the Week of Proper 24 / Ordinary 29
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Contemporary English Version
John 12:39
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This is why the people could not believe. Because Isaiah also said,
Therfore coulde they not beleve because yt Esaias sayth agayne:
For this cause they couldn't believe, for Yesha`yahu said again,
For this reason they could not believe, for Isaiah also said,
For this reason they could not believe, for Isaiah said again,
This is why the people could not believe: Isaiah also had said,
For this cause they could not believe, for Isaiah said again,
Therefore they could not believe, because that Isaiah said again,
Therefore they could not believe. For again Isaiah said,
For this cause they couldn't believe, for Isaiah said again,
Therefore they could not believe, according to what Isaiah said again.
For this reason they were unable to believe--because Isaiah said again,
Therfor thei myyten not bileue, for eft Ysaye seide,
For this cause they could not believe, for that Isaiah said again,
For this reason they were unable to believe. For again, Isaiah says:
Therefore they could not believe, for Isaiah said again,
For this cause they could not believe, for that Isaiah said again,
For this reason they were unable to have belief, because Isaiah said again,
The reason they could not believe was — as Yesha‘yahu said elsewhere —
On this account they could not believe, because Esaias said again,
Because of this they were not able to believe: Wherefore again Eshaia had said,
For this reason they could not believe, because Isaiah said again:
Therefore they could not beleeue, because that Esaias said againe,
But the people couldn't believe, for as Isaiah also said,
The reason they could not believe is written again in Isaiah.
And so they could not believe, because Isaiah also said,
Therefore could they not beleeue, because that Esaias saith againe,
For this reason, they could not believe, because Isaiah said again,
On this account, they could not believe, because, again, said Isaiah -
Therefore they could not believe, because Isaias said again:
Therefore they could not believe. For Isaiah again said,
Therfore coulde they not beleue, because that Esaias sayth agayne:
And so they were not able to believe, because Isaiah also said,
This is why they were unable to believe, because Isaiah also said:
Therefore they could not believe, because that Esaias said again,
For this reason they were not able to believe, because again Isaiah said,
Because of this they could not believe, because Isaiah said again,
Because of this they were not able to believe, that again Isaiah said,
Therfore coulde they not beleue, for Esay saide agayne:
therefore they could not believe, according to what Esaias said in another place , "he hath blinded their eyes,
Anointing His Feet Six days before Passover, Jesus entered Bethany where Lazarus, so recently raised from the dead, was living. Lazarus and his sisters invited Jesus to dinner at their home. Martha served. Lazarus was one of those sitting at the table with them. Mary came in with a jar of very expensive aromatic oils, anointed and massaged Jesus' feet, and then wiped them with her hair. The fragrance of the oils filled the house. Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples, even then getting ready to betray him, said, "Why wasn't this oil sold and the money given to the poor? It would have easily brought three hundred silver pieces." He said this not because he cared two cents about the poor but because he was a thief. He was in charge of their common funds, but also embezzled them. Jesus said, "Let her alone. She's anticipating and honoring the day of my burial. You always have the poor with you. You don't always have me." Word got out among the Jews that he was back in town. The people came to take a look, not only at Jesus but also at Lazarus, who had been raised from the dead. So the high priests plotted to kill Lazarus because so many of the Jews were going over and believing in Jesus on account of him. The next day the huge crowd that had arrived for the Feast heard that Jesus was entering Jerusalem. They broke off palm branches and went out to meet him. And they cheered: Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in God's name! Yes! The King of Israel! Jesus got a young donkey and rode it, just as the Scripture has it: No fear, Daughter Zion: See how your king comes, riding