John 12:38

Joh 12:38. Ὃν εἶπε, which he spake) Not only are the things prophetical which the Lord spake to the prophets, and they in His words, but also what the prophets spake to the Lord in their very own words.—Κύριε—ἀπεκαλύφθη;) Isa 53:1. So expressly write the LXX. In the Hebrew Κύριε is not extant. In comparing with this the following verse of the passage, The arm of the Lord may be taken for the Messiah Himself.—ἀκοῇ) ἀκοή, the faculty of hearing; thence that which is heard, i.e. a report, a testimony: its correlative is faith [taken out of ‘believed’].—ἠμῶν, our) of us prophets.—ὁ βραχίων Κυρίου) the arm of the Lord, put forth in miracles and in the work of redemption, and preached in the Gospel; Isa 52:10, “The Lord hath made bare His holy arm in the eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God;” Psa 98:1-2, “His right hand and His holy arm hath gotten Him the victory. The Lord hath made known His salvation.”—τίνι ἀπεκαλύφθη, to whom hath been revealed?) In itself it has been put forth; but the blind did not see it. Who is a believer? Ans. He is such a one, to whomsoever the arm of the Lord has been revealed.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Joh_12:38. Ἱνα] in order that, according to divine determination, the prophecy might be fulfilled. This in order that contains the definite assumption that the prophet Isaiah predicted what, according to divine destiny, was to come to pass; thus, then, the historical fulfilment stood in necessary relation of final cause to the prediction. Comp. on Mat_1:22.

ὃν εἶπε] similar pleonasms, which, however, as here, may denote an emphatic circumstantiality, are found also in the Greek writers, as in Xen. Cyr. viii. 2. 14, Anab. i. 9. 11. The passage is Isa_53:1, closely following the LXX. The lament of the prophet over the unbelief of his time towards his preaching (and that of his fellows, ἡμῶν), and towards the mighty working of God announced by him, has, according to the Messianic character of the whole grand oracle, its reference and fulfilment in the unbelief of the Jews towards Jesus; so that in the sense of this fulfilment, the speaking subject (addressing God, κύριε, comp. Mat_27:46), which Isaiah introduces, is Jesus, not the evangelist and those of like mind with him (Luthardt).

τῇ ἀκοῇ ἡμ.] to that heard from us, i.e. to the message which they receive from us (comp. on Rom_10:16), not: which we receive (comp. Sir_43:24), namely, actually in Christ (Luthardt), as Hengstenberg also understands it of that which we have received through revelation (comp. Euth. Zigabenus). Comp. on the genitive, Plat. Phaedr. p. 274 C; Pausan. viii. 41. 6; Pind. Pyth. i. 162. The plural, however, ἡμῶν, comprises God and Christ in the fulfilment.

ὁ βραχίων κυρ.] Plastic expression for the power of God (comp. Luk_1:51; Act_13:17; Wis_5:16; Wis_11:21; Bar_2:11; Isa_51:5; Isa_52:10), and that according to the Messianic signification; in the miraculous signs of Christin which the unbelieving do not recognise the brachium Dei. In se exsertum est, sed caeci non viderunt illud, Bengel. But to understand Christ Himself (Augustine, Photius, Euth. Zigabenus, Beda, Ruperti, Zeger, Jansen, Maldonatus, Calovius, and several others) is required neither by the original text nor here by the connection.

Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The arm of the Lord, is the Gospel, which is the power of God to salvation to all that believe: And therefore the arm of the Lord is not revealed to them, whose hearts the Lord hath not opened.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

That the saying of Esaias . . . might be fulfilled--This unbelief did not at all set aside the purposes of God, but, on the contrary, fulfilled them.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 38. That the saying of Esaias] Or, Thus the word of Isaiah was fulfilled. So I think ινα (commonly rendered that) should be translated. For it certainly does not mean the end the Pharisees had in view by not believing; nor the end which the prophet had in view in predicting the incredulity of the Jews; but simply, such a thing was spoken by the prophet, concerning the Jews of his own time, and it had its literal fulfilment in those of our Lord's time.

