John 9:22-28

9:22 (His parents said these things because they were afraid of the Jewish religious leaders. ¹  For the Jewish leaders had already agreed that anyone who confessed Jesus ²  to be the Christ ³  would be put out ⁴  of the synagogue. ⁵  9:23 For this reason his parents said, “He is a mature adult, ⁶  ask him.”) ⁷ 

9:24 Then they summoned ⁸  the man who used to be blind ⁹  a second time and said to him, “Promise before God to tell the truth. ¹⁰  We know that this man ¹¹  is a sinner.” 9:25 He replied, ¹²  “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?” ¹³  9:27 He answered, ¹⁴  “I told you already and you didn’t listen. ¹⁵  Why do you want to hear it ¹⁶  again? You people ¹⁷  don’t want to become his disciples too, do you?”

9:28 They ¹⁸  heaped insults ¹⁹  on him, saying, ²⁰  “You are his disciple! ²¹  We are disciples of Moses!

John 9:34

9:34 They replied, ²²  “You were born completely in sinfulness, ²³  and yet you presume to teach us?” ²⁴  So they threw him out.

[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.

[9:22]  ² tn Grk “confessed him.”

[9:22]  ³ tn Or “the Messiah” (Both Greek “Christ” and Hebrew and Aramaic “Messiah” mean “one who has been anointed”).

[9:22]  ⁴ tn Or “would be expelled from.”

[9:22]  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.

[9:23]  ⁶ tn Or “he is of age.”

[9:23]  ⁷ sn This is a parenthetical note by the author explaining the parents’ response.

[9:24]  ⁸ tn Grk “they called.”

[9:24]  ⁹ tn Grk “who was blind.”

[9:24]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “Give glory to God” (an idiomatic formula used in placing someone under oath to tell the truth).

[9:24]  ¹¹ tn The phrase “this man” is a reference to Jesus.

[9:25]  ¹² tn Grk “Then that one answered.”

[9:26]  ¹³ tn Grk “open your eyes” (an idiom referring to restoration of sight).

[9:27]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “He answered them.” The indirect object αὐτοῖς (autois) has not been translated for stylistic reasons.

[9:27]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “you did not hear.”

[9:27]  ¹⁶ 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.

[9:27]  ¹⁷ tn The word “people” is supplied in the translation to clarify the plural Greek pronoun and verb.

[9:28]  ¹⁸ 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.

[9:28]  ¹⁹ tn The Greek word means “to insult strongly” or “slander.”

[9:28]  ²⁰ tn Grk “and said.”

[9:28]  ²¹ tn Grk “You are that one’s disciple.”

[9:34]  ²² tn Grk “They answered and said to him.” This has been simplified in the translation to “They replied.”

[9:34]  ²³ 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.

[9:34]  ²⁴ tn Grk “and are you teaching us?”