In the German New Testament translation by Berger / Nord (publ. 1999) it is translated colloquially as wie vernagelt or “obtuse” (in Mark 6:52 and 8:17).
While Moba has a rich metaphorical library using the concept of “heart” (pal) it follows very different paradigms compared to Greek, Hebrew and English concepts. The parallel expression of “hardened heart” means “courageous” or “encouraged” (see hearts burning) so in the 2008 Moba Yendu Kadapaaonn translation various constructs are used to translate “hardness of heart,” including “not willing to change one’s mind” (in Mark 3:5) or “make temptation into the heart” (John 12:40). (Source: Bedouma Joseph Kobaike in Le Sycomore 17/1, 2024, p. 3ff. )
Following are a number of back-translations of John 12:40:
Asháninka: “He will cause them to be blind; he will erase from them their understanding, lest they see, lest they know, lest they turn to me, lest I save them.”
Huehuetla Tepehua: “God made the men blind in their understanding, and he made their hearts hard. In that way they couldn’t understand with their understanding, and they couldn’t believe anything in their hearts, and they couldn’t think differently in their hearts so that I could make their hearts better.”
Yatzachi Zapotec: “God has caused the hearts of these people to be unresponsive, so that they are unheeding. He has caused them to see but not to realize what that which they are seeing means, and to hear but not to understand what that which they are hearing means. They would perhaps repent of their sins and permit God to renew their hearts if they understood it and if they realized what it meant.” (Source: M. Larson / B. Moore in Notes on Translation February 1970, p. 1-125.)
Uma: “‘The Lord God says: ‘I purposely made them blind, so they couldn’t see. I made their hearts hard, so their hearts were not clear. That’s why they won’t be given goodness [salvation] by me.’ ‘” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “‘Their eyes are made blind by God so that they do not see, and he made their minds dull so that they do not understand. So-then their livers are not changed, says God, therefore I do not take their sins away.'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And Isaiah also said, ‘As for God, he caused them to become blind so they couldn’t see. He also caused that their breaths become hard so that they may not believe because they might give up evil and call on him for help.’ That’s why they didn’t believe in Jesus.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “‘God has blinded them and has hardened their minds lest they be able-to-see and able-to-understand and they face him so that he will heal them.'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “‘He blinded their eyes and he made their heads hard so that they wouldn’t be able to see or understand, or be able to return to him so that he might make them well.'” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Tenango Otomi: “‘God covered their sight in order that they would not see with their eyes. And he covered their hearts in order that their hearts would not find (understand) how the word is. And their hearts won’t change to follow God, so that he won’t forgive them.'” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
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Like a number of other East Asian languages, Japanese uses a complex system of honorifics, i.e. a system where a number of different levels of politeness are expressed in language via words, word forms or grammatical constructs. These can range from addressing someone or referring to someone with contempt (very informal) to expressing the highest level of reference (as used in addressing or referring to God) or any number of levels in-between.
One way Japanese shows different degree of politeness is through the choice of a first person singular and plural pronoun (“I” and “we” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. The most commonly used watashi/watakushi (私) is typically used when the speaker is humble and asking for help. In these verses, where God / Jesus is referring to himself, watashi is also used but instead of the kanji writing system (私) the syllabary hiragana (わたし) is used to distinguish God from others.
Click or tap here to see the rest of this insight.
Like a number of other East Asian languages, Japanese uses a complex system of honorifics, i.e. a system where a number of different levels of politeness are expressed in language via words, word forms or grammatical constructs. These can range from addressing someone or referring to someone with contempt (very informal) to expressing the highest level of reference (as used in addressing or referring to God) or any number of levels in-between.
One way Japanese shows different degree of politeness is through the usage of an honorific construction where the morpheme are (され) is affixed on the verb as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. This is particularly done with verbs that have God as the agent to show a deep sense of reverence. Here, s-are-ru (される) or “do/make” is used.
