2 Corinthians 4:4
New International Version
The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

New Living Translation
Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News. They don’t understand this message about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God.

English Standard Version
In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

Berean Study Bible
The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers so they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

Berean Literal Bible
in whom the god of this age has blinded the minds of the unbelieving, so as for not to beam forth the illumination of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

King James Bible
In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.

New King James Version
whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them.

New American Standard Bible
in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they will not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

NASB 1995
in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

NASB 1977
in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving, that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

Amplified Bible
among them the god of this world [Satan] has blinded the minds of the unbelieving to prevent them from seeing the illuminating light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

Christian Standard Bible
In their case, the god of this age has blinded the minds of the unbelievers to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
In their case, the god of this age has blinded the minds of the unbelievers so they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

American Standard Version
in whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of the unbelieving, that the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should not dawn upon them .

Contemporary English Version
The god who rules this world has blinded the minds of unbelievers. They cannot see the light, which is the good news about our glorious Christ, who shows what God is like.

Douay-Rheims Bible
In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of unbelievers, that the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should not shine unto them.

English Revised Version
in whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of the unbelieving, that the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should not dawn upon them.

Good News Translation
They do not believe, because their minds have been kept in the dark by the evil god of this world. He keeps them from seeing the light shining on them, the light that comes from the Good News about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
The god of this world has blinded the minds of those who don't believe. As a result, they don't see the light of the Good News about Christ's glory. It is Christ who is God's image.

International Standard Version
In their case, the god of this world has blinded the minds of those who do not believe to keep them from seeing the light of the glorious gospel of the Messiah, who is the image of God.

Literal Standard Version
in whom the god of this age blinded the minds of the unbelieving, that there does not shine forth to them the enlightening of the good news of the glory of the Christ, who is the image of God;

NET Bible
among whom the god of this age has blinded the minds of those who do not believe so they would not see the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God.

New Heart English Bible
in whom the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving, to prevent the light shining from the Good News of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

Weymouth New Testament
in whom the god of this present age has blinded their unbelieving minds so as to shut out the sunshine of the Good News of the glory of the Christ, who is the image of God.

World English Bible
in whom the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving, that the light of the Good News of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should not dawn on them.

Young's Literal Translation
in whom the god of this age did blind the minds of the unbelieving, that there doth not shine forth to them the enlightening of the good news of the glory of the Christ, who is the image of God;

Additional Translations ...
Study Bible
The Light of the Gospel
3And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. 4The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers so they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 5For we do not proclaim ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake.…

Cross References
Matthew 13:22
The seed sown among the thorns is the one who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.

John 1:18
No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is Himself God and is at the Father's side, has made Him known.

John 12:31
Now judgment is upon this world; now the prince of this world will be cast out.

Acts 26:18
to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those sanctified by faith in Me.'

Acts 26:23
that the Christ would suffer, and as the first to rise from the dead, would proclaim light to our people and to the Gentiles."

2 Corinthians 2:11
in order that Satan should not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes.

2 Corinthians 2:12
Now when I went to Troas to preach the gospel of Christ and a door stood open for me in the Lord,

2 Corinthians 3:14
But their minds were closed. For to this day the same veil remains at the reading of the old covenant. It has not been lifted, because only in Christ can it be removed.

2 Corinthians 3:18
And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into His image with intensifying glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

2 Corinthians 4:6
For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," made His light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

Galatians 1:4
who gave Himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father,

Philippians 2:6
Who, existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,

Colossians 1:15
The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.

1 Timothy 1:11
that agrees with the glorious gospel of the blessed God, with which I have been entrusted.

Hebrews 1:3
The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of His nature, upholding all things by His powerful word. After He had provided purification for sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.

Hebrews 6:4
It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit,

1 John 2:11
But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness. He does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.


Treasury of Scripture

In whom the god of this world has blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine to them.

the god.

Matthew 4:8,9
Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; …

John 12:31,40
Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out…

John 14:30
Hereafter I will not talk much with you: for the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me.

blinded.

2 Corinthians 3:14
But their minds were blinded: for until this day remaineth the same vail untaken away in the reading of the old testament; which vail is done away in Christ.

