John 9:20
in John 9His parents answered, “We know he is our son, and we know he was born blind.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
His parents answered and said, We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind:
KJV
His parents answered them and said, We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind:
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This verse in John 9
Commentary
13 notes on this verseThey acknowledge as true that which was in no wise doubtful and for which it was hardly likely they would suffer anything disagreeable; for they say that they recognise their own offspring, and do not deny what really was the case at his birth, but distinctly affirm that he was born with the affliction. Nevertheless they shrink from relating the miracle, leaving the nature of the deed to speak for itself, and maintaining that it would be much more suitable to put the question as to how he had been healed to their son himself.
This site's exposition
until they summoned his parents
on John 9:18-23
The leaders summon the parents, and the parents certify the two facts only they could: he is their son, and he was born blind. The third question they hand back to their son, who is old enough to speak for himself. Fear of expulsion from the synagogue governs the room.
This site's exposition
we know he was born blind
His parents confirm that he is their son and was born blind. Cyril says they confirm only what no one could doubt and what cost them nothing. Barnes says they had not seen how his eyes were opened, so they could not be witnesses to it.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
Now when there were three questions asked, whether he was their son, whether he had been blind, and how he received his sight, the parents only acknowledged two of them, but do not add the third. And this came to pass for the sake of the truth, in order that none other save the man that was healed, who was also worthy of credit, should acknowledge this matter. And how would the parents have favored Christ, when even of what they knew some part they spake not through fear of the Jews? What say they? "We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind; but by what means he now seeth we know not, or who hath opened his eyes we know not; he is of age, he shall speak for himself." By making him to be worthy of credit, they begged off themselves; "He is not a child, say they, nor incapable, but able to testify for himself."
The Medieval Church3 voices
His parents answered them, that is, the father and mother, and said: We know that this is our son and that he was born blind. And in this the Pharisees are refuted by the most certain testimony of the parents: whence Chrysostom says: "Who would …
The Pharisees posed three questions to the parents of the blind man: 1) is this their son? 2) was he born blind? and 3) how did he come to see? To the first two questions they answer affirmatively, that this is their son and that …
1333 Then, the answer of his parents is given (v 20). The Pharisees had asked about three things; they answer firmly about two and in regard to the third they refer them to their son. First, they admit the first, namely, that he is their …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
): We know that this is our son (for they were daily conversant with him, and had such a natural affection to him as the true mother had, 1 Kings iii. 26 , which made them know it was their own ); and we know that he was born blind.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
5 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
His parents answered them, and said,....
The Nineteenth Century4 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
His parents answered ... - To the first two questions they answered without hesitation. They knew that he was their son, and that he was born blind. The third question they could not positively answer, as they had not witnessed the means of the cure, and were afraid to express their belief. It appears that they had themselves no doubt, but they were not eye-witnesses, and could not be therefore legal evidence. He is of age - He is of sufficient age to give testimony. Among the Jews this age was fixed at thirteen years.
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)
They prevaricated, however, in saying they "knew not who had opened his eyes," for "they feared the Jews," who had come to an understanding (probably after what is recorded, Joh 7:50, &c.; but by this time well known), that whoever owned Him as the Christ would be put out of the synagogue--that is, not simply excluded, but excommunicated.
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.
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
18 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ἀπεκρίθησαν | apekrithesan | Answered | G611 → | 231 times |
| οὖν | oun | therefore | G3767 → | 497 times |
| οἱ | hoi | the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| γονεῖς | goneis | parents | G1118 → | 20 times |
| αὐτοῦ | autou | of him | G846 → | 5565 times |
| καὶ | kai | and | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| εἶπαν· | eipan | said; | G2036 → | 925 times |
| οἴδαμεν | oidamen | We know | ||
| ὅτι | hoti | that | G3754 → | 1292 times |
| οὗτός | houtos | this | G3778 → | 1381 times |
| ἐστιν | estin | is | G1510 → | 2333 times |
| ὁ | ho | the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| υἱὸς | huios | son | G5207 → | 377 times |
| ἡμῶν | hemon | of us | G3165 → | 1936 times |
| καὶ | kai | and | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| ὅτι | hoti | that | G3754 → | 1292 times |
| τυφλὸς | tuphlos | blind | G5185 → | 50 times |
| ἐγεννήθη· | egennethe | he was born; | G1080 → | 97 times |
ἀπεκρίθησανAnswered
apekrithesanG611 →231 times
οὖνtherefore
ounG3767 →497 times
οἱthe
hoiG3588 →19766 times
γονεῖςparents
goneisG1118 →20 times
αὐτοῦof him
autouG846 →5565 times
καὶand
kaiG2532 →9120 times
εἶπαν·said;
eipanG2036 →925 times
οἴδαμενWe know
oidamen
ὅτιthat
hotiG3754 →1292 times
οὗτόςthis
houtosG3778 →1381 times
ἐστινis
estinG1510 →2333 times
ὁthe
hoG3588 →19766 times
υἱὸςson
huiosG5207 →377 times
ἡμῶνof us
hemonG3165 →1936 times
καὶand
kaiG2532 →9120 times
ὅτιthat
hotiG3754 →1292 times
τυφλὸςblind
tuphlosG5185 →50 times
ἐγεννήθη·he was born;
egennetheG1080 →97 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
Where this verse is studied
About John
This page draws on 12 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Bonaventure, Commentary on John, Chapter 9; Brooke Foss Westcott, The Gospel according to St. John; 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, Homily on the Gospel of John 58; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on John and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on John.