YHN 12:40 Parallel Verse View

Note: This view shows ‘verses’ which are not natural language units and hence sometimes only part of a sentence will be visible—click on any Bible version abbreviation down the left-hand side to see the verse in more of its context. Normally the OET discourages the reading of individual ‘verses’, but this view is only designed as a tool for doing comparisons of different translations—the older translations are further down the page (so you can read up from the bottom to trace the English translation history). The OET segments on this page are still very early looks into the unfinished texts of the Open English Translation of the Bible—please double-check these texts in advance before using in public.

Text critical issues=small word differences Clarity of original=clear Importance to us=normal (All still tentative.)

OET (OET-RV) [ref]“He has blinded their eyes and maimed their emotions,
⇔ so that they can’t see with their eyes and understand with their minds,
⇔ or they might be turned and then I would heal them.”

Key: khaki:verbs, orange:accusative/object, pink:genitive/possessor, cyan:dative/indirect object.
Note: Automatic aligning of the OET-RV to the LV is done by some temporary software, hence the RV alignments are incomplete (and may occasionally be wrong).

ULT “He has blinded their eyes, and he has hardened their heart;
⇔ so that they might not see with their eyes and might understand with their heart,
⇔ and might turn,
⇔ and I will heal them.”

UST “The Lord has made them unable to perceive what they see,
⇔ and he has made them stubborn.
⇔ He has done this in order that they would not perceive what they see,
⇔ and would not truly understand,
⇔ and would not turn away from sin to God, and I would not forgive them.”

BSB “He has blinded their eyes
⇔ and hardened their hearts,
⇔ so that they cannot see with [their] eyes,
⇔ and understand with [their] hearts,
⇔ and turn,
⇔ and I would heal them.”[fn]

MSB “He has blinded their eyes
⇔ and hardened their hearts,
⇔ so that they cannot see with [their] eyes,
⇔ and understand with [their] hearts,
⇔ and turn,
⇔ and I would heal them.”[fn]

BLB "He has blinded their eyes, and has hardened their heart, that they should not see with the eyes, and understand with the heart, and turn, and I will heal them."

AICNT “Their eyes have been blinded and their heart has been hardened, so that they may not see with their eyes and understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them.”[fn]

12:40, Isaiah 6:10 LXX

OEB “He has blinded their eyes, and blunted their mind, so that they should not see with their eyes, and perceive with their mind, and turn – And I should heal them.”

WEBBE “He has blinded their eyes and he hardened their heart,
⇔ lest they should see with their eyes,
⇔ and perceive with their heart,
⇔ and would turn,
⇔ and I would heal them.”

WMBB (Same as above)

NET “ He has blinded their eyes
⇔  and hardened their heart,
⇔  so that they would not see with their eyes
⇔  and understand with their heart,
⇔  and turn to me, and I would heal them*.”

LSV “He has blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart, that they might not see with the eyes, and understand with the heart, and turn, and I might heal them”;

FBV “He blinded their eyes, and made their minds dull, so that their eyes would not see, and their minds would not think, and they would not turn to me—for if they did I would heal them.”[fn]

12:40 Quoting Isaiah 6:10.

TCNT ⇔ “He has blinded their eyes
⇔ and hardened their hearts,
⇔ lest they should see with their eyes
⇔ and understand with their hearts and turn [fn]back,
⇔ and I would heal them.”

12:40 back ¦ — CT

T4T They have refused to understand; they acted as though they were blind people!
⇔ They were insensible in their inner beings!
⇔ As a result, they have not perceived my truth!
⇔ They have not understood it in their inner beings!
⇔ They have not turned from their sinful lives,
⇔ and because of that I cannot help them!

LEB • “He has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts,
• lest they see with their[fn] eyes
• and understand with their[fn] hearts
• and turn, and I heal them.”[fn]

12:39 *Literally “the”; the Greek article is used here as a possessive pronoun

12:39 A quotation from Isa 6:10|link-href="None"

BBE He has made their eyes blind, and their hearts hard; for fear that they might see with their eyes and get knowledge with their hearts, and be changed, and I might make them well.

