Mark 4:12

Mar_4:12

That seeing, they may see, and not perceive.

The derelict

Terrible, but just and adorable, is this conduct of God towards those who have deserved to be left to themselves. This dereliction has several degrees-

1. Their being abandoned to their own darkness.

2. Their not being able to understand the truths of salvation.

3. Their not obeying them.

4. Their remaining in their sins.

5. Their being condemned.

God is pleased to give examples of this, that the children of promise may know how much they owe to grace. It is a mistake to imagine that whatever appears most severe and rigorous in the conduct of God ought to be concealed from Christians. He Himself instructs us in it, on purpose that we should take great notice of it on proper occasions, and glorify Him on the account of all the good we do, and of all the evil which we avoid. (Quesnel.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Mar 4:12. Ἵνα, that) They already before saw not, Mat 13:13. Now there is added [to their voluntary blindness] divinely—sent judicial blindness.—ἵνα, so that: LXX. Gen 22:14.—καὶ ἀφεθήσεται αὐτοῖς τὰ ἁμαρτήματα, and their sins should be forgiven them) This is the true healing, spoken of Mat 13:15; Psa 103:3.

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

Mar 4:12 seems to state the aim of the parabolic method of teaching as being to keep the people in the dark, and prevent them from being converted and forgiven. This cannot really have been the aim of Jesus. Vide notes on the parable of the Sower in Mt., where the statement is softened somewhat.

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

(12) That seeing they may see. . . .—St. Mark characteristically gives the words of Isa_6:9, but not as a quotation, and perhaps in a less accurate form, and omits the addition in Matthew, “Blessed are your ears . . .” The form in this instance, at first sight, suggests the thought that our Lord’s purpose was to produce the blindness and deafness of which He speaks. The real meaning of the words is, however, plain. This was to be the result of the wilful blindness of those who rejected Him; and the acceptance of a foreseen result was, in Hebrew forms of thought, expressed as the working out of an intention. (See Notes on Mat_13:14-15.)

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

12. that seeing they may see, and not perceive] At the beginning of His ministry our Lord did not teach by Parables. “The Sermon on the Mount may be taken as the type of the ‘words of grace’ which He spake ‘not as the Scribes.’ Beatitudes, laws, promises were uttered distinctly, not indeed without similitudes, but with similitudes that explained themselves.” And so He continued for some time. But His direct teaching was met with scorn, unbelief, and hardness. From this time forward “parables” entered largely into His recorded teaching, and were at once attractive and penal. (a) Attractive, as “instruments of education for those who were children in age or character,” and offering in a striking form much for the memory to retain, and for the docile and truth-loving to learn; (b) Penal, as testing the disposition of those who listened to them; withdrawing the light from such as loved darkness and were wilfully blind, and protecting the truth from the mockery of the scoffer; finding out the fit hearers, and leading them, but them only, on to deeper knowledge. See Article on Parables in Smith’s Bible Dict.

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.

The sower soweth the word. Though our Lord thought fit to give the above gentle rebuke to his disciples for their dulness; yet he condescends to favour them with an interpretation of the above parable, which here begins: by this it appears, that the seed in the parable, before delivered, and which fell on different sorts of ground, is the word of God, which was preached to hearers of different dispositions: the word is the word of life and truth; the word of peace and reconciliation; the word of faith and righteousness; the word of salvation; the word which publishes and declares all these to be in and by Jesus Christ.

The sower soweth the word. Though our Lord thought fit to give the above gentle rebuke to his disciples for their dulness; yet he condescends to favour them with an interpretation of the above parable, which here begins: by this it appears, that the seed in the parable, before delivered, and which fell on different sorts of ground, is the word of God, which was preached to hearers of different dispositions: the word is the word of life and truth; the word of peace and reconciliation; the word of faith and righteousness; the word of salvation; the word which publishes and declares all these to be in and by Jesus Christ.

