John 9:13
in John 9They brought to the Pharisees the man who had been blind.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
They bring to the Pharisees him that aforetime was blind.
KJV
They brought to the Pharisees him that aforetime was blind.
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This verse in John 9
Commentary
17 notes on this verseThey bring the man to the rulers, not that they might learn what had been done to him, and admire it; for it was not likely that men travailing with extreme envy against our Saviour Christ could ever be pleased by any such thing; but that they might publicly convict Jesus, as they thought, of a transgression of the law, and accuse Him of being a wrong-doer in having made clay on the sabbath.
This site's exposition
They brought to the Pharisees
on John 9:13-17
The inquiry opens on a Sabbath, and the mud is the offense: kneading was one of the labors the Sabbath rules forbade, a rule Lightfoot draws from the rabbis. The Pharisees split, one side calling Him a Sabbath breaker, the other asking how a sinner could work such signs. The healed man calls Him a prophet.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
"They brought to the Pharisees him who had been blind. And it was the Sabbath when Jesus made the clay, and opened his eyes. Then again the Pharisees also asked how he had received his sight. And he said unto them, He put clay upon mine eyes, and I washed, and do see. Therefore said some of the Pharisees;" not all, but some; for some were already anointed. What then said those who neither saw nor were anointed? "This man is not of God, because he keepeth not the Sabbath." He it was rather who kept it, who was without sin. For this is the spiritual Sabbath, to have no sin. In fact, brethren, it is of this that God admonishes us, when He commends the Sabbath to our notice: "Thou shalt do no servile work." These are God's words when commending the Sabbath, "Thou shalt do no servile work." Now ask the former lessons, what is meant by servile work; and listen to the Lord: "Every one that committeth sin is the servant of sin." But these men, neither seeing, as I said, nor anointed, kept the Sabbath carnally, and profaned it spiritually. "Others said, How can a man that is a sinner do such miracles?" These were the anointed ones. "And there was a division among them." The day had divided between the light and the darkness.
(Hom. lvii. 2) The Jews, whom they asked, Where is He? were desirous of finding Him, in order to bring Him to the Pharisees; but, as they could not find Him, they bring the blind man. They brought to the Pharisees him that aforetime was blind; i. e. that they might examine him still more closely.
The Medieval Church3 voices
They brought him to the Pharisees, who had been blind, because they were anxious to censure; Luke 6: "The scribes and Pharisees watched whether he would heal on the Sabbath, that they might find an accusation against him."
It fell to the Pharisees to confirm or deny the miracle.
1320 Then when he says, they brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind, we see his examination by the Pharisees. First, they question the man born blind; secondly, his parents (v 18). He does three things with the first. First, we …
10 more voices on this verse
The Medieval Church1 voice
They lead him to the Pharisees, in order to subject him to a more detailed and rigorous interrogation.
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Note, Those rulers that are of a persecuting spirit shall never want ill instruments about them, that will blow the coals, and make them worse. The ground which was pretended for this information, and the colour given to it. That which is good was never maligned but under the imputation of something evil.
30 The 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. 31 Now we know that God heareth not sinners: but if any man be a worshipper of God, and doeth his will, him he heareth. 32 Since the world began was it not heard that any man opened the eyes of one that was born blind.
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — verbatim-scripture
They brought to the Pharisees,.... That is, to the sanhedrim, which chiefly consisted of Pharisees; and so Nonnus calls them the priests and chief priests: him that was aforetime blind; to be examined by them. And something like this is the method used by carnal relations and friends, who when they have any belonging to them under a work of grace, have them to their learned doctors of a different religion, to talk to them, and dissuade them from the ways of truth and godliness.
The Nineteenth Century6 voices
A commentator
J.C. Ryle1816–1900
Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: John (lightly modernized text, Grace Gems edition) (1869)
These verses show us how little the Jews of our Lord's time understood the right use of the Sabbath day. We read that some of the Pharisees found fault because a blind man was miraculously healed on the Sabbath. They said, "This man is not of God, because He keeps not the Sabbath day." A good work had manifestly been done to a helpless fellow-creature. A heavy bodily infirmity had been removed. A mighty act of mercy had been performed. But the blind-hearted enemies of Christ could see no beauty in the act.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
They brought to the Pharisees--sitting probably in council, and chiefly of that sect (Joh 7:47, 48). This man is not of God, &c.--(See on Joh 5:9; Others said, &c.--such as Nicodemus and Joseph.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
The neighbours therefore . . . said, Is not this he that sat and begged--Here are a number of details to identify the newly seeing with the long-known blind beggar.