Moff He has blinded their eyes
⇔ and made their hearts insensible,
⇔ to prevent them seeing with their eyes and understanding with their hearts and turning for me to cure them.

Wymth "He has blinded their eyes and made their minds callous, lest they should see with their eyes and perceive with their minds, and should turn, and I should heal them."

ASV 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.

DRA 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.

YLT 'He hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart, that they might not see with the eyes, and understand with the heart, and turn back, and I might heal them;'

Drby He has blinded their eyes and hardened their heart, that they may not see with their eyes, and understand with their heart and be converted, and I should heal them.

RV 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.
(He hath/has 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. )

SLT He has blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart: lest they see with the eyes, and understand with the heart, and should turn back, and I should heal them.

Wbstr 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.

KJB-1769 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.
(He hath/has 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. )

KJB-1611 He hath blinded their eyes, and hardned their heart, that they should not see with their eyes, nor vnderstand with their heart, and be conuerted, and I should heale them.
(He hath/has blinded their eyes, and hardned their heart, that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them.)

Bshps He hath blynded their eyes, and hardened their heart, that they shoulde not see with their eyes, & lest they should vnderstande with their hearte, & should be conuerted, and I should heale them.
(He hath/has blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart, that they should not see with their eyes, and lest they should understand with their hearte, and should be converted, and I should heal them.)

Gnva He hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart, that they shoulde not see with their eyes, nor vnderstand with their heart, and should be conuerted, and I should heale them.
(He hath/has blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart, that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them. )

Cvdl He hath blynded their eyes, and hardened their hert, that they shulde not se with the eyes, ner vnderstonde with the hert, & shulde be conuerted, and he shulde heale them.
(He hath/has blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart, that they should not see with the eyes, nor understood with the heart, and should be converted, and he should heal them.)

TNT he hath blinded their eyes and hardened their hertes that they shuld not se with their eyes and vnderstonde with their hertes and shuld be converted and I shuld heale them.
(he hath/has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts that they should not see with their eyes and understood with their hearts and should be converted and I should heal them. )

Wycl He hath blyndid her iyen, and he hath maad hard the herte of hem, that thei se not with iyen, and vndurstonde with herte; and that thei be conuertid, and Y heele hem.
(He hath/has blinded her eyes, and he hath/has made hard the heart of hem, that they see not with eyes, and understood with heart; and that they be converted, and I heel hem.)

Luth Er hat ihre Augen verblendet und ihr Herz verstocket, daß sie mit den Augen nicht sehen, noch mit dem Herzen vernehmen und sich bekehren, und ich ihnen hülfe.
(He has their/her eyes deceptive and you(pl)/their/her heart verstocket, that they/she/them with the eyes not see, still with to_him heart(s) hear and itself/yourself/themselves convert, and I to_them hülfe.)

ClVg [Excæcavit oculos eorum, et induravit cor eorum ut non videant oculis, et non intelligant corde, et convertantur, et sanem eos.]
([Excæcavit the_eyes their, and induravit heart their as not/no let_them_see eyes, and not/no understand heart, and they_are_converted, and sanem them.] )

UGNT τετύφλωκεν αὐτῶν τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς καὶ ἐπώρωσεν αὐτῶν τὴν καρδίαν, ἵνα μὴ ἴδωσιν τοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς καὶ νοήσωσιν τῇ καρδίᾳ, καὶ στραφῶσιν καὶ ἰάσομαι αὐτούς.
(tetuflōken autōn tous ofthalmous kai epōrōsen autōn taʸn kardian, hina maʸ idōsin tois ofthalmois kai noaʸsōsin taʸ kardia, kai strafōsin kai iasomai autous.)

