Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 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.
40. He hath blinded ] Not Christ, nor the devil, but God. The quotation is free, following neither the Hebrew nor the LXX. very closely.
I should heal ] ‘I’ = Christ. God has hardened their hearts so that they could not be converted, and therefore Christ could not heal them. Comp. Mat 13:14-15, where Christ quotes this text to explain why He teaches in parables; and Act 28:26, where S. Paul quotes it to explain the rejection of his preaching by the Jews in Rome.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
He hath blinded their eyes – The expression in Isaiah is, Go, make the heart of this people fat, and shut their eyes. That is, go and proclaim truth to them truth that will result in blinding their eyes. Go and proclaim the law and the will of God, and the effect will be, owing to the hardness of their heart, that their eyes will be blinded and their hearts hardened. As God knew that this would be the result – as it was to be the effect of the message, his commanding Isaiah to go and proclaim it was the same in effect, or in the result, as if he had commanded him to blind their eyes and harden their hearts. It is this effect or result to which the evangelist refers in this place. He states that God did it, that is, he did it in the manner mentioned in Isaiah, for we are limited to that in our interpretation of the passage. In that case it is clear that the mode specified is not a direct agency on the part of God in blinding the mind – which we cannot reconcile with any just notions of the divine character – but in suffering the truth to produce a regular effect on sinful minds, without putting forth any positive supernatural influence to prevent it. The effect of truth on such minds is to irritate, to enrage, and to harden, unless counteracted by the grace of God. See Rom 7:8-9, Rom 7:11; 2Co 2:15-16. And as God knew this, and, knowing it, still sent the message, and suffered it to produce the regular effect, the Evangelist says he hath blinded their minds, thus retaining the substance of the passage in Isaiah without quoting the precise language; but in proclaiming the truth there was nothing wrong on the part of God or of Isaiah, nor is there any indication that God was unwilling that they should believe and be saved.
That they should not see … – This does not mean that it was the design of God that they should not be converted, but that it was the effect of their rejecting the message. See the notes at Mat 13:14-15.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 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.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
We have this text (than which there is not one more terrible in the whole book of God) no less than six times quoted in the New Testament, and in all places quoted and given as a reason for the Jews unbelief in the Lord Jesus Christ, Mat 13:14,15; Mr 4:12; Luk 8:10; Act 28:26,27; Ro 11:8. It is not quoted alike in all places, but for substance the same. The original from whence these quotations are, is Isa 6:9,10. By comparing the texts we shall find several authors, instruments, or causes of these dreadful effects. In the original, the prophet Isaiah is made the instrumental cause: Go, (saith God), and make the heart of this people fat, & c. Matthew, and Luke in Act 28:27, mention themselves as the cause. Matthew saith, For this peoples heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed. And the Acts it is, For the heart of this people is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes have they closed. All the other texts speak of it as Gods act. The thing is easily thus reconciled: God sent to the Jews his prophets, and gave them the means of salvation; it is true, without the inward efficacy of his Spirit they could not savingly believe, but they did not do what was in their power to have done, nay, they did do what was in their power to have avoided, they slighted and contemned the Lords prophets, and killed them, and stoned such as were sent unto them. Thus they first shut their own eyes, and hardened their own hearts; and as their forefathers had done in their generation, so the Jews in our Saviour Christs time did also in their generation, shutting their eyes against the revelation of the gospel by Christ himself. They thus behaving themselves, God judicially gave them up to their own lusts, permitting their hearts to harden, and suffering them to close their own eyes, so as they could not repent, believe, or return, and be saved; not that God infused any malice into their hearts, but withdrew his grace from them after such provocations on their parts: so that as the prophets in their age laboured with them in vain, and all the event of their ministry was but the generality of that peoples growing worse and more obdurate; so all the event of Christs ministry and miracles, which he personally wrought amongst them in his age, did accidentally but increase their sin and their judgment, and ripen them for their ruin, through their wilful abuse of those sacred means of life and salvation. The judgment itself was but one, viz. a judicial hardening of them; but it is set out by a great variety of expressions, both by the prophets, and the writers of the New Testament: in Isaiah, by making their hearts fat, their ears heavy, shutting their eyes: in Matthew, making their hearts gross, their ears dull of hearing, shutting their eyes: in this text, by blinding their eyes, and hardening their hearts: in the Acts, by the same phrases as in Matthew: in Rom 11:8 is added, God hath given them the spirit of slumber. All the phrases are expressive of the same dreadful judgment of God; yet it may be expressed in this variety of phrase, to signify the distinct, particular plagues (comprehended in this one plague) which fall upon the several powers and faculties of those souls upon whom this dreadful judgment falls; blindness in the mind, stubbornness in the will, &c., vileness in the affections, reprobacy in the mind, &c.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
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 national way, and be preserved from national ruin, as it follows,
that they should not see with their eyes,….
