John 9:1-23

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. John 9:1 tn Or “going along.” The opening words of chap. 9, καὶ παράγων (kai paragōn), convey only the vaguest indication of the circumstances. sn Since there is no break with chap. 8, Jesus is presumably still in Jerusalem, and presumably not still in the temple area. The events of chap. 9 fall somewhere between the feast of Tabernacles (John 7:2) and the feast of the Dedication (John 10:22). But in the author’s narrative the connection exists—the incident recorded in chap. 9 (along with the ensuing debates with the Pharisees) serves as a real-life illustration of the claim Jesus made in 8:12, I am the light of the world. This is in fact the probable theological motivation behind the juxtaposition of these two incidents in the narrative. The second serves as an illustration of the first, and as a concrete example of the victory of light over darkness. One other thing which should be pointed out about the miracle recorded in chap. 9 is its messianic significance. In the OT it is God himself who is associated with the giving of sight to the blind (Exod 4:11, Ps 146:8). In a number of passages in Isa (29:18; 35:5; 42:7) it is considered to be a messianic activity.
2. John 9:2 tn Grk “asked him, saying.”
3. John 9:2 tn Grk “this one.”
4. John 9:2 tn Grk “in order that he should be born blind.”sn The disciples assumed that sin (regardless of who committed it) was the cause of the man’s blindness. This was a common belief in Judaism; the rabbis used Ezek 18:20 to prove there was no death without sin, and Ps 89:33 to prove there was no punishment without guilt (the Babylonian Talmud, b. Shabbat 55a, although later than the NT, illustrates this). Thus in this case the sin must have been on the part of the man’s parents, or during his own prenatal existence. Song Rabbah 1:41 (another later rabbinic work) stated that when a pregnant woman worshiped in a heathen temple the unborn child also committed idolatry. This is only one example of how, in rabbinic Jewish thought, an unborn child was capable of sinning.
5. John 9:3 tn Grk “this one.”
6. John 9:3 tn Grk “but so that.” There is an ellipsis that must be supplied: “but [he was born blind] so that” or “but [it happened to him] so that.”
7. John 9:3 tn Or “deeds”; Grk “works.”
8. John 9:3 tn Or “manifested,” “brought to light.”
9. John 9:3 tn Grk “in him.”
10. John 9:4 tn Grk “We must work the works.”
11. John 9:4 tn Or “of him who sent me” (God).
12. John 9:4 tn Or “while.”
13. John 9:5 sn Jesus’ statement I am the light of the world connects the present account with 8:12. Here (seen more clearly than at 8:12) it is obvious what the author sees as the significance of Jesus’ statement. “Light” is not a metaphysical definition of the person of Jesus but a description of his effect on the world, forcing everyone in the world to ‘choose up sides’ for or against him (cf. 3:19-21).
14. John 9:6 tn Grk “said these things.”
15. John 9:6 tn Or “clay” (moistened earth of a clay-like consistency). The textual variant preserved in the Syriac text of Ephraem’s commentary on the Diatessaron (“he made eyes from his clay”) probably arose from the interpretation given by Irenaeus in Against Heresies: “that which the Artificer, the Word, had omitted to form in the womb, he then supplied in public.” This involves taking the clay as an allusion to Gen 2:7, which is very unlikely.
16. John 9:6 tn Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, the conjunction καί (kai) was replaced by a third person pronoun and a new sentence started here in the translation.
17. John 9:6 tn Grk “on his.”
18. John 9:7 tn The pool’s name in Hebrew is shiloah from the Hebrew verb “to send.” In Gen 49:10 the somewhat obscure shiloh was interpreted messianically by later Jewish tradition, and some have seen a lexical connection between the two names (although this is somewhat dubious). It is known, however, that it was from the pool of Siloam that the water which was poured out at the altar during the feast of Tabernacles was drawn.
19. John 9:7 sn This is a parenthetical note by the author. Why does he comment on the meaning of the name of the pool? Here, the significance is that the Father sent the Son, and the Son sent the man born blind. The name of the pool is applicable to the man, but also to Jesus himself, who was sent from heaven.
20. John 9:7 tn Grk “So he”; the referent (the blind man) is specified in the translation for clarity.
21. John 9:8 tn Or “formerly.”
22. John 9:8 tn An ingressive force (“began saying”) is present here because the change in status of the blind person provokes this new response from those who knew him.
23. John 9:8 tn Grk “the one.”
24. John 9:9 tn Grk “Others were saying.”
25. John 9:9 tn Grk “This is the one.”
26. John 9:9 tn Grk “No, but he is like him.”
27. John 9:9 tn Grk “That one”; the referent (the man himself) is specified in the translation for clarity.
28. John 9:9 tn Grk “I am he.”
29. John 9:10 tn Grk “So they were saying to him.”
30. John 9:10 tn Grk “How then were your eyes opened” (an idiom referring to restoration of sight).
31. John 9:11 tn Grk “That one answered.”
32. John 9:11 tn Or “clay” (moistened earth of a clay-like consistency).
33. John 9:11 tn Grk “and smeared.” Direct objects in Greek were often omitted when obvious from the context.
34. John 9:11 tn Grk “said to me.”
35. John 9:11 tn Or “and I gained my sight.”
36. John 9:12 tn Grk “And they said.”
37. John 9:12 tn Grk “that one.” “Man” is more normal English style for the referent.
38. John 9:12 tn Grk “He said.”
39. John 9:13 tn Grk “who was formerly blind.”
40. John 9:13 sn See the note on Pharisees in 1:24.
41. John 9:14 tn Or “clay” (moistened earth of a clay-like consistency).
42. John 9:14 tn Grk “and opened his eyes” (an idiom referring to restoration of sight).
43. John 9:14 sn This is a parenthetical note by the author.
44. John 9:15 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).
45. John 9:15 tn Grk “And he said to them.”
46. John 9:15 tn Or “clay” (moistened earth of a clay-like consistency).
47. John 9:15 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).
48. John 9:16 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”).
49. John 9:16 tn Grk “he does not keep.”
50. John 9:16 sn The Jewish religious leaders considered the work involved in making the mud to be a violation of the Sabbath.
51. John 9:16 tn Grk “do.”
52. John 9:16 tn Or “So there was discord.”
53. John 9:17 tn Grk “the blind man.”
54. John 9:17 tn Grk “since he opened your eyes” (an idiom referring to restoration of sight).
55. John 9:17 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.”
56. John 9:18 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.”
57. John 9:18 tn The Greek text contains the words “about him” at this point: “the Jewish authorities did not believe about him…”
58. John 9:18 tn Grk “they called.”
59. John 9:18 tn Or “the man who had gained his sight.”
60. John 9:19 tn Grk “and they asked them, saying”; the referent (the parents) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
61. John 9:19 tn The Greek pronoun and verb are both plural (both parents are addressed).
62. John 9:20 tn Grk “So his parents answered and said.”
63. John 9:21 tn Grk “who opened his eyes” (an idiom referring to restoration of sight).
64. John 9:21 tn Or “he is of age.”
65. John 9:22 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.
66. John 9:22 tn Grk “confessed him.”
67. John 9:22 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.
68. John 9:22 tn Or “would be expelled from.”
69. John 9:22 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.
70. John 9:23 tn Or “he is of age.”
71. John 9:23 sn This is a parenthetical note by the author explaining the parents’ response.