a donkey's colt. The disciples didn't notice the fulfillment of many Scriptures at the time, but after Jesus was glorified, they remembered that what was written about him matched what was done to him. The crowd that had been with him when he called Lazarus from the tomb, raising him from the dead, was there giving eyewitness accounts. It was because they had spread the word of this latest God-sign that the crowd swelled to a welcoming parade. The Pharisees took one look and threw up their hands: "It's out of control. The world's in a stampede after him." There were some Greeks in town who had come up to worship at the Feast. They approached Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee: "Sir, we want to see Jesus. Can you help us?" Philip went and told Andrew. Andrew and Philip together told Jesus. Jesus answered, "Time's up. The time has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. "Listen carefully: Unless a grain of wheat is buried in the ground, dead to the world, it is never any more than a grain of wheat. But if it is buried, it sprouts and reproduces itself many times over. In the same way, anyone who holds on to life just as it is destroys that life. But if you let it go, reckless in your love, you'll have it forever, real and eternal. "If any of you wants to serve me, then follow me. Then you'll be where I am, ready to serve at a moment's notice. The Father will honor and reward anyone who serves me. "Right now I am storm-tossed. And what am I going to say? ‘Father, get me out of this'? No, this is why I came in the first place. I'll say, ‘Father, put your glory on display.'" A voice came out of the sky: "I have glorified it, and I'll glorify it again." The listening crowd said, "Thunder!" Others said, "An angel spoke to him!" Jesus said, "The voice didn't come for me but for you. At this moment the world is in crisis. Now Satan, the ruler of this world, will be thrown out. And I, as I am lifted up from the earth, will attract everyone to me and gather them around me." He put it this way to show how he was going to be put to death. Voices from the crowd answered, "We heard from God's Law that the Messiah lasts forever. How can it be necessary, as you put it, that the Son of Man ‘be lifted up'? Who is this ‘Son of Man'?" Jesus said, "For a brief time still, the light is among you. Walk by the light you have so darkness doesn't destroy you. If you walk in darkness, you don't know where you're going. As you have the light, believe in the light. Then the light will be within you, and shining through your lives. You'll be children of light." Jesus said all this, and then went into hiding. All these God-signs he had given them and they still didn't get it, still wouldn't trust him. This proved that the prophet Isaiah was right: God, who believed what we preached? Who recognized God's arm, outstretched and ready to act? First they wouldn't believe, then they couldn't—again, just as Isaiah said: Their eyes are blinded, their hearts are hardened, So that they wouldn't see with their eyes and perceive with their hearts, And turn to me, God, so I could heal them. Isaiah said these things after he got a glimpse of God's cascading brightness that would pour through the Messiah. On the other hand, a considerable number from the ranks of the leaders did believe. But because of the Pharisees, they didn't come out in the open with it. They were afraid of getting kicked out of the meeting place. When push came to shove they cared more for human approval than for God's glory. Jesus summed it all up when he cried out, "Whoever believes in me, believes not just in me but in the One who sent me. Whoever looks at me is looking, in fact, at the One who sent me. I am Light that has come into the world so that all who believe in me won't have to stay any longer in the dark. "If anyone hears what I am saying and doesn't take it seriously, I don't reject him. I didn't come to reject the world; I came to save the world. But you need to know that whoever puts me off, refusing to take in what I'm saying, is willfully choosing rejection. The Word, the Word-made-flesh that I have spoken and that I am, that Word and no other is the last word. I'm not making any of this up on my own. The Father who sent me gave me orders, told me what to say and how to say it. And I know exactly what his command produces: real and eternal life. That's all I have to say. What the Father told me, I tell you."
