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The Gospels · New Testament

John 9

John 9: a man born blind and the questioning that follows

General context

Jesus sees a man blind from birth, and his disciples ask whose sin caused it. He answers that neither the man nor his parents sinned, and speaks of working while it is day. He makes clay with spittle, anoints the man's eyes and sends him to wash in the pool of Siloam; the man washes and comes seeing. The neighbours dispute whether he is the same man, and he says he is. Brought to the Pharisees, he describes what was done; because it was the sabbath, some say Jesus is not of God while others ask how a sinner could do such things, and there is a division among them. The Jews summon his parents, who confirm he is their son and born blind but refer the rest to him. Questioned a second time, the man says he does not know whether Jesus is a sinner but that he was blind and now sees, and he asks whether they also will be his disciples. They revile him and cast him out. Jesus finds him, and the man says he believes and worships him.

Cited passages: John 9:1, John 9:2, John 9:3, John 9:4, John 9:6, John 9:7, John 9:8, John 9:9, John 9:13, John 9:14, John 9:16, John 9:17, John 9:20, John 9:21, John 9:24, John 9:25, John 9:27, John 9:34, John 9:35, John 9:38

John 9 (KJV)

1And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth.

2And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?

3Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him.

4I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work.

5As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.

6When he had thus spoken, he spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and he anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay,

7And said unto him, Go, wash in the pool of Siloam, (which is by interpretation, Sent.) He went his way therefore, and washed, and came seeing.

8The neighbours therefore, and they which before had seen him that he was blind, said, Is not this he that sat and begged?

9Some said, This is he: others said, He is like him: but he said, I am he.

10Therefore said they unto him, How were thine eyes opened?

11He answered and said, A man that is called Jesus made clay, and anointed mine eyes, and said unto me, Go to the pool of Siloam, and wash: and I went and washed, and I received sight.

12Then said they unto him, Where is he? He said, I know not.

13They brought to the Pharisees him that aforetime was blind.

14And it was the sabbath day when Jesus made the clay, and opened his eyes.

15Then again the Pharisees also asked him how he had received his sight. He said unto them, He put clay upon mine eyes, and I washed, and do see.

16Therefore said some of the Pharisees, This man is not of God, because he keepeth not the sabbath day. Others said, How can a man that is a sinner do such miracles? And there was a division among them.

17They say unto the blind man again, What sayest thou of him, that he hath opened thine eyes? He said, He is a prophet.

18But the Jews did not believe concerning him, that he had been blind, and received his sight, until they called the parents of him that had received his sight.

19And they asked them, saying, Is this your son, who ye say was born blind? how then doth he now see?

20His parents answered them and said, We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind:

21But by what means he now seeth, we know not; or who hath opened his eyes, we know not: he is of age; ask him: he shall speak for himself.

22These words spake his parents, because they feared the Jews: for the Jews had agreed already, that if any man did confess that he was Christ, he should be put out of the synagogue.

23Therefore said his parents, He is of age; ask him.

24Then again called they the man that was blind, and said unto him, Give God the praise: we know that this man is a sinner.

25He answered and said, Whether he be a sinner or no, I know not: one thing I know, that, whereas I was blind, now I see.

26Then said they to him again, What did he to thee? how opened he thine eyes?

27He answered them, I have told you already, and ye did not hear: wherefore would ye hear it again? will ye also be his disciples?

28Then they reviled him, and said, Thou art his disciple; but we are Moses’ disciples.

29We know that God spake unto Moses: as for this fellow, we know not from whence he is.

30The man answered and said unto them, Why herein is a marvellous thing, that ye know not from whence he is, and yet he hath opened mine eyes.

31Now we know that God heareth not sinners: but if any man be a worshipper of God, and doeth his will, him he heareth.

32Since the world began was it not heard that any man opened the eyes of one that was born blind.

33If this man were not of God, he could do nothing.

34They answered and said unto him, Thou wast altogether born in sins, and dost thou teach us? And they cast him out.

35Jesus heard that they had cast him out; and when he had found him, he said unto him, Dost thou believe on the Son of God?

36He answered and said, Who is he, Lord, that I might believe on him?

37And Jesus said unto him, Thou hast both seen him, and it is he that talketh with thee.

38And he said, Lord, I believe. And he worshipped him.

39And Jesus said, For judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind.

40And some of the Pharisees which were with him heard these words, and said unto him, Are we blind also?

41Jesus said unto them, If ye were blind, ye should have no sin: but now ye say, We see; therefore your sin remaineth.

This page shows the King James Version. In the app, reading opens in the Berean Standard Bible unless you have chosen another translation. The reader includes five translations: the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), the King James Version (KJV), the World English Bible (WEB), the Bible in Basic English (BBE), and the American Standard Version (ASV). Search covers three of them: Berean Standard, King James, and World English. Basic English and American Standard readers search the King James words.

Historical context

The man is not named, and neither are his parents. The narrator interprets the pool's name as Sent and states the day as the sabbath only after the healing has been told. The parents' caution is explained by the narrator, who says they feared the Jews because it had been agreed that anyone confessing him as Christ would be put out of the synagogue; their own words stop at what they know. The man's description of Jesus changes as he is questioned, from a man that is called Jesus, to a prophet, to one who must be of God, and finally to the Son of God he is asked about. The disciples' opening question assumes a cause in sin, and the answer denies that cause without offering a general rule about illness.

Cited passages: John 9:7, John 9:14, John 9:22, John 9:21, John 9:11, John 9:17, John 9:33, John 9:36, John 9:2, John 9:3

Literary context

After the healing, Jesus is absent for most of the chapter, and the scene is carried by repeated questioning of the man who was blind. The same question, how his eyes were opened, is asked four times over, and each retelling is shorter and sharper than the last. Knowing is the contested word: the parents say twice that they do not know, the Pharisees say they know this man is a sinner, and the healed man answers with the one thing he knows. His confidence grows as the questioners press him, until he lectures them and is thrown out. Sight and blindness turn into the chapter's closing terms, with those who say they see left holding their sin.

Cited passages: John 9:10, John 9:15, John 9:19, John 9:26, John 9:21, John 9:24, John 9:25, John 9:30, John 9:34, John 9:39, John 9:41

Key moments

  1. Whose sin (John 9:2). The disciples ask whether the man or his parents sinned to cause his blindness.
  2. Clay and the pool (John 9:7). Jesus sends the anointed man to wash in Siloam, and he comes back seeing.
  3. A sabbath division (John 9:16). The Pharisees divide over whether a sabbath healer can be from God.
  4. Parents defer to their son (John 9:21). His parents confirm his birth and blindness but say he is of age to answer.
  5. Now I see (John 9:25). The man says he knows only that he was blind and now sees.
  6. Cast out (John 9:34). The questioners revile him and put him out.
  7. Found and believing (John 9:38). Jesus finds him, and the man says he believes and worships him.

For reflection

The healed man keeps answering with what happened to him rather than with a verdict about Jesus, and that answer is what gets him expelled. What does the chapter show about the cost of saying only what one knows?

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