John 9:13

The Pharisees’ Reaction to the Healing

9:13 They brought the man who used to be blind ¹  to the Pharisees. ² 

John 9:15-16

9:15 So the Pharisees asked him again how he had gained his sight. ³  He replied, ⁴  “He put mud ⁵  on my eyes and I washed, and now ⁶  I am able to see.”

9:16 Then some of the Pharisees began to say, ⁷  “This man is not from God, because he does not observe ⁸  the Sabbath.” ⁹  But others said, “How can a man who is a sinner perform ¹⁰  such miraculous signs?” Thus there was a division ¹¹  among them.

¹ tn Grk “who was formerly blind.”

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

³ tn Or “how he had become able to see.”

⁴ tn Grk “And he said to them.”

⁵ tn Or “clay” (moistened earth of a clay-like consistency).

⁶ 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).

⁷ 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”).

⁸ tn Grk “he does not keep.”

⁹ sn The Jewish religious leaders considered the work involved in making the mud to be a violation of the Sabbath.

¹⁰ tn Grk “do.”

¹¹ tn Or “So there was discord.”