[See comments on Mt 13:14],
[See comments on Mt 13:15]. The Syriac and Persic versions read, “they have blinded their eyes”, &c.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
He hath blinded (). Perfect active indicative of , old causative verb to make blind (from , blind), in N.T. only here, 2Cor 4:4; 1John 2:11.
He hardened (). First aorist active indicative of , a late causative verb (from , hard skin), seen already in Mr 6:52, etc. This quotation is from Isa 6:10 and differs from the LXX.
Lest they should see ( ). Negative purpose clause with instead of (never used by John) of the LXX. Matthew (Mt 13:15) has and quotes Jesus as using the passage as do Mark (Mr 4:12) and Luke (Lu 8:10). Paul quotes it again (Ac 28:26) to the Jews in Rome. In each instance the words of Isaiah are interpreted as forecasting the doom of the Jews for rejecting the Messiah. Matthew (Mt 13:15) has where John has (perceive), and both change from the subjunctive to the future ( ), “And I should heal them.” John has here (second aorist passive subjunctive of ) while Matthew reads (first aorist active of ).
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
He hath blinded, etc. These words of Isaiah are repeated five times in the New Testament as the description of the Jewish people in its latest stage of decay. Mt 13:13; Mr 4:12; Luk 8:10; Joh 12:40; Act 28:26.
Hardened [] . See on the kindred noun pwrwsiv, hardness, Mr 3:5.
Understand [] . Rev., better, perceive. Mark has suniwsin, understand. See on understanding, Luk 2:47.
Be converted (ejpistrafwsin). See on Mt 13:15; Luk 22:32. Rev., more accurately, turn, with the idea of turning to or toward something [] .
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “He hath blinded their eyes,” (tetuphloken auton tous ophthalmous) “He has blinded their eyes,” spiritually, Isa 6:9-10. After Israel willfully saw: 1) Fulfilled prophecies of Him, and 2) Miracles that He did, and willfully closed their eyes and stopped their ears, and would not believe, Joh 8:21; Joh 8:24.
2) “And hardened their heart; (kai eporosen auton ten kardian) “And he has hardened their heart,” after they had seen Him, heard His Father’s voice from heaven, seen the miracles that He had done, benefited from them physically, but would not believe, Mat 23:37.
3) “That they should not see with their eyes,” (hina me edosin tois ophthalmois) “In order that they might not see with their eyes,” any more miracles that He would show them, except one, which was His resurrection, Mat 16:1-4.
4) “Nor understand with their heart,” (kai noesosin te kardia) “And understand with the heart,” having it blinded by the god of this world,” 2Co 4:3-4.
5) “And be converted,” (kai straphosin) “And might turn,” from their chosen course of unbelief, which they followed, beyond God’s day of limitation, Pro 29:1; Heb 4:7.
6) “And I should heal them.” (kai iasomai autous) “And I will cure them,” of the malady of sin and its judgement. Though none knows what day, what hour, or what moment God may withdraw His mercy and call to sinners to repentance, there is a day of limitation, Pro 1:20-31; 2Co 6:2; Heb 4:7; Luk 16:31.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
40. He hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart. The passage is taken from Isa 6:9, where the Lord forewarns the prophet, that the labor which he spends in instructing will lead to no other result than to make the people worse. First then he says, Go, and tell this people, Hearing, hear and do not hear; as if he had said, “I send thee to speak to the deaf.” He afterwards adds, Harden the heart of this people, &c. By these words he means, that he intends to make his word a punishment to the reprobate, that it may render them more thoroughly blind, and that their blindness may be plunged in deeper darkness. It is indeed a dreadful judgment of God, when He overwhelms men by the light of doctrine, in such a manner as to deprive them of all understanding; and when, even by means of that which is their only light, he brings darkness upon them.
