Bible Strands
John 12:39
For this reason they were unable to believe. For again, Isaiah says:
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The evangelist records this statement regarding the crowd's continued unbelief following Jesus' public ministry and preceding his crucifixion.
The words — οὐκ ἠδύναντο πιστεῦειν (ouk ēdunanto pisteuein) = they were not able to believe.
The thread — The citation of Isaiah's prophecy about unbelief and divine hardening appears in Isaiah 6:9 and John 12:40, while the link between seeking God's glory and genuine faith is drawn in John 5:44.
Why it lands — The text states that the people could not believe and introduces a prophetic quotation about blinded eyes and hardened hearts, requiring the reader to acknowledge that the recorded unbelief fulfills a specific divine declaration.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
Therefore they could not believe, because that Esaias said again,
Cross-references
- Isaiah 6:9 And He replied: “Go and tell this people, ‘Be ever hearing, but never understanding; be ever seeing, but never perceiving.’
- John 5:44 How can you believe if you accept glory from one another, yet do not seek the glory that comes from the only God?
- John 10:38 But if I am doing them, even though you do not believe Me, believe the works themselves, so that you may know and understand that the Father is in Me, and I am in the Father.”
- 2 Peter 2:14 Their eyes are full of adultery; their desire for sin is never satisfied; they seduce the unstable. They are accursed children with hearts trained in greed.
- John 6:44 “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day.
- Isaiah 44:18 They do not comprehend or discern, for He has shut their eyes so they cannot see and closed their minds so they cannot understand.