Mark 4:15

mar 4:15

mar 4:15

mar 4:15And these are they by the way side, where the word is sown,.... Such hearers are represented by the way side, in which the seed fell; who, coming where the Gospel is preached, stop awhile and hear it, and so are only casual and accidental hearers of it:

but when they have heard; and indeed whilst they are hearing, and before they are well got out of the place of hearing,

Satan cometh immediately and taketh away the word that was sown in their hearts. The devil, signified by the fowl, or fowls of the air, immediately takes notice of such hearers, and is very busy with them; filling their minds with other things suitable to their dispositions, and setting before them other objects, whereby their minds are, at once, taken off from what they have been hearing; so that all that they have observed, and laid up in their memories, is lost at once, and never thought of any more.

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

12 That seeing they may see, and not perceive; and hearing they may hear, and not understand; lest at any time they should be converted, and their sins should be forgiven them.

Ver. 12. {See Trapp on "Mat 13:14"} {See Trapp on "Mat 13:15"} {See Trapp on "Mat 13:16"} {See Trapp on "Mat 13:17"}

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.

That seeing they may see, &c. In punishment of their wilfully shutting their eyes, (Matthew xiii. 15.) God justly withdrew those lights and graces which otherwise he would have given them, for their effectual conversion. (Challoner) --- these speeches here and elsewhere, we are not to understand as if the spoke in parables to this end that the hearers might not understand, lest they should be converted; but we must learn the true sense from the corresponding texts in Matthew xiii, and Acts xxviii, where our Saviour and St. Paul render it thus: with their ears they have been dull of hearing, and their eyes they have shut. lest, perhaps, they may see, and understand, and be converted, and I heal them. Whereby it is evident, that the speaking in parables was not the cause, (for many besides the apostles heard and understood) but themselves, who would not hear and understand, and be converted: and thus they were the real cause of they own wilful and obstinate infidelity. And therefore also he spoke in parables, because they were not worthy to understand, as the others were to whom he expounded them. (Bristow)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

12. That — Many learned men understand this that to mean so that. Others interpret it in order that. The former meaning indicates that parables were here used so that the effects described in this verse do really follow, but not with the divine intention that they should follow. The latter indicates that parables are used with the intention and purpose that such results should follow. Now the latter is the more ordinary sense, though not the necessary one, of the Greek word here rendered that. It here indicates that parables were used for the purpose that men who chose might remain blind. Not that their blindness is a primary purpose of the Almighty; but that blindness which is their choice may be accorded to them. These negative verbs not perceive and not understand, express intentional unintelligence. These men do not fall into passive ignorance, but they actively ignore. Lest — This lest depends upon this ignoring. They ignore lest they should be converted. Obdurate sinners are sometimes afraid they will be converted. They fear that the truth will become so clearly truth that they cannot stand, and will in the trying moment yield to it. To prevent the evil use they would make of his truth Jesus wraps it in parables, and so accommodates their wish to his truth in order to avoid conversion. And their sins should be forgiven them — Silly are these men who are so afraid of conversion. For what is the worst that would happen if they should be converted? Simply this: their sins would be forgiven, and they would be healed.

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

So that seeing they see and do not perceive - They would not see before now they could not, God having given them up to the blindness which they had chosen.

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

sins

Sin. (See Scofield "Rom 3:23")

The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

12. That seeing they may see. Matthew gives this saying more fully and clearly. See note on Matt. 13:13.

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.

12. WH. write συνίωσιν from the unused συνίω: συνιῶσιν is from συνίημι or the unused συνιέω. [723][724][725][726] omit τὰ ἁμαρτήματα.

[723] Codex Sinaiticus. 4th cent. Discovered by Tischendorf in 1859 at the Monastery of St Katharine on Mount Sinai. Now at St Petersburg. The whole Gospel, ending at Mar 16:8. Photographic facsimile, 1911.

[724] Codex Vaticanus. 4th cent., but perhaps a little later than א. In the Vatican Library almost since its foundation by Pope Nicolas V., and one of its greatest treasures. The whole Gospel, ending at Mar 16:8. Photographic facsimile, 1889.