But it ought to be observed, that it is accidental to the word of God, that it blinds men; for nothing can be more inconsistent than that there should be no difference between truth and falsehood, that the bread of life should become a deadly poison, and that medicine should aggravate a disease. But this must be ascribed to the wickedness of men, which turns life into death. It ought also to be observed, that sometimes the Lord, by himself, blinds the minds of men, by depriving them of judgment and understanding; sometimes by Satan and false prophets, when he maddens them by their impostures; sometimes. too by his ministers, when the doctrine of salvation is injurious and deadly to them. But provided that prophets labor faithfully in the work of instruction, and commit to the Lord the result of their labor, though they may not succeed to their wish, they ought not to give way or despond. Let them rather be satisfied with knowing that God approves of their labor, though it be useless to men’ and that even the savor of doctrine, which wicked men render deadly to themselves elves, is good and pleasant to God, as Paul testifies, (2Co 2:15.)
The heart is sometimes in Scripture put for the seat of the affections; but here, as in many other passages, it denotes what is called the intellectual part of the soul. To the same purpose Moses speaks:
God hath not given you a heart to understand, (Deu 29:4.)
Lest they should see with their eyes. Let us remember that the prophet speaks of unbelievers who had already rejected the grace of God. It is certain that all would continue to be such by nature, if The Lord did not form to obedience to him those whom he has elected. At first, therefore, the condition of men is equal and alike, but when reprobate men have, of their own accord, and by their own wickedness, rebelled against God, they subject themselves to this vengeance, by which, being given up to a reprobate mind, they continually rush forward more and more to their own destruction. It is their own fault, therefore, if God does not choose to convert them, because they were the cause of their own despair. We are briefly instructed also, by these words of the prophet, what is the beginning of our conversion to God. It is when he enlightens the hearts, which must have been turned away from him, so long as they were held by the darkness of Satan; but, on the contrary, such is the power of Divine light, that it attracts us to itself, and forms us to the image of God.
And I should heal them. He next adds the fruit of conversion, that is, healing. By this word the prophet means the blessing of God and a prosperous condition, and likewise deliverance from all the miseries which spring from the wrath of God. Now, if this happens to the reprobate, contrary to the nature of the word, we ought to attend to the contrast implied in the, opposite use of it; namely, that the purpose for which the word of God is preached is, to enlighten us in the true knowledge of God, to turn us to God, and reconcile us to him, that we may be happy and blessed.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(40) He hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart. . . .These words are quoted three times in the New Testament. Our Lord, as we have seen, quotes them as explaining His own teaching (Mat. 13:14); St. John quotes them here to explain the rejection of that teaching; St. Paul quotes them in Act. 28:26, to explain the rejection of the Gospel by the Jews at Rome. Yet we are to remember that the prophet and those who quote him are all witnesses that within Israel there were eyes which were not blinded and hearts which were not hardened. Isaiah, and John, and Paul, were all Jews; and our Lord Himself was, in His human nature, of the seed of Abraham. Isaiahs prophecy is accompanied by the promise of a holy seed (Joh. 12:13); St. John quotes these words, and adds that even of the rulers many believed (Joh. 12:42); St. Paul quotes them when some believed the things which were spoken and some believed not (Joh. 12:24); our Lord quotes them, and immediately says, But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear. There is, indeed, a judicial blinding and a judicial hardeninglet no man therefore presume; but these come only to eyes that will not to see, and to hearts that will not to hearlet no man therefore despair. The quotation in this place does not follow exactly either the Hebrew or the Greek of the passage in Isaiah. In the Hebrew text, as in the Authorised version, the prophet is commanded to make the heart of this people fat. . . . The Greek text says simply, The heart of this people was hardened. . . . St. John represents the action which God commanded to be done as done by Himself, and speaks of it in the past tense.
