9:16 Then some of the Pharisees began to say, 3 “This man is not from God, because he does not observe 4 the Sabbath.” 5 But others said, “How can a man who is a sinner perform 6 such miraculous signs?” Thus there was a division 7 among them.
10:19 Another sharp division took place among the Jewish people 8 because of these words.
1 tn Or “among the common people” (as opposed to the religious authorities like the chief priests and Pharisees).
2 tn Grk “him”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
3 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”).
4 tn Grk “he does not keep.”
5 sn The Jewish religious leaders considered the work involved in making the mud to be a violation of the Sabbath.
6 tn Grk “do.”
7 tn Or “So there was discord.”
8 tn Or perhaps “the Jewish religious leaders”; 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 could be taken to refer to the Jewish religious leaders, since the Pharisees were the last to be mentioned specifically by name, in John 9:40. However, in light of the charge about demon possession, which echoes 8:48, it is more likely that Jewish people in general (perhaps in Jerusalem, if that is understood to be the setting of the incident) are in view here.