Deuteronomy 28:28

28:28 The Lord will also subject you to madness, blindness, and confusion of mind. ¹ 

Job 5:14

5:14 They meet with darkness in the daytime, ² 

and grope about ³  in the noontime as if it were night. ⁴ 

Zechariah 12:4

12:4 In that day,” says the Lord, “I will strike every horse with confusion and its rider with madness. I will pay close attention to the house of Judah, but will strike all the horses ⁵  of the nations ⁶  with blindness.

John 9:39

9:39 Jesus ⁷  said,] ⁸  “For judgment I have come into this world, so that those who do not see may gain their sight, ⁹  and the ones who see may become blind.”

John 12:40

12:40 “He has blinded their eyes

and hardened their heart, ¹⁰ 

so that they would not see with their eyes

and understand with their heart, ¹¹ 

and turn to me, ¹²  and I would heal them.” ¹³ 

Acts 13:11

13:11 Now ¹⁴  look, the hand of the Lord is against ¹⁵  you, and you will be blind, unable to see the sun for a time!” Immediately mistiness ¹⁶  and darkness came over ¹⁷  him, and he went around seeking people ¹⁸  to lead him by the hand.

Romans 11:7

11:7 What then? Israel failed to obtain what it was diligently seeking, but the elect obtained it. The ¹⁹  rest were hardened,

[28:28]  ¹ tn Heb “heart” (so KJV, NASB).

[5:14]  ² sn God so confuses the crafty that they are unable to fulfill their plans – it is as if they encounter darkness in broad daylight. This is like the Syrians in 2 Kgs 6:18-23.

[5:14]  ³ tn The verb מָשַׁשׁ (mashash) expresses the idea of groping about in the darkness. This is part of the fulfillment of Deut 28:29, which says, “and you shall grope at noonday as the blind grope in darkness.” This image is also in Isa 59:10.

[5:14]  ⁴ sn The verse provides a picture of the frustration and bewilderment in the crafty who cannot accomplish their ends because God thwarts them.

[12:4]  ⁵ tn Heb “every horse.”

[12:4]  ⁶ tn Or “peoples” (so NAB, NRSV).

[9:39]  ⁷ tn Grk “And Jesus.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, καί (kai) has not been translated here.

[9:39]  ⁸ tc ‡ Some early and important witnesses (Ì⁷⁵ א* W b sa^ms ac² mf) lack the words, “He said, ‘Lord, I believe,’ and he worshiped him. Jesus said,” (vv. 38-39a). This is weighty evidence for the omission of these words. It is difficult to overstate the value of Ì⁷⁵ here, since it is the only currently available papyrus ms extant for the text of John 9:38-39. Further, א is an important and early Alexandrian witness for the omission. The versional testimony and codex W also give strong support to the omission. Nearly all other mss, however, include these words. The omission may have been occasioned by parablepsis (both vv. 37 and 39 begin with “Jesus said to him”), though it is difficult to account for such an error across such a wide variety of witnesses. On the other hand, the longer reading appears to be motivated by liturgical concerns (so R. E. Brown, John [AB], 1:375), since the verb προσκυνέω (proskunew, “I worship”) is used in John 4:20-25 of worshiping God, and again with the same sense in 12:20. If these words were authentic here, this would be the only place in John’s Gospel where Jesus is the explicit object of προσκυνέω. Even if these words are not authentic, such an omission would nevertheless hardly diminish John’s high Christology (cf. 1:1; 5:18-23; 14:6-10; 20:28), nor the implicit worship of him by Thomas (20:28). Nevertheless, a decision is difficult, and the included words may reflect a very early tradition about the blind man’s response to Jesus.

[9:39]  ⁹ tn Or “that those who do not see may see.”

[12:40]  ¹⁰ tn Or “closed their mind.”

[12:40]  ¹¹ tn Or “their mind.”

[12:40]  ¹² tn One could also translate στραφῶσιν (strafwsin) as “repent” or “change their ways,” but both of these terms would be subject to misinterpretation by the modern English reader. The idea is one of turning back to God, however. The words “to me” are not in the Greek text, but are implied.

[12:40]  ¹³ sn A quotation from Isa 6:10.

[13:11]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “And now.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, καί (kai) has not been translated here.

[13:11]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “upon,” but in a negative sense.

[13:11]  ¹⁶ sn The term translated mistiness here appears in the writings of the physician Galen as a medical technical description of a person who is blind. The picture of judgment to darkness is symbolic as well. Whatever power Elymas had, it represented darkness. Magic will again be an issue in Acts 19:18-19. This judgment is like that of Ananias and his wife in Acts 5:1-11.

[13:11]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “fell on.”

[13:11]  ¹⁸ tn The noun χειραγωγός (ceiragwgo") is plural, so “people” is used rather than singular “someone.”

[11:7]  ¹⁹ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.