And I should heal them.The pronoun here refers to Christ. St. John in his interpretation of the prophecy has made God (He) the author of the judicial blindness and hardness, and represents Christ as the physician. This clause is, however, not to be taken separately, but is governed by that not which precedes, The effect of their not turning was that Christ could not heal them.
On the whole verse comp. Note on Mat. 13:14, and Act. 28:26.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
40. He hath blinded their eyes They had shut themselves in, and the harder He pushed the tighter the door was pressed. They had made their choice; and the more he would persuade, the more firmly they braced themselves against him. They fitted their eyes to the darkness; and, like owls, the clearer the light the more total their blindness. So that although God, according to the prophet, was the unwilling cause of their blindness, yet it was their wicked will that gave to the cause its effect.
And be converted Which was the desired result on the part of God. But their perverse will transformed his mercy into judgment; his means of softening into results of hardening. Thus does the same sun that melts the wax harden the clay. But the clay is inanimate and blameless; these living agents, hardened by the divine softenings, were free and responsible. The Evangelist has no idea of the modern argument, that because the Jews did not believe the miracles were not real. On the contrary, their unbelief, being a fulfilment of prophecy, was an actual proof of their supernatural reality. That unbelief was by God foreseen, and by him provided for and predicted. Knowing what the Jews would freely do, God had accordingly adjusted his plans, plans contingent indeed upon their doing, yet certain because that doing was freely certain and foreseen Jewish rejection, according to prophecy, is good proof of the reality of Jesus’s Messiahship.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
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.
Ver. 40. He hath hardened their hearts ] With a judiciary hardness. This is in some respect worse than hell: since (besides that God inflicts it as a punishment of former obstinance) it is one of the greatest sins, and so far greater an evil than any of the greatest punishments. Hence it was the saying of a reverend man, “If I must be put to my choice, I had rather be in hell with a sensible heart, than live on earth with a reprobate mind.”
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
40. ] The prophecy is freely cited, after neither the Heb. nor the LXX, which is followed in Mat 13:14 f. What God bids the Prophet do , is here described as done , and by Himself: which is obviously implied in the Heb. text. The reading (Morus) supplying as the subject of . and ., is out of the question, as ungrammatical, and inconsistent with the context, which will only allow of (i.e. Jehovah) as the subject .
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
He hath blinded, &c. Quoted from Isa 6:9, Isa 6:10. See notes there. This was the second occasion of this prophecy being quoted, the first being in Mat 18:14 (compare Mar 4:12. Luk 8:10), when the Lord explained why He spoke to the people in parables; the other two being Act 28:26, Act 28:27 and Rom 11:8.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
40.] The prophecy is freely cited, after neither the Heb. nor the LXX, which is followed in Mat 13:14 f. What God bids the Prophet do, is here described as done, and by Himself: which is obviously implied in the Heb. text. The reading (Morus) supplying as the subject of . and ., is out of the question,-as ungrammatical, and inconsistent with the context, which will only allow of (i.e. Jehovah) as the subject.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Joh 12:40. , hath blinded) God, by a just judgment on them. There follows, with a change of person, I the Messiah should heal them.-) The words in antithesis are, , and hardness of heart, and understanding. Comp. 2Co 3:14, Their minds were blinded; for until this day remaineth the same veil untaken away.- ) even to that degree that not. Comp. , ch. Joh 5:20, He will show Him (the Son) greater works than these, (with the effect that, to that degree that) , ye may marvel.- , and understand with their heart, and be converted) These two clauses have a nearer connection with one another than with the rest, as is shown by the Hebrew accents in Isaiah.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Joh 12:40
