John 9:23

9:23 For this reason his parents said, “He is a mature adult, ask him.”)

John 12:39

12:39 For this reason they could not believe, because again Isaiah said,


tn Or “he is of age.”

sn This is a parenthetical note by the author explaining the parents’ response.

sn The author explicitly states here that Jesus’ Jewish opponents could not believe, and quotes Isa 6:10 to show that God had in fact blinded their eyes and hardened their heart. This OT passage was used elsewhere in the NT to explain Jewish unbelief: Paul’s final words in Acts (28:26-27) are a quotation of this same passage, which he uses to explain why the Jewish people have not accepted the gospel he has preached. A similar passage (Isa 29:10) is quoted in a similar context in Rom 11:8.