Our report] The testimony of the prophets, concerning the person, office, sufferings, death, and sacrifice of the Messiah. See Isa 53:1, &c.

The arm of the Lord] The power, strength, and miracles of Christ.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

38. That the saying of Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled. John does not mean that the prediction laid a necessity on the Jews; for Isaiah (Isaiah 53:1; Romans 10:16) uttered nothing but what the Lord revealed to him from the secret treasures of his purpose. Indeed, it must have happened, though the prophet had not spoken of it; but as men would not have known what should take place, if God had not testified by the mouth of the prophet, the Evangelist places before our eyes in the prediction, as in a mirror, what would otherwise have appeared to men obscure and almost incredible.

Lord, who hath believed? This sentence contains two clauses. In the former, Isaiah, having begun to speak of Christ, fore-seeing that all that he proclaims concerning Christ, and all that shall afterwards be made known by the Apostles, will be generally rejected by the Jews, exclaims, as if in astonishment at something strange and monstrous, Lord, who shall believe our report, or, our speech?

To whom hath the arm of the Lord been revealed? In this second clause he assigns the reason why they are few; and that reason is, that men do not attain it by their own strength, and God does not illuminate all without distinction, but bestows the grace of his Holy Spirit on very few, And if among the Jews the obstinate unbelief of many ought not to have been an obstacle to believers, though they were few in number, the same argument ought to persuade us, at the present day, not to be ashamed of the Gospel, though it has few disciples. But we ought first to observe the reason which is added, that what makes men believers is not their own sagacity, but the revelation of God. The word arm, it is well known, denotes power. The prophet declares that the arm of God, which is contained in the doctrine of the Gospel, lies hid until it is revealed, and at the same time testifies that all are not indiscriminately partakers of this revelation. Hence it follows, that many are left in their blindness destitute of inward light, because hearing they do not hear, (Matthew 13:13.)

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(38) That the saying of Esaias the prophet might be fulfilled.—This is the first instance in this Gospel of a phrase familiar to us already from its frequent occurrence in St. Matthew. We shall find it again in Joh_13:18; Joh_15:25; Joh_17:12; Joh_18:9; Joh_18:32; Joh_19:24; Joh_19:36. Its frequency is one of the characteristics of the two Gospels which are most allied to Hebrew modes of thought. St. Matthew and St. John both regard the events of our Lord’s life as fulfilling the prophecies of the Old Testament Scriptures. These prophecies foretold what in the divine plan was destined to occur, and therefore the events are regarded as occurring, in order that the will of God, as expressed in the prophecy, may be fulfilled. (Comp. Note on Mat_1:22.)

Lord, who hath believed our report? . . .—The quotation is from the Greek version of Isa_53:1. That prophecy was by all understood of the Messiah. The prophet’s lamentation of the neglect of the prophetic message by the people is here placed by the Evangelist, in his interpretation of it, in the lips of the Messiah Himself, as He, in the fuller meaning, addresses the Father with the words, “Who hath believed our report?” (Comp. the words as quoted by St. Paul in Rom_10:16.) Here the “our report” means the “truth which we have declared unto them.” (So Jer_10:22, Gal_3:2.)

And to whom hath the arm of the Lord been revealed?—Comp. Notes on Luk_1:51, and Act_13:17. The phrase was used, as in Isa_51:9; Isa_52:10, to express the power of the Lord, and here refers especially to the power of the Lord manifested in the whole life of Christ. The signs which were revelations of this power are, of course, prominent in the thought, and the question strongly expresses the negative of the previous verse.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

38. That] Or, in order that, indicating the Divine purpose. Comp. Joh_13:18, Joh_15:25, Joh_17:12, Joh_18:9; Joh_18:32, Joh_19:24; Joh_19:36. It is the two specially Hebraistic Gospels that most frequently remind us that Christ’s life was a fulfilment of Hebrew prophecy. Comp. Mat_1:22; Mat_2:15; Mat_2:17; Mat_4:14; Mat_8:17; Mat_12:17; Mat_13:35; Mat_21:4; Mat_26:54; Mat_26:56; Mat_27:9. See on Mat_1:22.