SBL-GNT Τετύφλωκεν αὐτῶν τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς καὶ ⸀ἐπώρωσεν αὐτῶν τὴν καρδίαν, ἵνα μὴ ἴδωσιν τοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς καὶ νοήσωσιν τῇ καρδίᾳ καὶ ⸀στραφῶσιν, καὶ ⸀ἰάσομαι αὐτούς.
(Tetuflōken autōn tous ofthalmous kai ⸀epōrōsen autōn taʸn kardian, hina maʸ idōsin tois ofthalmois kai noaʸsōsin taʸ kardia kai ⸀strafōsin, kai ⸀iasomai autous.)

RP-GNT Τετύφλωκεν αὐτῶν τοὺς ὀφθαλμούς, καὶ πεπώρωκεν αὐτῶν τὴν καρδίαν· ἵνα μὴ ἴδωσιν τοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς, καὶ νοήσωσιν τῇ καρδίᾳ, καὶ ἐπιστραφῶσιν, καὶ ἰάσωμαι αὐτούς.
(Tetuflōken autōn tous ofthalmous, kai pepōrōken autōn taʸn kardian; hina maʸ idōsin tois ofthalmois, kai noaʸsōsin taʸ kardia, kai epistrafōsin, kai iasōmai autous.)

TC-GNT ⇔ Τετύφλωκεν αὐτῶν τοὺς ὀφθαλμούς,
⇔ καὶ [fn]πεπώρωκεν αὐτῶν τὴν καρδίαν·
⇔ ἵνα μὴ ἴδωσι τοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς,
⇔ καὶ νοήσωσι τῇ καρδίᾳ, καὶ [fn]ἐπιστραφῶσι,
⇔ καὶ [fn]ἰάσωμαι αὐτούς.
( ⇔ Tetuflōken autōn tous ofthalmous,
⇔ kai pepōrōken autōn taʸn kardian;
⇔ hina maʸ idōsi tois ofthalmois,
⇔ kai noaʸsōsi taʸ kardia, kai epistrafōsi,
⇔ kai iasōmai autous. )

12:40 πεπωρωκεν ¦ επωρωσεν CT

12:40 επιστραφωσι ¦ στραφωσι CT

12:40 ιασωμαι ¦ ιασομαι 𝔐^pt ANT CT

Key for above GNTs: red:words differ (from our SR-GNT base).

SOTN SIL Open Translation Notes:

Section 12:36c–43: The Unbelief of the People

This paragraph discusses the unbelief (lack of belief or faith) of many of those who heard Jesus and saw his miracles. Many of them rejected him, as the Hebrew Scriptures prophesied. Others did believe but remained silent, afraid that they themselves would be rejected.

Here are some other possible titles for this section:

The Jews still did not believe

Many Jews refused to have faith in Jesus

12:40a–c

John 12:40 is a free (not exact) quotation of Isaiah 6:10. This verse is also quoted in Matthew 13:13–15, Mark 4:12, Luke 8:10, and Acts 28:26–27. The exact words of the quotation are not the same in each place, but the meaning is the same.

12:40a

“He has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts,

“He has made their eyes blind and their hearts hard/stubborn
“It is like he has made them blind to spiritual things and closed their minds to the truth,
that the Lord has prevented them from understanding and accepting what they see.

He has blinded their eyes: It is implied that the pronoun He refers to God. However, in Isaiah, God commands Isaiah to do this. And the other quotations of this verse in the New Testament do not say that it was God. So it is good to not make clear who blinds (makes blind) their eyes. Just use a pronoun. For example:

Their eyes he had blinded

However, it was God’s will to blind their eyes, even if Isaiah did it. And John implies that it was God who acted. So if you have to identify who He refers to, you may mention God. For example:

The Lord has blinded the eyes of the people (CEV)

God has blinded their eyes (GNT)

has blinded their eyes: This phrase is a figure of speech, a metaphor. It means that the people were made unable to see or understand spiritual truth. So they could not understand the spiritual meaning of what Jesus did and said. See Deuteronomy 29:4.