[725] Codex Ephraemi. 5th cent. A palimpsest: the original writing has been partially rubbed out, and the works of Ephraem the Syrian have been written over it; but a great deal of the original writing has been recovered; of Mark we have Mar 1:17 to Mar 6:31, Mar 8:5 to Mar 12:29, Mar 13:19 to Mar 16:20. In the National Library at Paris.

[726] Codex Regius. 8th cent. An important witness. At Paris. Contains Mar 1:1 to Mar 10:15; Mar 10:30 to Mar 15:1; Mar 15:20 to Mar 16:20, but the shorter ending is inserted between Mar 16:8 and Mar 16:9, showing that the scribe preferred it to the longer one.

12. ἵνα βλέποντες κ.τ.λ. An adaptation of the LXX. of Isa 6:9-10, but in LXX. there is no ἵνα. It intimates that parables may serve as a judgment on those who have rejected Christ’s teaching. They have shut their eyes so persistently to the truth that now they are unable to see it, and this is in accordance with God’s purpose. “He that hath not, from him shall be taken away even that which he hath.” But this judgment is a merciful one. The parable which the cold-hearted multitudes hear without understanding they remember, because of its penetrating and impressive form; and when their hearts become able to receive its meaning, the meaning will become clear to them. Meanwhile they are saved from the guilt of rejecting plain truth. See below on Mar 4:22. Failure to see this point has caused some to say that it is incredible that Jesus can have given this explanation of the purpose of parabolic teaching, and the difficulty is perhaps the cause of Mt. substituting ὅτι for ἵνα. Hastings’ D.B. and D.C.G. art. “Parable.” Vulg. here ignores the difference between βλέπωσι and ἰδῶσιν, ut videntes videant et non videant, but in Act 28:27, et videntes videbitis et non perspicietis. Syr-Sin. has “that seeing they may not see.” See on Mar 8:24.

μή ποτε ἐπιστρέψωσιν. It is possible that here tradition has carried the quotation from Isa 6:10 further than Christ did, or has confused His use of it. In LXX. it is the people who hardened their hearts μή ποτε ἐπιστρέψωσιν, not Jehovah who did so; they refused to understand and be healed. Lk. (Luk 8:10) does not carry the quotation beyond συνίωσιν, and Mt. preserves καὶ ἰάσομαι αὐτούς, as in LXX., for which Mk has καὶ ἀφεθῇ αὐτοῖς. Their not being converted and forgiven was the just consequence of their own obstinacy; in that sense, and in that only, was it part of the Divine purpose. See on Mat 13:13. βλἑποντες· τοῦτο τοῦ θεοῦ. μὴ βλέπωσι· τοῦτο τῆς κακίας αὐτῶν (Theoph.).

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.

12.] We must keep the ἵνα strictly to its telic meaning—in order that. When God transacts a matter, it is idle to say that the result is not the purpose. He doeth all things after the counsel of His own will. Matt., as usual, quotes a prophecy; Mark hardly ever—except at the beginning of his Gospel; Luke, very seldom.

ἀφ. αὐτ. = ἰάσομαι αὐτούς Matt., it should be forgiven them; i.e. ‘forgiveness should be extended to them:’ no need to supply any thing, as the gloss of the . does: the expression is impersonal.

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

12. ἵνα βλέποντες βλέπωσι, καὶ μὴ ἴδωσι—in order that seeing, they may see, and not perceive. It is evident that ἴδωσι expresses a more inward and real sight than βλέπωσι. The idea is expressed thus, in order that in the act of seeing, there may be merely outward seeing and not perception. The contrast is more exactly expressed by the difference between ἀκούωσι and συνιῶσι, hearing and understanding. μήποτε ἐπιστρέψωσιν καὶ ἀφεθῇ αὐτοῖς—lest perchance they may turn, and it be forgiven them. ἀφεθῇ is used impersonally.

Omit τὰ ἁμαρτήματα, their sins, after ἀφεθῇ Tisch. Treg. txt. WH. RV. א BCL 1, 22, 118, 209, 251, 340, * one ms. Lat. Vet. Memph.