Lord, who hath believed] The quotation closely follows the LXX.

our report] Literally, that which they hear from us; comp. Rom_10:16.

the arm of the Lord] His power. There seems to be no sufficient authority for interpreting this expression of the Messiah, although it is the power of God as manifested in the Messiah that is here specially meant. Comp. Luk_1:51; Act_13:17.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

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 Isa 6:9.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

38 That the saying of Esaias the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spake, Lord, who hath believed our report? and to whom hath the arm of the Lord been revealed?

Ver. 38. That the saying of the prophet] These unbelievers were not such, because the prophet had so foretold it; but the prophet therefore foretold it, because they should be such. Like as Joseph’s foretelling the famine was no cause of it, but an antecedent only.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The saying - The word of Isaiah, or that which Isaiah predicted. This occurs in Isa 53:1.

Might be fulfilled - That the same effect should occur which occurred in the time of Isaiah. This does not mean that the Pharisees rejected Christ in order that the prophecy of Isaiah should be fulfilled, but that by their rejection of him the same thing had occurred which took place in the time of Isaiah. His message was despised by the nation, and he himself put to death. And it was also true - by the same causes, by the same nation that the same gospel message was rejected by the Jews in the time of Christ. The same language of the prophet would express both events, and no doubt it was intended by the Holy Spirit to mark both events. In this way it was completely fulfilled. See the notes at Isa 53:1.

Our report - Literally, by report is meant “what is heard.” Our speech, our message. That is, few or none have received the message. The form of the question is an emphatic way of saying that it was rejected.

The arm of the Lord - The arm is a symbol of power, as it is the instrument by which we execute our purposes. It is put for the power of God, Isa 51:9; Isa 52:10. Thus, he is said to have brought out the children of Israel from Egypt with a high arm that is, with great power. It hence means God’s power in defending his people, in overcoming his enemies, and in saving the soul. In this place it clearly denotes the power displayed by the miracles of Christ.

Revealed - Made known, seen, understood. Though the power of God was displayed, yet the people did not see and understand it.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

So as that which Isaiah prophesied, Isa 53:1, appeared to be fulfilled in them; for the term ινα, which we translate that, doth not in Scripture always denote the final cause, with respect to the counsel and intention of God, but oft times the event. So Joh 5:20; Rom 5:20; 2Co 1:17.

The arm of the Lord may either signify the gospel, which is called the power of God to salvation. Rom 1:16; 1Co 1:18; or else the Messiah, who is thought to be mentioned under this notion by Isaiah, Isa 51:5; Isa 52:10; 59:16; 63:12, because the Father worketh by him, as a man worketh by his arm, Isa 1:3,14.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

38. The saying of Esaias might be fulfilled—Isa_6:10. See note on Mat_1:22. Says St. Chrysostom: “It was not because Isaiah said so that they did not believe, but because they would not believe, Isaiah said this.” And then, inasmuch as it was predicted, the Evangelist takes the view as if they so acted in order to make the prediction true. The passage quoted will be found in Isa_53:1.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