1 Kings 22:22
And the LORD said unto him, Wherewith? And he said, I will go forth, and I will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. And he said, Thou shalt persuade him, and prevail also: go forth, and do so.

Isaiah 6:10
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 convert, and be healed.

test.

2 Corinthians 4:6
For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

2 Corinthians 3:8,9,11,18
How shall not the ministration of the spirit be rather glorious? …

John 8:12
Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.

the image.

John 1:14,18
And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth…

John 12:45
And he that seeth me seeth him that sent me.

John 14:9,10
Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father? …

shine.

2 Corinthians 4:6
For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

Psalm 50:2
Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God hath shined.

Isaiah 60:1,2
Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee…









(4) In whom the god of this world . . .--The word sounds somewhat startling as a description of the devil, but it has parallels in "the prince of this world" (John 14:30), "the prince of the power of the air" (Ephesians 2:2). The world which "lieth in wickedness," perhaps in the evil one (1John 5:19), worships the spirit of hate and falsehood and selfishness, and in so doing it practically deifies the devil. And the work of that god of this world is directly in antagonism to that of God. He seeks to lead men back from light to darkness. "He blinded" (the Greek tense indicates an act in past time without necessarily including the idea of its continuance in the present) "the minds of the unbelievers." The noun is probably used, as in 1Corinthians 6:6; 1Corinthians 7:12-15; 1Corinthians 10:27; 1Corinthians 14:22-24, with a special reference to the outside heathen world. Their spiritual state was, St. Paul seems to say, lower than that of Israel. The veil was over the heart of the one; the very organs of spiritual perception were blinded in the other.

Lest the light of the glorious gospel.--Better to the end that the radiance (or, light-giving power) of the gospel of the glory of God . . . The words describe not merely a purpose, but a result. The word for "light" here, and in 2Corinthians 4:6, is not the simple noun commonly used, but a secondary form, derived from the verb "to give light" or "illumine." The English version "glorious," though a partial equivalent for the Greek idiom of the genitive of a characteristic attribute, lacks the vigour and emphasis of the original, which expresses the thought that the gospel is not only glorious itself, but shares in the glory of Christ, and has that for its theme and object. But even that gospel may fail of its purpose. The blind cannot see even the brightness of the noon-day sun. The eye of the soul has to receive sight first. So, in the mission to the Gentiles given to the Apostle on his conversion, his first work was "to open their eyes, to turn them from darkness to light" (Acts 26:18).

Christ, who is the image of God.--The Greek word is used in the LXX. of Genesis 1:26 for the image of God, after which man was created. So in 1Corinthians 11:7 man is spoken of as "the image and glory of God." (Comp. Colossians 1:15; Colossians 3:10.) In Hebrews 10:1 it stands as intermediate between the object and the shadow, far plainer than the latter, yet not identical with the former, however adequately representing it.

Should shine unto them.--Literally, should irradiate, or, cast its beams upon them.

Verse 4. - The god of this world; rather, the god of this age. It is, as Bengel says, "a great and horrible description of the devil." He is not, however, here called a god of the kosmos, but only of the olam hazzeh, the present dispensation of things as it exists among those who refuse to enter that kingdom in which the power of Satan is brought to nought. The melancholy attempt to get rid of Manichean arguments by rendering the verse "in whom God blinded the thoughts of the unbelievers of this world" is set aside by the fact that the terrible description of Satan as "another god" (El acheer) was common among the rabbis. They knew that his power was indeed a derivative power, trot still that it was permitted to be great (Ephesians 2:2; Ephesians 6:12). In John 12:31 (John 14:30) our Lord speaks of him as "the ruler of the kosmos." Hath blinded; rather, blinded. The verb here has no other meaning than "to blind," and is quite different from the verb "to harden," rendered by "to blind" in 2 Corinthians 3:14 with the same substantive. They are blind from lack of faith, and so being "unbelieving" they are" perishing" (Ephesians 5:6), seeing that they "walk in darkness" (John 8:12) and are in Satan's power (Acts 26:18). Blindness of heart," says St. Augustine, "is both a sin and a punishment of sin and a cause of sin." The light of the glorious gospel of Christ; rather, the illumination of the gospel of the glory of the Christ. The word photismos in later ecclesiastical Greek was used for "baptism." Who is the image of God (2 Corinthians 3:18; Colossians 1:15; Hebrews 1:3). Should shine unto them; or, as in the Revised Version, should dawn upon them. The other rendering, "that they should not see the illumination," gives to the verb augazo, a rarer sense, only found in poetry, and not known to the LXX.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Lexicon
The
(ho)
Article - Nominative Masculine Singular
Strong's Greek 3588: The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the.

