic position in the Greek text, although this position is awkward in contemporary English.

[13:11]  ³² tn Grk “the mysteries.”

[13:11]  sn The key term secrets (μυστήριον, musthrion) can mean either (1) a new revelation or (2) a revealing interpretation of existing revelation as in Dan 2:17-23, 27-30. Jesus seems to be explaining how current events develop old promises, since the NT consistently links the events of Jesus’ ministry and message with old promises (Rom 1:1-4; Heb 1:1-2). The traditional translation of this word, “mystery,” is misleading to the modern English reader because it suggests a secret which people have tried to uncover but which they have failed to understand (L&N 28.77).

[13:14]  ³³ tn Grk “with hearing,” a cognate dative that intensifies the action of the main verb “you will listen” (ExSyn 168-69).

[13:14]  ³⁴ tn Grk “look by looking.” The participle is redundant, functioning to intensify the force of the main verb.

[13:15]  ³⁵ sn A quotation from Isa 6:9-10. Thus parables both conceal or reveal depending on whether one is open to hearing what they teach.

[9:39]  ³⁶ tn Grk “And Jesus.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, καί (kai) has not been translated here.

[9:39]  ³⁷ tc ‡ Some early and important witnesses (Ì⁷⁵ א* W b sa^ms ac² mf) lack the words, “He said, ‘Lord, I believe,’ and he worshiped him. Jesus said,” (vv. 38-39a). This is weighty evidence for the omission of these words. It is difficult to overstate the value of Ì⁷⁵ here, since it is the only currently available papyrus ms extant for the text of John 9:38-39. Further, א is an important and early Alexandrian witness for the omission. The versional testimony and codex W also give strong support to the omission. Nearly all other mss, however, include these words. The omission may have been occasioned by parablepsis (both vv. 37 and 39 begin with “Jesus said to him”), though it is difficult to account for such an error across such a wide variety of witnesses. On the other hand, the longer reading appears to be motivated by liturgical concerns (so R. E. Brown, John [AB], 1:375), since the verb προσκυνέω (proskunew, “I worship”) is used in John 4:20-25 of worshiping God, and again with the same sense in 12:20. If these words were authentic here, this would be the only place in John’s Gospel where Jesus is the explicit object of προσκυνέω. Even if these words are not authentic, such an omission would nevertheless hardly diminish John’s high Christology (cf. 1:1; 5:18-23; 14:6-10; 20:28), nor the implicit worship of him by Thomas (20:28). Nevertheless, a decision is difficult, and the included words may reflect a very early tradition about the blind man’s response to Jesus.

[9:39]  ³⁸ tn Or “that those who do not see may see.”

[9:40]  ³⁹ sn See the note on Pharisees in 1:24.

[9:40]  ⁴⁰ tn Grk “heard these things.”

[9:40]  ⁴¹ tn Grk “and said to him.”

[9:40]  ⁴² tn Questions prefaced with μή (mh) in Greek anticipate a negative answer. This can sometimes be indicated by using a “tag” at the end in English (here the tag is “are we?”).

[9:41]  ⁴³ tn Grk “Jesus said to them.”

[9:41]  ⁴⁴ tn Grk “you would not have sin.”

[9:41]  ⁴⁵ tn Grk “now because you say, ‘We see…’”

[9:41]  ⁴⁶ tn Or “your sin.”

[9:41]  ⁴⁷ sn Because you claim that you can see, your guilt remains. The blind man received sight physically, and this led him to see spiritually as well. But the Pharisees, who claimed to possess spiritual sight, were spiritually blinded. The reader might recall Jesus’ words to Nicodemus in 3:10, “Are you the teacher of Israel and don’t understand these things?” In other words, to receive Jesus was to receive the light of the world, to reject him was to reject the light, close one’s eyes, and become blind. This is the serious sin of which Jesus had warned before (8:21-24). The blindness of such people was incurable since they had rejected the only cure that exists (cf. 12:39-41).

[12:40]  ⁴⁸ tn Or “closed their mind.”

[12:40]  ⁴⁹ tn Or “their mind.”

[12:40]  ⁵⁰ tn One could also translate στραφῶσιν (strafwsin) as “repent” or “change their ways,” but both of these terms would be subject to misinterpretation by the modern English reader. The idea is one of turning back to God, however. The words “to me” are not in the Greek text, but are implied.

[12:40]  ⁵¹ sn A quotation from Isa 6:10.

[28:26]  ⁵² tn Grk “you will hear with hearing” (an idiom).

[28:26]  ⁵³ tn Or “seeing”; Grk “you will look by looking” (an idiom).

[28:27]  ⁵⁴ tn Or “insensitive.”

[28:27]  sn The heart of this people has become dull. The charge from Isaiah is like Stephen’s against the Jews of Jerusalem (Acts 7:51-53). They were a hard-hearted and disobedient people.

[28:27]  ⁵⁵ tn Grk “they hear heavily with their ears” (an idiom for slow comprehension).

[28:27]  ⁵⁶ sn Note how the failure to respond to the message of the gospel is seen as a failure to turn.

[28:27]  ⁵⁷ sn A quotation from Isa 6:9-10.

[11:7]  ⁵⁸ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[11:8]  ⁵⁹ sn A quotation from Deut 29:4; Isa 29:10.

[11:10]  ⁶⁰ sn A quotation from Ps 69:22-23.

[11:25]  ⁶¹ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:13.

[11:25]  ⁶² tn Or “Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in.”

[11:25]  ⁶³ tn Grk “fullness.”