Text -- John 9:13-34 (NET)

The Pharisees’ Reaction to the Healing

9:13 They brought the man who used to be blind to the Pharisees. 9:14 (Now the day on which Jesus made the mud and caused him to see was a Sabbath.) 9:15 So the Pharisees asked him again how he had gained his sight. He replied, “He put mud on my eyes and I washed, and now I am able to see.” 9:16 Then some of the Pharisees began to say, “This man is not from God, because he does not observe the Sabbath.” But others said, “How can a man who is a sinner perform such miraculous signs?” Thus there was a division among them. 9:17 So again they asked the man who used to be blind, “What do you say about him, since he caused you to see?” “He is a prophet,” the man replied. 9:18 Now the Jewish religious leaders refused to believe that he had really been blind and had gained his sight until at last they summoned the parents of the man who had become able to see. 9:19 They asked the parents, “Is this your son, whom you say was born blind? Then how does he now see?” 9:20 So his parents replied, “We know that this is our son and that he was born blind. 9:21 But we do not know how he is now able to see, nor do we know who caused him to see. Ask him, he is a mature adult. He will speak for himself.” 9:22 (His parents said these things because they were afraid of the Jewish religious leaders. For the Jewish leaders had already agreed that anyone who confessed Jesus to be the Christ would be put out of the synagogue. 9:23 For this reason his parents said, “He is a mature adult, ask him.”) 9:24 Then they summoned the man who used to be blind a second time and said to him, “Promise before God to tell the truth. We know that this man is a sinner.” 9:25 He replied, “I do not know whether he is a sinner. I do know one thing– that although I was blind, now I can see.” 9:26 Then they said to him, “What did he do to you? How did he cause you to see?” 9:27 He answered, “I told you already and you didn’t listen. Why do you want to hear it again? You people don’t want to become his disciples too, do you?” 9:28 They heaped insults on him, saying, “You are his disciple! We are disciples of Moses! 9:29 We know that God has spoken to Moses! We do not know where this man comes from!” 9:30 The man replied, “This is a remarkable thing, that you don’t know where he comes from, and yet he caused me to see! 9:31 We know that God doesn’t listen to sinners, but if anyone is devout and does his will, God listens to him. 9:32 Never before has anyone heard of someone causing a man born blind to see. 9:33 If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.” 9:34 They replied, replied, “You were born completely in sinfulness, and yet you presume to teach us?” So they threw him out.

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: Joh 9:13

¹ tn Grk “who was formerly blind.”

² sn See the note on Pharisees in 1:24.

NET Notes: Joh 9:14

¹ tn Or “clay” (moistened earth of a clay-like consistency).

² tn Grk “and opened his eyes” (an idiom referring to restoration of sight).

³ sn This is a parenthetical note by the author.

NET Notes: Joh 9:15

¹ tn Or “how he had become able to see.”

sn So the Pharisees asked him. Note the subtlety here: On the surface, the man is being judged. But through him, Jesus is being judged. Yet in reality (as the discerning reader will realize) it is ironically the Pharisees themselves who are being judged by their response to Jesus who is the light of the world (cf. 3:17-21).

² tn Grk “And he said to them.”

³ tn Or “clay” (moistened earth of a clay-like consistency).

⁴ tn The word “now” is not in the Greek text, but is supplied to indicate the contrast between the man’s former state (blind) and his present state (able to see).

NET Notes: Joh 9:16

¹ tn As a response to the answers of the man who used to be blind, the use of the imperfect tense in the reply of the Pharisees is best translated as an ingressive imperfect (“began to say” or “started saying”).

² tn Grk “he does not keep.”

³ sn The Jewish religious leaders considered the work involved in making the mud to be a violation of the Sabbath.

⁴ tn Grk “do.”

⁵ tn Or “So there was discord.”

NET Notes: Joh 9:17

¹ tn Grk “the blind man.”

² tn Grk “since he opened your eyes” (an idiom referring to restoration of sight).

³ tn Grk “And he said, ‘He is a prophet.’”

sn At this point the man, pressed by the Pharisees, admitted there was something special about Jesus. But here, since prophet is anarthrous (is not accompanied by the Greek article) and since in his initial reply in 9:11-12 the man showed no particular insight into the true identity of Jesus, this probably does not refer to the prophet of Deut 18:15, but merely to an unusual person who is capable of working miracles. The Pharisees had put this man on the spot, and he felt compelled to say something about Jesus, but he still didn’t have a clear conception of who Jesus was, so he labeled him a “prophet.”

