4:12a–c

All the words inside the single quote marks are from Isaiah 6:9–10. If you usually introduce Old Testament Scripture in a particular way, you may want to do so here. An example is:

…so that (as the Scriptures say), “they may be ever seeing but never perceiving, and ever hearing but never understanding; otherwise they might turn and be forgiven!”

4:12a

so that: The Greek conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible translates as so that indicates purpose. Jesus spoke in parables so that those on the outside would not understand. (In Hebrew thought, the distinction between purpose and result is blurred, since everything that happens is under God’s control. The difficult statement that Jesus used parables in order that outsiders would not understand probably needs to be understood in light of other passages in both the NT and OT that speak of God hardening the hearts of people who had already shown their unwillingness to listen and obey. As Edwards (page 133) points out, this quotation from Isaiah occurs six times in the NT, always in contexts of unbelief and hardness of heart.) The New Revised Standard Version says:

in order that

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

I do this in order that
-or-
My purpose/reason for doing this is so that

they may be ever seeing but never perceiving: The Greek words that the Berean Standard Bible translates as they may be ever seeing but never perceiving are literally “seeing they may see but not perceive” (The wording is different than the parallel verse in Matthew and Luke which have: “seeing, they do/may not see.” But the meaning is similar in all three.) (as in the New American Standard Bible). This clause is a quotation from the book of Isaiah. Jesus implied that the people who did not believe in him were like the people to whom Isaiah spoke. They would see what he did, but they would not understand the meaning of what they saw.

Most English versions use the word but to indicate the unexpected contrast between seeing and never perceiving. In some languages it may be more natural to express this contrast in other ways. For example:

although they are seeing, they are not understanding
-or-
they will not understand even though they see

Some languages may require an object for verbs like “see” and “understand.” Since this is a quotation from the Old Testament, it is good to make the object general. For example:

they may see and see proof of the truth, but never understand it

they may be ever seeing: The Greek clause that the Berean Standard Bible translates as they may be ever seeing refers to seeing the same thing many times. The people saw the things that Jesus did on many occasions over a period of time.

This meaning may be expressed in different ways. For example:

they may look and look (New Jerusalem Bible)
-or-
they may indeed see (Revised Standard Version)

never perceiving: In this context, the phrase never perceiving means that people did not understand the significance of what they had seen with their eyes.

Here are some other ways to translate this:

they do not understand
-or-
they will learn nothing (New Living Translation)

4:12b

ever hearing but never understanding: The expression ever hearing but never understanding is similar in both form and meaning to 4:12a. The difference is that 4:12a focuses on seeing, whereas this clause focuses on hearing. (4:12a–b is an example of Hebrew poetry (from Isaiah). An important feature of Hebrew poetry is parallelism, stating similar ideas but using different words. In this case, the words “seeing” and “hearing” in the first half of lines a and b both refer literally to ways in which a person receives information; that is, with his eyes and ears. The words “perceiving” and “understanding” in the second half of lines a and b both refer to the way a person processes that information with his mind.)

Here are some other ways to translate this expression:

may indeed hear but not understand (Revised Standard Version)
-or-
although they hear, they do/will not understand what they hear

In languages that require an object for the verb “hear,” the implied object is the truth. For example:

they hear the truth, but they do not understand it

General Comment on 4:12a–b

When you translate the similar ideas in 4:12a and 4:12b, use words in your language that fit naturally together. Some languages may need to use the same expression to translate “perceiving” and “understanding.”

In other languages, it may sound redundant to use the same word. If there is no other word that fits the context, the ideas in these two lines may be combined. For example:

they see and hear, but they do not understand anything

4:12c

otherwise: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as otherwise expresses another negative purpose for teaching in parables. (The New Jerusalem Bible takes this to refer to the people’s purpose in not paying attention: “to avoid changing their ways.”) In English this negative purpose can be expressed in various ways. For example:

so that they may not turn again (New Revised Standard Version)
-or-
lest they should turn again (Revised Standard Version)
-or-
otherwise they might turn (Revised English Bible)

This negative purpose is closely related to people fulfilling the preceding purposes in 4:12a–b. One way to express this relationship in English is with an “if” clause. For example:

If they did, they would turn to God (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
If they did learn and understand, they would come back to me

turn: In this context, the verb turn means “repent.” It refers to turning from sin and toward God.

Here are some other ways to translate this verb:

turn to God (Good News Bible)
-or-
turn from their sins (New Living Translation, 1996 edition)
-or-
return to me (God’s Word) (The God’s Word translates this expression with God speaking, which is the correct context in Isaiah.)
-or-
repent (NET Bible)

and be forgiven: The phrase and be forgiven expresses the result of the verb “turn.” The phrase is passive. If your language must say who forgives, you should say “God.”

Here is another way to translate the phrase in this context:

and God would forgive them

In this context the verb be forgiven means that God would choose not to punish the people for the evil/bad things that they had done, said, and thought. He would cancel their guilt and treat them as though they had not offended him.

See the note on “are forgiven” in 2:5c.

© 2008 by SIL International®

Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0

All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.