Living Water is produced for the Bible translation movement in association with Lutheran Bible Translators. Lyrics derived from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®).
This verse is a quotation from Isaiah 6.10, though its form in John differs from both the Hebrew and the Septuagint. Probably John was quoting freely, perhaps from memory, and adapting the material to suit his purpose. In place of God (literally “he”) has blinded their eyes, and closed their minds (literally “hardened their heart”) the Hebrew text reads “make (imperative) the heart of this people fat, and their ears heavy, and shut their eyes….” It should be noted that John omits “ears” and speaks of the “eyes” before the “heart.” (In Hebrew “heart” functions as the equivalent of “mind” for the western reader.) Also, John omits the phrase “of this people.” However, the most noticeable difference is that John changes the imperatives of the Hebrew text (“make … shut”) to a statement has blinded, with God as the assumed subject, as Good News Translation makes explicit. Quite likely John makes the changes to emphasize that the judgment on the Jews is in reality the action of God. This conclusion is supported by the observation that John’s last line follows the Septuagint (literally “and I will heal them”) instead of the “divine passive” of the Hebrew text (“and be healed”).
It may be difficult to preserve the type of double parallelism of this verse. Note, for example, that the first line refers to the eyes and the second line to the mind, while the third line refers back to the eyes and the fourth line to the mind. It may be necessary to bring together the lines referring to the eyes and those referring to the mind, for example, “God has blinded their eyes so that they cannot see, and he has closed their minds so that they cannot understand.” If it is difficult to speak of “closing minds” an equivalent may be “make their minds slow” or “make their minds hard.” Or an equivalent may be “he made them stupid,” in the sense that “they could not think correctly.” If verse 39b is translated “God spoke further through the prophet Isaiah and said,” then in verse 40, instead of the third person (God has blinded … and closed), the first person, referring to God, may be used throughout: “I have blinded their eyes, and I have closed their minds.”
They would not turn to me, says God, for me to heal them is literally “lest they … turn, and I will heal them.” It is clearly implied by the context that the turning is to God, and Good News Translation makes this explicit by including to me, says God. It may be made explicit in another way. That is, if verse 39 is made to read “God spoke through the prophet Isaiah, and also said,” then in verse 40 a first person reference can be made to God throughout (“I have blinded their eyes…. And they would not return to me, for me to heal them”).
It is important to note that the clause and they would not turn to me is still a part of the expression of purpose stated in the beginning of the third line. However, since the second part of verse 40 is to be understood as a quotation, it may be necessary to break the sentence after the fourth line and introduce the direct quotation as “God says, I did this so that they would not turn to me in order for me to heal them.”
It is difficult to overestimate the significance of Isaiah 6.10 for the New Testament. It is used in the Synoptic Gospels (see Matt 13.13-15; Mark 4.12; Luke 8.10) to explain why the people did not understand Jesus’ teaching in parables concerning the kingdom. Paul quotes it in Acts 28.26-27 to explain why the Jews did not accept the gospel which he proclaimed to them. And here John uses it to explain why the Jews rejected Jesus.
Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on the Gospel of John. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1980. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .
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: 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 (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
God has blinded their eyes (Good News Translation)
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 (God’s Word)
• 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 (Contemporary English Version)
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 (New International Version)
• 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 (Revised English Bible)
-or-
closed their minds (Good News Translation)
-or-
made the people stubborn (Contemporary English Version)
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 (Good News Translation)
12:40b
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 (New International Version)
-or-
so that their eyes don’t see (God’s Word)
-or-
so that their eyes cannot see (New Living Translation (2004))
In some languages it may be natural to start a new sentence here. For example:
Otherwise they would see with their eyes (New Century Version)
-or-
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
-or-
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 (Good News Translation)
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–b He 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: 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 (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
turn to me, says God (Good News Translation)
I would heal them: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible 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
-or-
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 (Good News Translation)
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