In order that the words of Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spake, Lord, who believed our report? or the message which the prophets have delivered the prediction they made of a suffering and rejected Christ, of One who would "sprinkle many nations," and in the very "travail of his soul see his seed." To whom was the arm of the Lord revealed? It does not mean that no hearts responded to the appeal, that the voice from heaven fell on no susceptible ears; but that it is one of the anomalies of human life that man does seem so insensible to his own highest interests. Prophets are always wondering at the condition of mankind. Even Jesus marveled at the unbelief of his hearers. The logov of Isaiah shows that prophets foresaw the issue of the kind of reception that a people who had been so faithless to Jehovah"s lesser manifestations would give to the most amazing of all his self-disclosures. The ina plhrwyh must not be explained away, the outline was presented by Isaiah of the reception which the favored but prejudiced and hardened house of Israel gave to Divine revelations. It would be filled in by the events which were then about to be enacted. God"s intuition of actual facts, his unconditional foreknowledge of all contingent phenomena, do not necessitate their occurrence so as to deprive sinners of their guilt; yet when they have occurred, the causes which produced the widespread unbelief in the days of Isaiah were seen to be still at work, and to account for the strange incomprehensible mystery that blindness in part had happened to Israel. God works by law, and works freely by men and in them, not only foreseeing the evil and blindness, but positively punishing sin by blindness, taking away from a man that which he seemeth to have. By this means the "altar was built, the wood and the knife" for the great sacrifice. The use made of various portions of this oracle, by the Lord, by evangelists, by the apostles, by the deacon Philip, by Paul and Peter, shows that the early Church regarded it as the detailed description of the character suffering, and work of Christ. It became virtually a portion of the New Testament, and it was practically treated as such by Barnabas (100. 5, "Ep. to Diog.," 100. 49) and Justin Martyr (1 "Apol.," 100. 50). The fifty-third of Isaiah may have been imperfectly understood by its author, may in his mind have had this, that, or the other original reference, and have suffered various Judaic interpretations. Modern criticism may scoff at it as a Messianic prophecy. All this does not touch the patent fact that nearly all the writers of the New Testament and numerous classes in the early Church used it as descriptive of their idea of Christ"s work. It thus becomes of priceless value.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The arm of the Lord - The power of God manifested by Christ, in his preaching, miracles, and work of redemption. Isaiah liii, 1.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

38. The saying of Esaias the prophet, etc. See notes on Matt. 13:14–16. They were blinded because they closed their eyes, and God's law is that those who will not see, shall not see.

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

38. ἵνα … πληρωθῇ. Indicating the Divine purpose. Comp. Joh 13:18, Joh 15:25, Joh 17:12, Joh 18:9; Joh 18:32, Joh 19:24; Joh 19:36. It is the two specially Hebraistic Gospels that most frequently remind us that Christ’s life was a fulfilment of Hebrew prophecy. Comp. Mat 1:22 (note), Mat 2:15; Mat 2:17, Mat 4:14, Mat 8:17, Mat 12:17, Mat 13:35, Mat 21:4, Mat 26:54; Mat 26:56, Mat 27:9. The quotation closely follows the LXX. Τῇ ἀκοῇ ἡμῶν is what they heard from us rather than what we heard from God (1Th 2:13): ὁ βραχίων Κυρίου means His power (Luk 1:5; Act 13:17).

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

38.] On ἵνα πλ. see note, Mat 1:22: beware of the ‘ecbatic’ or ‘eventual’ sense, which has no existence.

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

38. Jn. does not hesitate to say that the unbelief of the Jews was “in order that” the prophecies of Isaiah should be fulfilled. ἵνα πληρωθῇ must be given its full telic force; see Introd., p. cliv. Paul (Rom 10:16) quotes Isa 53:1 to illustrate this unbelief and as a prophecy of it, but he does not say ἵνα πληρ. as Jn. does (cf. 1:29, 19:30).

The quotation is from Isa 53:1, Isa 53:2, introduced by the opening word κύριε, which is also added in the LXX. Here, probably, Jn. is influenced by the LXX version.

There was a twofold fulfilment: (1) the people did not believe the words of Jesus, and (2) they did not recognise the “arm of the Lord” in His signs. In the O.T. the “arm of God” is often figurative of His power (Deu 5:15, cf. Luk 1:51), especially in Deutero-Isaiah (40:10, 51:9, 52:10, 63:5). One of the theses of Cyprian’s Testimonia (ii. 4) is “Quod Christus idem manus et brachium Dei, ” and he quotes Isa 53:1, Isa 53:2 as here; but it would be to go beyond the evidence to conclude that this idea is in the thought of Jn.

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.