god
θεὸς (theos)
Noun - Nominative Masculine Singular
Strong's Greek 2316: A deity, especially the supreme Divinity; figuratively, a magistrate; by Hebraism, very.

of this
τούτου (toutou)
Demonstrative Pronoun - Genitive Masculine Singular
Strong's Greek 3778: This; he, she, it.

age
αἰῶνος (aiōnos)
Noun - Genitive Masculine Singular
Strong's Greek 165: From the same as aei; properly, an age; by extension, perpetuity; by implication, the world; specially a Messianic period.

has blinded
ἐτύφλωσεν (etyphlōsen)
Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular
Strong's Greek 5186: To make blind, physically or mentally. From tuphlos; to make blind, i.e. to obscure.

the
τὰ (ta)
Article - Accusative Neuter Plural
Strong's Greek 3588: The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the.

minds
νοήματα (noēmata)
Noun - Accusative Neuter Plural
Strong's Greek 3540: From noieo; a perception, i.e. Purpose, or the intellect, disposition, itself.

of
τῶν (tōn)
Article - Genitive Masculine Plural
Strong's Greek 3588: The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the.

unbelievers
ἀπίστων (apistōn)
Adjective - Genitive Masculine Plural
Strong's Greek 571: (passively) untrustworthy (person), or incredible (thing).

so
εἰς (eis)
Preposition
Strong's Greek 1519: A primary preposition; to or into, of place, time, or purpose; also in adverbial phrases.

they cannot see
αὐγάσαι (augasai)
Verb - Aorist Infinitive Active
Strong's Greek 826: To flash, gleam, shine forth, appear white, bright; but perhaps: I see, see clearly, discern. From auge; to beam forth.

the
τὸν (ton)
Article - Accusative Masculine Singular
Strong's Greek 3588: The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the.

light
φωτισμὸν (phōtismon)
Noun - Accusative Masculine Singular
Strong's Greek 5462: Light, luster, illumination, enlightenment. From photizo; illumination.

of the
τοῦ (tou)
Article - Genitive Neuter Singular
Strong's Greek 3588: The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the.

gospel
εὐαγγελίου (euangeliou)
Noun - Genitive Neuter Singular
Strong's Greek 2098: From the same as euaggelizo; a good message, i.e. The gospel.

of the
τῆς (tēs)
Article - Genitive Feminine Singular
Strong's Greek 3588: The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the.

glory
δόξης (doxēs)
Noun - Genitive Feminine Singular
Strong's Greek 1391: From the base of dokeo; glory, in a wide application.

of Christ,
Χριστοῦ (Christou)
Noun - Genitive Masculine Singular
Strong's Greek 5547: Anointed One; the Messiah, the Christ. From chrio; Anointed One, i.e. The Messiah, an epithet of Jesus.

who
ὅς (hos)
Personal / Relative Pronoun - Nominative Masculine Singular
Strong's Greek 3739: Who, which, what, that.

is
ἐστιν (estin)
Verb - Present Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular
Strong's Greek 1510: I am, exist. The first person singular present indicative; a prolonged form of a primary and defective verb; I exist.

[the] image
εἰκὼν (eikōn)
Noun - Nominative Feminine Singular
Strong's Greek 1504: An image, likeness, bust. From eiko; a likeness, i.e. statue, profile, or representation, resemblance.

of God.
Θεοῦ (Theou)
Noun - Genitive Masculine Singular
Strong's Greek 2316: A deity, especially the supreme Divinity; figuratively, a magistrate; by Hebraism, very.


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NT Letters: 2 Corinthians 4:4 In whom the god of this world (2 Cor. 2C iiC 2Cor ii cor iicor)
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