4:18a
darkened in their understanding: The phrase darkened in their understanding is a figure of speech. It means that pagans cannot clearly understand things about God.
In some languages there may be other idiomatic ways to say this. For example:
Their minds are clouded
-or-
Their hearts are blind to God’s truth
4:18b
alienated from the life of God: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as alienated from also means “excluded” or “separated.” (This word also occurs in 2:12b). The Gentiles are alienated from the life of God. This means they are far away from the life that God gives, or they have no part in it (as in Good News Translation, see below).
the life of God: The life of God is the good, new life that God gives his people. It includes salvation and eternal life.
To state it simply: pagans do not have the new life that God gives to his people.
Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:
They have no part in the life that God gives (Good News Translation)
-or-
(They) have missed out on the life that comes from God (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
They are excluded from the life that God approves of (God’s Word)
-or-
They are outside of God’s making us new
4:18c
because of the ignorance that is in them: This is a reason that pagans are “alienated from the life of God” (4:18b). They are alienated or separated from the life that God gives them because they are ignorant. Here they are ignorant because they have decided they do not want to know about God. They refused to listen to anything about the life God gives.
due to the hardness of their hearts: The clause hardness of their hearts is an idiom. It means that the Gentiles, referred to in 4:17b are “stubborn,” or “obstinate.” They do not understand things about God, because they stubbornly refuse to.
Here are some other ways to translate this clause:
⌊because of⌋ their stubbornness
-or-
⌊because⌋ they refuse to listen
-or-
Their heads are like stone; they truly don’t listen
There are several ways to connect this clause to the rest of 4:18. The main two interpretations are:
(1) It indicates the second reason that the Gentiles are “separated from the life of God” (4:18b). For example:
They have no part in the life that God gives, for they are completely ignorant and stubborn. (Good News Translation)
(Berean Standard Bible, Good News Translation, New Revised Standard Version, Revised English Bible, God’s Word, New Living Translation (2004))
(2) It indicates the reason that they are ignorant. For example:
…because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardness of their hearts. (NET Bible)
(New International Version, Revised Standard Version, New Jerusalem Bible, NET Bible, New Century Version)
It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1).
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