NET Notes: Joh 9:18

¹ tn Or “the Jewish religious authorities”; Grk “the Jews.” In NT usage the term ᾿Ιουδαῖοι (Ioudaioi) may refer to the entire Jewish people, the residents of Jerusalem and surrounding territory, the authorities in Jerusalem, or merely those who were hostile to Jesus. (For further information see R. G. Bratcher, “‘The Jews’ in the Gospel of John,” BT 26 [1975]: 401-9.) Here the phrase refers mainly to the Pharisees, mentioned by name in John 9:13, 15, 16. References in this context to Pharisees and to the synagogue (v. 22) suggest an emphasis on the religious nature of the debate which is brought out by the translation “the Jewish religious leaders.”

² tn The Greek text contains the words “about him” at this point: “the Jewish authorities did not believe about him…”

³ tn Grk “they called.”

⁴ tn Or “the man who had gained his sight.”

NET Notes: Joh 9:19

¹ tn Grk “and they asked them, saying”; the referent (the parents) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

² tn The Greek pronoun and verb are both plural (both parents are addressed).

NET Notes: Joh 9:20

¹ tn Grk “So his parents answered and said.”

NET Notes: Joh 9:21

¹ tn Grk “who opened his eyes” (an idiom referring to restoration of sight).

² tn Or “he is of age.”

NET Notes: Joh 9:22

¹ tn Or “the Jewish religious authorities”; Grk “the Jews.” Twice in this verse the phrase refers to the Pharisees, mentioned by name in John 9:13, 15, 16. The second occurrence is shortened to “the Jewish leaders” for stylistic reasons. See the note on the phrase “the Jewish religious leaders” in v. 18.

² tn Grk “confessed him.”

³ tn Or “the Messiah” (Both Greek “Christ” and Hebrew and Aramaic “Messiah” mean “one who has been anointed”).

sn See the note on Christ in 1:20.

⁴ tn Or “would be expelled from.”

⁵ sn This reference to excommunication from the Jewish synagogue for those who had made some sort of confession about Jesus being the Messiah is dismissed as anachronistic by some (e.g., Barrett) and nonhistorical by others. In later Jewish practice there were at least two forms of excommunication: a temporary ban for thirty days, and a permanent ban. But whether these applied in NT times is far from certain. There is no substantial evidence for a formal ban on Christians until later than this Gospel could possibly have been written. This may be a reference to some form of excommunication adopted as a contingency to deal with those who were proclaiming Jesus to be the Messiah. If so, there is no other record of the procedure than here. It was probably local, limited to the area around Jerusalem. See also the note on synagogue in 6:59.

NET Notes: Joh 9:23

¹ tn Or “he is of age.”

² sn This is a parenthetical note by the author explaining the parents’ response.

NET Notes: Joh 9:24

¹ tn Grk “they called.”

² tn Grk “who was blind.”

³ tn Grk “Give glory to God” (an idiomatic formula used in placing someone under oath to tell the truth).

⁴ tn The phrase “this man” is a reference to Jesus.

NET Notes: Joh 9:25

¹ tn Grk “Then that one answered.”

NET Notes: Joh 9:26

¹ tn Grk “open your eyes” (an idiom referring to restoration of sight).

NET Notes: Joh 9:27

¹ tn Grk “He answered them.” The indirect object αὐτοῖς (autois) has not been translated for stylistic reasons.

² tn Grk “you did not hear.”

³ tn “It” is not in the Greek text but has been supplied. Direct objects in Greek were often omitted when they were clearly implied in the context.

⁴ tn The word “people” is supplied in the translation to clarify the plural Greek pronoun and verb.

NET Notes: Joh 9:28

¹ tn Grk “And they.” 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.

² tn The Greek word means “to insult strongly” or “slander.”

³ tn Grk “and said.”

⁴ tn Grk “You are that one’s disciple.”

NET Notes: Joh 9:29

¹ tn Grk “where this one.”

NET Notes: Joh 9:30

¹ tn Grk “The man answered and said to them.” This has been simplified in the translation to “The man replied.”

² tn Grk “For in this is a remarkable thing.”

³ tn Grk “and he opened my eyes” (an idiom referring to restoration of sight).

NET Notes: Joh 9:31

¹ tn Grk “God does not hear.”

² tn Or “godly.”

³ tn Grk “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁴ tn Or “hears.”

⁵ tn Grk “this one.”

NET Notes: Joh 9:32

¹ tn Or “Never from the beginning of time,” Grk “From eternity.”

² tn Grk “someone opening the eyes of a man born blind” (“opening the eyes” is an idiom referring to restoration of sight).

NET Notes: Joh 9:33

¹ tn Grk “this one.”

NET Notes: Joh 9:34

¹ tn Grk “They answered and said to him.” This has been simplified in the translation to “They replied.”

² tn Or “From birth you have been evil.” The implication of this insult, in the context of John 9, is that the man whom Jesus caused to see had not previously adhered rigorously to all the conventional requirements of the OT law as interpreted by the Pharisees. Thus he had no right to instruct them about who Jesus was.

³ tn Grk “and are you teaching us?”