The whole verse is a translation of Isa 6:9, adapted freely from the Sept. It takes these phrases ἀκοῇ ἀκούσετε κ. οὐ μὴ συνῆτε, κ. βλέποντες βλέψουσιν κ. οὐ μὴ ἴδητε and μήποτε ἐπιστρέψωσιν κ. ἰάσομαι αὐτούς out of their connection and pieces them together.

In explaining this difficult passage, it is to be noticed, first, that the difference between the form of the quotation in Mk. and Lk. on the one hand, and Mt. on the other, corresponds to a like difference between the original Hebrew and the LXX. In the Hebrew, God says to his prophet, “Go, … make the heart of this people fat and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes, lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and turn again and be healed.” That is, God is represented as sending his prophet to harden the heart of the people by his prophetic message, as if Rubinstein should have been told to deaden people’s musical sense by his playing, or Bishop Brooks to stifle their religious sense by his preaching. In the LXX., on the contrary, the hardening is the cause, not the purpose. The people will not hear the prophet’s message because their heart is hardened, and they have shut their eyes. So in Mt., following the LXX., Jesus speaks to them in parables because their heart is waxed gross, and their ears dull of hearing. And especially, the obnoxious μήποτε ἐπιστρέψωσιν κ. ἰάσομαι αὐτούς is included in the result of their own conduct, and not in the Divine purpose. Mk. and Lk., however, follow the original in making the failure to hear and see to be the purpose of the parable. But Lk. omits the obnoxious μήποτε ἐπιστρέψωσιν κ. ἀφεθῇ αὐτοῖς. And yet, there is no doubt, from the identity of language, that Mk., and following him, Lk., quote from the LXX., while modifying it for some reason. That reason would seem to be, that Mk. had in mind the form in which Jesus quotes the passage, and that this was conformed to some Targum, preserving the spirit of the original. This confirms what is otherwise probable, that Mk., rather than Mt., preserves the original form of Jesus’ saying. But while Mk., and according to the above, Jesus himself, conforms to the original Hebrew, he does not preserve the irony which is the saving element of the passage in Isaiah. It is only ironically that God commands the prophet to harden the people by his pungent preaching, because he sees that this will be the inevitable result. Whereas, it is evidently in all seriousness, that Jesus describes this as the result of the parable. The parable is evidently regarded by Jesus as a form of teaching intended to veil the truth conveyed, and adapted, therefore, to esoteric teaching. Moreover, the teaching is esoteric; it concerns the mysteries of the kingdom of God, not the ordinary facts in regard to it, but certain things intended not for the common ear, but only for the disciples. And the parable does so veil the meaning that it has to be explained even to them. There is a key to each of the parables, some fundamental analogy, which is necessary to its explanation. In the Parable of the Sower, this is found in the statement that the seed is the word. Without this, the meaning is obscure. That is, the language of Isaiah, applied to the teaching of Jesus as a whole, would have the irony of the original; but applied to the parables, it is to be taken seriously. This makes all plain sailing until we come to the obnoxious μήποτε ἐπιστρέψωσιν κ. ἀφεθῇ αὐτοῖς. There the irony reappears, for it would evidently be only ironically, and not earnestly, that Jesus would say of any of his teaching, that it was intended to prevent the forgiveness and conversion of the people. It makes the proper climax to the original passage, but is out of place in Jesus’ use of it. But, after the mechanical fashion, which often marks the reporting of discourse, Mk., remembering only that Jesus used this quotation, reproduced the passage as he found it in the original, without omitting its irrelevant clauses. Mt., on the other hand, quoting from the LXX., without the modification introduced by Mk., has not involved himself in the same difficulty, but has not reproduced for us what Jesus said. Lk., seeing the difficulty involved in Mk.’s report, has omitted the obnoxious clause, giving us probably the genuine form of the quotation. Our Lord’s statement, then, is simply this, that the mystery of the kingdom, or its secret, is not intended for those outside of it, and that therefore he uses in conveying it to his disciples the contrivance of the parable, so that outsiders who have not the clue may hear without hearing.

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