A commentator
J.C. Ryle1816–1900
Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: John (lightly modernized text, Grace Gems edition) (1869)
proposed
These verses show us how little the Jews of our Lord's time understood the right use of the Sabbath day. We read that some of the Pharisees found fault because a blind man was miraculously healed on the Sabbath. They said, "This man is not of God, because He keeps not the Sabbath day." A good work had manifestly been done to a helpless fellow-creature. A heavy bodily infirmity had been removed. A mighty act of mercy had been performed. But the blind-hearted enemies of Christ could see no beauty in the act. They called it a breach of the Fourth Commandment! These would-be wise men completely mistook the intention of the Sabbath. They did not see that it was "made for man," and meant for the good of man's body, mind, and soul. It was a day to be set apart from others, no doubt, and to be carefully sanctified and kept holy. But its sanctification was never intended to prevent works of necessity and acts of mercy. To heal a sick man was no breach of the Sabbath day. In finding fault with our Lord for so doing, the Jews only exposed their ignorance of their own law. They had forgotten that it is as great a sin to add to a commandment, as to take it away. Here, as in other places, we must take care that we do not put a wrong meaning on our Lord's conduct. We must not for a moment suppose that the Sabbath is no longer binding on Christians, and that they have nothing to do with the Fourth Commandment. This is a great mistake, and the root of great evil. Not one of the ten commandments has ever been repealed or put aside. Our Lord never meant the Sabbath to become a day of pleasure, or a day of business, or a day of traveling and idle dissipation. He meant it to be "kept holy" as long as the world stands. It is one thing to employ the Sabbath in works of mercy, in ministering to the sick, and doing good to the distressed.
They brought to the Pharisees - These had the chief rule, and determined all controversies among the people; in every case of religion, their judgment was final: the people, now fully convinced that the man had been cured, brought him to the Pharisees, that they might determine how this was done, and whether it had been done legally.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
To the Pharisees - To the members of the Sanhedrin. They did this, doubtless, to accuse Jesus of having violated the Sabbath, and not, as they ought to have done, to examine into the evidence that he was from God.
How the passage was read
On John 9:1-41On John 9:1-41
Clay on the Sabbath, and the synagogue door
“He spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle.” On the tradition's categories of Sabbath labor, kneading is forbidden work (one of the thirty-nine, Mishnah Shabbat 7:2), and mixing spittle with dust to a paste is kneading. Unlike the healings done by a word alone, here Jesus performs a nameable act, on a man blind FROM BIRTH, the definition of a chronic condition that, on the categories, could have waited until sundown. The scene reads as deliberate: the Light of the World (9:5) works on the day of rest precisely to force the question of who He is, and the interrogation that follows splits the Pharisees themselves: “How can a man that is a sinner do such miracles?” (9:16).
The parents fear being “put out of the synagogue” (9:22). Honesty about dating helps here: the formal liturgical measure some scholars connect with that phrase (birkat ha-minim, a synagogue benediction concerning heretics, discussed in the Talmud at Berakhot 28b) took shape at Yavneh after AD 70, and both its date and its original scope are debated among scholars. John narrates real local expulsion in Jesus' years; the entry does not read a later formal ban back into the scene. What the chapter itself gives is sharper than any institution: a man healed, cast out, and found by Jesus at the door: “Lord, I believe.”
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Sources: Mishnah Shabbat 7:2 (kneading among the categories) · Berakhot 28b (Babylonian Talmud, the later benediction; dating debated)
The words behind it
8 Greek wordsEvery Greek word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Greek | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ἄγουσιν | agousin | They bring | G71 → | 68 times |
| αὐτὸν | auton | him | G846 → | 5565 times |
| πρὸς | pros | to | G4314 → | 700 times |
| τοὺς | tous | the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| Φαρισαίους, | pharisaious | Pharisees | G5330 → | 97 times |
| τόν | ton | who | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| ποτε | pote | once [was] | G4218 → | |
| τυφλόν· | tuphlon | blind; | G5185 → | 50 times |
ἌγουσινThey bring
agousinG71 →68 times
αὐτὸνhim
autonG846 →5565 times
πρὸςto
prosG4314 →700 times
τοὺςthe
tousG3588 →19766 times
Φαρισαίους,Pharisees
pharisaiousG5330 →97 times
τόνwho
tonG3588 →19766 times
ποτεonce [was]
poteG4218 →
τυφλόν·blind;
tuphlonG5185 →50 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
John 12:42Nevertheless, many of the leaders believed in Him; but because of the Pharisees they did not confess Him, for fear that they would be put out of the synagogue.
it leads to
- John 9:22
His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews. For the Jews had already determined that anyone who confessed Jesus as the Christ would be put out of the synagogue.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- John 7:13
Yet no one would speak publicly about Him for fear of the Jews.
- Isaiah 51:7
Listen to Me, you who know what is right, you people with My law in your hearts: Do not fear the scorn of men; do not be broken by their insults.
- Proverbs 29:25
The fear of man is a snare, but whoever trusts in the LORD is set securely on high.
- Matthew 10:32
Therefore everyone who confesses Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father in heaven.
- John 9:22
Through
John 12:19Then the Pharisees said to one another, “You can see that this is doing you no good. Look how the whole world has gone after Him!”
it leads to
- Acts 17:6
But when they could not find them, they dragged Jason and some other brothers before the city officials, shouting, “These men who have turned the world upside down have now come here,
- Acts 4:16–17
“What shall we do with these men?” they asked. “It is clear to everyone living in Jerusalem that a remarkable miracle has occurred through them, and we cannot deny it.
- Psalms 22:27
All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the LORD. All the families of the nations will bow down before Him.
- Acts 17:6
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies4
On this verse
About John
This page draws on 14 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Augustine of Hippo, Tractates on John 44; Bede, Catena Aurea by Aquinas; Bonaventure, Commentary on John, Chapter 9; Cyril of Alexandria, Commentary on the Gospel of John, Book 6; J.C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: John (lightly modernized text, Grace Gems edition); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Chrysostom, Catena Aurea by Aquinas; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); John Lightfoot, Horae Hebraicae et Talmudicae on John; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on John and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on John.