For this reason they could not believe, because again Isaiah said,
Therefore they could not believe, because Isaiah said again:
But folks didn't believe, because Isaiah had also said,
For this reason they could not believe, for Isaiah said again,
For this reason they could not believe, for Isaiah said again,
Contextual Overview
Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
they: John 5:44, John 6:44, John 10:38, Isaiah 44:18-20, 2 Peter 2:14
because: Isaiah 6:9, Isaiah 6:10
Reciprocal: Exodus 10:20 - General 1 Samuel 2:25 - hearkened Psalms 69:23 - Their eyes Isaiah 48:8 - thou heardest Matthew 13:14 - the prophecy John 8:37 - because John 8:43 - do John 10:35 - the scripture John 12:35 - lest John 19:24 - that Acts 2:24 - because 2 Thessalonians 2:11 - for Revelation 17:17 - until
Gill's Notes on the Bible
Therefore they could not believe,.... God had determined to leave them to the blindness and hardness of their hearts, and to deny them his grace, which only could cure them of it, and enable them to believe: he had foretold this in prophecy, and they were manifestly the persons spoken of; and therefore considering the decrees of God, the predictions of the prophet, and the hardness of their hearts, they were left unto, it was morally impossible they should believe,
because that Esaias said again, in Isaiah 6:9.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
They could not believe - See Mark 6:5; “He could there do no mighty works,” etc. The works can and could are often used in the Bible to denote the existence of such obstacles as to make a result certain, or as affirming that while one thing exists another thing cannot follow. Thus, John 5:44; “How can ye believe which receive honor one of another.” That is, while this propensity to seek for honor exists, it will effectually prevent your believing. Thus Genesis 37:4 it is said of the brethren of Joseph that they “could not speak peaceably unto him.” That is, while their hatred continued so strong, the other result would follow. See also Matthew 12:34; Romans 8:7; John 6:60; Amos 3:3. In this case it means that there was some obstacle or difficulty that made it certain that while it existed they would not believe. What that was is stated in the next verse; and while that blindness of mind and that hardness of heart existed, it was impossible that they should believe, for the two things were incompatible. But this determines nothing about their power of removing that blindness, or of yielding their heart to the gospel. It simply affirms that while one exists the other cannot follow. Chrysostom and Augustine understand this of a moral inability, and not of any natural want. of power. “They could not, because they would not” (Chrysostom in loco). So on Jeremiah 13:23, “Can the Ethiopian change his skin,” etc., he says, “he does not say if is impossible for a wicked man to do well, but, because “they will not, therefore they cannot.” Augustine says on this place: “If I be asked why they could not believe, I answer without hesitation, because they would not: because God foresaw their evil will, and he announced it beforehand by the prophet.”
Said again - Isaiah 6:9-10.
Clarke's Notes on the Bible
Verse 39. Therefore they could not believe — Why? Because they did not believe the report of the prophets concerning Christ; therefore they credited not the miracles which he wrought as a proof that he was the person foretold by the prophets, and promised to their fathers. Having thus resisted the report of the prophets, and the evidence of Christ's own miracles, God gave them up to the darkness and hardness of their own hearts, so that they continued to reject every overture of Divine mercy; and God refused to heal their national wound, but, on the contrary, commissioned the Romans against them, so that their political existence was totally destroyed.
The prophecy of Isaiah was neither the cause nor the motive of their unbelief: it was a simple prediction, which imposed no necessity on them to resist the offers of mercy. They might have believed, notwithstanding the prediction, for such kinds of prophecies always include a tacit condition; they may believe, if they properly use the light and power which God has given them. Such prophecies also are of a general application-they will always suit somebody, for in every age persons will be found who resist the grace and Spirit of God like these disobedient Jews. However, it appears that this prediction belonged especially to these rejecters and crucifiers of Christ; and if the prophecy was infallible in its execution, with respect to them, it was not because of the prediction that they continued in unbelief, but because of their own voluntary obstinacy; and God foreseeing this, foretold it by the prophet. Should I say that, they could not believe, means, they would not believe, I should perhaps offend a generation of his children; and yet I am pretty certain the words should be so understood. However, that I may put myself under cover from all suspicion of perverting the meaning of a text which seems to some to be spoken in favour of that awful doctrine of unconditional reprobation, the very father of it shall interpret the text for me. Thus then saith St. AUGUSTIN: Quare autem non POTERANT, si a me quaeratur, cito respondeo; Quia NOLEBANT: MALAM quippe eorum VOLUNTATEM praevidit Deus, et per prophetam praenunciavit. "If I be asked why they COULD not believe? I immediately answer, Because THEY WOULD NOT. And God, having foreseen their BAD WILL, foretold it by the prophet." Aug. Tract. 53, in Joan.