Joh 12:40
He hath blinded their eyes, and he hardened their heart; lest they should see with their eyes, and perceive with their heart, and should turn, and I should heal them.-Because they loved sin and rebellion, God hardened their hearts and stiffened their necks to lead them on to their ruin. Isaiah foretold that they could not believe so as to be healed or saved by God, but he meant in the disposition of heart they were cultivating they could not do these things. [This explains why they could not believe. Whether they were morally responsible for their unbelief depends on how God blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts. If he did it by a direct act, regardless of their moral condition, then they were not responsible. If, however, he did it by a law of the universe that whoever turns from the light shall become blind, and whosoever steels his heart against the truth shall find his heart hardened, then they were morally responsible if they had turned from the light and hardened their hearts. It is a physical as well as a moral law that he who turns from the light and seeks to abide in darkness will become blinded until he will believe a lie and be damned. The men who are the champions of unbelief, such men as Voltaire, Paine, and Ingersoll, are unbelievers because they did not wish to believe. Their moral condition was such that they could not justify their course of life only by refusing to believe on the Christ. They sought the darkness, and as a result finally they became so blinded that they could not believe. They blinded their own eyes because they brought upon themselves the penalty. God blinded their eyes because their blindness resulted from the action of his universal law. Thus it is said of Pharaoh that God hardened his heart, but it is also said that Pharaoh hardened his heart. He chose, in the exercise of his voluntary agency, to harden his heart, but it is Gods law that those who harden their hearts shall be hardened, and hence God, by this law, hardened his heart. By reference to Mat 13:14 the reader will find this passage from Isaiah quoted and applied by the Savior to the Jews. In the application he shows how they were blinded, Their eyes have they closed. The Saviors words settle how God blinded their eyes. It was by the application of his invariable law to their own acts. French says: The Lord, having constituted as the righteous law of moral government, that sin should produce darkness of heart and moral insensibility, declared that he would allow the law to take its course. -Johnson. The means God used to touch and tender the hearts of the children of Israel and cause them to follow Moses, their leader, also hardened the heart of Pharaoh.]
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
hath: Joh 9:39, 1Ki 22:20, Isa 29:10, Eze 14:9, Mat 13:13-15, Mat 15:14, Mar 4:12, Luk 8:10, Act 28:26, Rom 11:8-11
hardened: Exo 4:21, Exo 7:3, Exo 7:13, Exo 14:4, Exo 14:8, Exo 14:17, Jos 11:20, Rom 9:18, Rom 11:7, *marg.
that they: Deu 29:4, Psa 135:10-18, Isa 26:11, Isa 42:19, Isa 42:20, Jer 5:21, Eze 12:2, Mar 8:17, Mar 8:18
and be: Act 3:19, Act 15:3, Jam 5:19, Jam 5:20
heal: Psa 6:2, Psa 41:4, Psa 147:3, Isa 53:5, Isa 57:18, Isa 57:19, Jer 3:22, Hos 6:1, Hos 14:4, Luk 4:18
Reciprocal: Exo 10:20 – General 1Sa 2:25 – hearkened 2Ki 6:18 – Smite this people Job 24:13 – they know Psa 24:10 – The Lord Psa 69:23 – Their eyes Isa 6:9 – Hear ye Isa 44:18 – cannot Isa 48:8 – thou heardest Isa 59:10 – grope Isa 63:17 – and hardened Zec 11:17 – the sword Mal 4:2 – the Sun Mat 13:14 – the prophecy Joh 1:14 – we Joh 3:3 – he cannot Joh 8:43 – do Joh 12:35 – lest Act 19:9 – divers 1Co 2:8 – for 2Co 3:14 – their 2Co 4:4 – the god Eph 4:18 – blindness 1Jo 2:11 – because Rev 17:17 – until
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
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This verse is to be understood in the light of comments on verses 38. 39.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Isa 6:10 is the prophecy that predicted this hardening (cf. Act 28:26-27). Originally God had told Isaiah that the people to whom he ministered would not welcome his ministry because God would harden their hearts. Now John explained that this verse also revealed the reason for the Jews’ rejection of Jesus’ ministry. Prophecy not only described Israel’s unbelief (Joh 12:38), but it also explained it.
The apostle Paul gave the definitive answer to the problem of God’s fairness that His predestination poses in Romans 9-11.