This does not mean that the people wanted to see and God kept them from seeing. They are responsible for their not believing. But God’s purposes were fulfilled by their refusing to believe. There are several ways to translate this figure of speech:

Keep the metaphor. For example:
God blinded them (GW)
Translate it as a simile
It is like God made them blind
Indicate some of the meaning. For example:
He has not enabled them to see spiritual things

their eyes: The pronoun their refers to the Jewish people. You may want to use a noun instead of a pronoun here. For example:

the eyes of the people (CEV)

hardened their hearts: This phrase is a figure of speech, another metaphor. The word hardened means “made hard,” so to harden one’s heart is to make it hard and stiff. It indicates that God confirmed the people in their wrong thinking so that they could not change. The meaning is similar to “has blinded their eyes.” He did not make them wise but rather allowed them to follow false and foolish thoughts. And so they could not understand who Christ was. There are several ways to translate this figure of speech:

Keep the metaphor. For example:
hardened their hearts (NIV)
Translate it as a simile. For example:
It is like he has made their hearts hard.
Indicate some of the meaning. For example:
dulled their mind (REB)
closed their minds (GNT)
made the people stubborn (CEV)

Translate this figure of speech in a way that is natural and makes the meaning clear.

their hearts: The word hearts is a figurative way of referring to the center of one’s thoughts and emotions. In some languages it may be natural to refer to another body part. For example:

their minds (GNT)

12:40b

so that they cannot see with their eyes, and understand with their hearts,

so they can neither see nor understand,
so they can not understand what I have done for them
This prevents them from truly seeing and understanding

so that they cannot see with their eyes: The words so that here introduce the effect or result of God’s judgment. God judged the people by blinding and hardening them, and this prevented them from seeing and understanding spiritual truth. God knew that this would happen and it was part of his judgment because they refused to believe. However, it was not what he wanted to happen. He preferred that the people repent so that he could heal them. But they refused to believe. Here are other ways to translate this clause:

so they can neither see with their eyes (NIV)

so that their eyes don’t see (GW)

so that their eyes cannot see (NLT)

In some languages it may be natural to start a new sentence here. For example:

Otherwise they would see with their eyes (NCV)

The result is they will never see with their eyes… (TRT)

see with their eyes: This phrase continues the metaphor begun in 12:40a. Continue to translate it in the way you did there. For example:

their eyes cannot truly see

preventing them from truly seeing

understand with their hearts: This phrase here means to understand spiritual truth. John was referring to the fact that the people did not understand who Jesus was, that he was God’s Messiah. As in 12:40a, it may be natural to translate hearts as “mind.” For example:

their minds would not understand (GNT)

their hearts: The word hearts refers to the center of thoughts and emotions. Translate it as you did in 12:40a, using either the singular or plural, whichever is most natural in your language.

General Comment on 12:40a–b

This verse contains an arrangement in poetry known as parallelism. In parallelism, the same idea is said twice, in different ways, in parallel lines (similar lines next to each other). Here a similar idea is said twice in 12:40a and another idea is said twice in 12:40b. However, in many languages it may be natural to change the arrangement of the clauses. For example:

^40a–bHe has blinded their eyes so that they might not see and hardened their minds/hearts so that they might not understand.

12:40c

and turn, and I would heal them.”

nor turn to me so that I would heal them.”
nor believe in me so I can restore them forever.”
and turning to the Lord. If they did, he would heal/save them.

and turn: These words refer to turning to God in faith. This was another result of God blinding the people’s eyes and hardening their hearts. If the people could see spiritually and truly understand, they would change their thinking and trust in Jesus the Messiah. They would ask God to forgive them. Here are other ways to translate this phrase:

turn to the Lord (CEV)

turn to me, says God (GNT)

I would heal them: The Greek word that the BSB translates as heal here means “restore from sin and its consequences.” This clause indicates that God would certainly heal/restore the people if they turned to him in faith. He wanted to forgive them and make them whole. In some languages, the word heal only refers to physical healing from illnesses. In those languages, you may want to use another word here and perhaps say in a footnote that the word can mean “heal.” For example:

I would restore them

I will heal/save them (TRT)

General Comment on 12:40

In this verse the pronoun referring to God changes from “He” in 12:40a to “I” in 12:40c. If this confuses your readers, it may be necessary to make it explicit that God is speaking in 12:40c. For example:

and they would not turn to me, says God, for me to heal them (GNT)

UTN uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / quotemarks

τετύφλωκεν αὐτῶν τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς καὶ ἐπώρωσεν αὐτῶν τὴν καρδίαν, ἵνα μὴ ἴδωσιν τοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς καὶ νοήσωσιν τῇ καρδίᾳ, καὶ στραφῶσιν καὶ ἰάσομαι αὐτούς

(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Τετύφλωκεν αὐτῶν τούς ὀφθαλμούς καί ἐπήρωσεν αὐτῶν τήν καρδίαν ἵνα μή ἴδωσιν τοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς καί νοήσωσιν τῇ καρδίᾳ καί στραφῶσιν καί ἰάσομαι αὐτούς)

This verse is a quotation from [Isaiah 6:10](../../isa/06/10.md). It is a prophecy that God told Isaiah to speak against the Jewish people because they kept rejecting God. It may be helpful to your readers to indicate this by setting off all of this material with quotation marks or with whatever other punctuation or convention your language uses to indicate a quotation.

Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor

τετύφλωκεν αὐτῶν τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς

John quotes Isaiah using blinded their eyes to refer to causing people to not be able to understanding what they see. Although the Jews saw Jesus’ many miracles, most of them did not understand that those miracles proved that Jesus was sent by God. If this use of blinded and eyes would confuse your readers, you could state the meaning plainly or use a simile. Alternate translation: [He has caused them to not be able to understand] or [He has made them like those who are blind]

Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor

ἐπώρωσεν αὐτῶν τὴν καρδίαν

John quotes Isaiah using the phrase hardened their heart to refer to causing the Jewish people to become stubborn. If this might confuse your readers, you could express the meaning plainly. Alternate translation: [he has made them stubborn]

Note 4 topic: grammar-collectivenouns

αὐτῶν τὴν καρδίαν & τῇ καρδίᾳ

˱of˲_them ˱of˲_them (Some words not found in SR-GNT: Τετύφλωκεν αὐτῶν τούς ὀφθαλμούς καί ἐπήρωσεν αὐτῶν τήν καρδίαν ἵνα μή ἴδωσιν τοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς καί νοήσωσιν τῇ καρδίᾳ καί στραφῶσιν καί ἰάσομαι αὐτούς)

Both occurrences of the singular noun heart in this verse refer to all of the hearts of the people as a group. If your language does not use singular nouns in that way, you can use a different expression. Alternate translation: [their hearts … with their hearts]

Note 5 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor

μὴ ἴδωσιν τοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς

John quotes Isaiah using the phrase see with their eyes here to refer to people understanding something that they see. If this might confuse your readers, you could express the meaning plainly. Alternate translation: [they might not see and perceive]

Note 6 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor

νοήσωσιν τῇ καρδίᾳ

˱they˲_˓may˒_understand ˱with˲_their heart

John quotes Isaiah using the phrase understand with their heart to refer to the Jewish people truly understanding something. If this might confuse your readers, you could express the meaning plainly. Alternate translation: [might fully understand] or [might understand deep within themselves]

Note 7 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor

καὶ στραφῶσιν

John quotes Isaiah using turn to mean “repent,” which means to stop sinning and start obeying the Lord. If this might confuse your readers, you could state the meaning plainly. Alternate translation: [and they would repent] or [and they would stop sinning and obey God]

Note 8 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor

καὶ ἰάσομαι αὐτούς

John quotes Isaiah using heal to refer to forgiving people of their sins. It does not refer to physical healing. If this might confuse your readers, you could state the meaning plainly. Alternate translation: [and I would forgive them]