John 9:10
in John 9“How then were your eyes opened?” they asked.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
They said therefore unto him, How then were thine eyes opened?
KJV
Therefore said they unto him, How were thine eyes opened?
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This verse in John 9
Commentary
13 notes on this verseTherefore said they unto him,.... When the case was clear, and it was out of question that he was the man: how were thine eyes opened? or made to see: they might well ask this question, since such a thing was never known before, that one born blind received his sight; and as great a miracle it is in grace, and as great a mystery to a natural man, how one should be born again, or be spiritually enlightened.
This site's exposition
used to sit and beg
on John 9:8-12
The neighbors argue over whether this is the beggar they knew, and the man settles it by claiming himself. He tells them the man they call Jesus made mud, anointed his eyes, and sent him to Siloam to wash. Asked where that man is, he says he does not know.
This site's exposition
How then were your eyes opened
Gill finds the question fair, since no one born blind had ever been known to see. He compares it with the new birth, as great a mystery to the natural man. Henry marks how weak the means were.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers4 voices
"Therefore said they unto him, How were thine eyes opened? He answered, The man who 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 saw." See, he is become the herald of grace; see, he preaches the gospel; endowed with sight, he becomes a confessor. That blind man makes confession, and the heart of the wicked was troubled; for they had not in their heart what he had now in his countenance.
A commentator
Ephrem the SyrianCOMMENTARY ON TATIAN'S DIATESSARON 16.30 · Written before 373.
proposed
Those who could see were clearly being drawn to the blind man, who saw inwardly. The blind man was being drawn secretly to those who could see but who were blind inwardly. He [the blind man] washed away the clay from his eyes and appeared …
"They said unto him, How were thine eyes opened? He answered and said, A man that is called Jesus." What sayest thou? Doth "a man" work such deeds? As yet he knew nothing great concerning Him. "A man that is called Jesus made clay, and anointed mine eyes." Observe how truthful he is. He saith not whence He made it, for he speaks not of what he doth not know; he saw not that He spat on the ground, but that He spread it on he knew from sense and touch. "And said unto me, Go, wash in the pool of Siloam." This too his hearing witnessed to him. But how did he recognize His voice? From His conversation with the disciples. And saying all this, and having received the witness by the works, the manner (of the cure) he cannot tell. Now if faith is needed in matters which are felt and handled, much more in the case of things invisible.
A commentator
Cyril of AlexandriaCommentary on the Gospel of John, Book 6 · Written before 444.
proposed
With difficulty they consent to believe that he was the same man whom they had known aforetime, and abandoning their hesitation on this point, they ask how he had got rid of his blindness, and what was the manner of such an unhoped-for event.
The Medieval Church1 voice
They said therefore to him: How were your eyes opened? since you are the one who was blind. And he indicates to them the author and the manner.
5 more voices on this verse
The Medieval Church1 voice
1316 Then (v 10), we see the investigation of the act, which was the restoration of the man's sight. First, we have the question asked by the Jews; secondly, the answer of the blind man (v 11). 1317 They continue: If you are the blind …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
It is good to observe the way and method of God's works, and they will appear the more wonderful. We may apply it spiritually; it is strange that blind eyes should be opened, but more strange when we consider how they are opened; how weak the means are that are used, and how strong the opposition that is conquered.
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
J.C. Ryle1816–1900
Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: John (lightly modernized text, Grace Gems edition) (1869)
The chapter we now begin records one of the few great works of Christ which John has reported. It tell us how our Lord gave sight to a man who had been "blind from his birth." Here, as elsewhere in this Gospel, we find the circumstances of the miracle narrated with peculiar fullness, minuteness, and particularity. Here too, as elsewhere, we find the narrative rich in spiritual lessons. We should observe, first, in this passage, how much sorrow sin has brought into the world. A sorrowful case is brought before us.
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
The chapter we now begin records one of the few great works of Christ which John has reported. It tell us how our Lord gave sight to a man who had been "blind from his birth." Here, as elsewhere in this Gospel, we find the circumstances of the miracle narrated with peculiar fullness, minuteness, and particularity. Here too, as elsewhere, we find the narrative rich in spiritual lessons. We should observe, first, in this passage, how much sorrow sin has brought into the world. A sorrowful case is brought before us. We are told of a man "who was blind from his birth." A more serious affliction can hardly be conceived. Of all the bodily crosses that can be laid on man, without taking away life, none perhaps is greater than the loss of sight. It cuts us off from some of the greatest enjoyments of life. It shuts us up within a narrow world of our own. It makes us painfully helpless and dependent on others. In fact, until men lose their eyesight, they never fully realize its value. Now blindness, like every other bodily infirmity, is one of the fruits of sin. If Adam had never fallen, we cannot doubt that people would never have been blind, or deaf, or mute. The many ills that flesh is heir to, the countless pains, and diseases, and physical defects to which we are all liable, came in when the curse came upon the earth. "By one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin." (Rom. 5:12.) Let us learn to hate sin with a godly hatred, as the root of more than half of our cares and sorrows. Let us fight against it, mortify it, crucify it, and abhor it both in ourselves and others. There cannot be a clearer proof that man is a fallen creature than the fact that he can love sin and take pleasure in it. We should observe, secondly, in this passage, what a solemn lesson Christ gives us about the use of opportunities.
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
9 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ἔλεγον | elegon | They were saying | G3004 → | 1325 times |
| οὖν | oun | therefore | G3767 → | 497 times |
| αὐτῷ· | auto | to him; | G846 → | 5565 times |
| πῶς | pos | How | G4459 → | 103 times |
| οὖν | oun | then | G3767 → | 497 times |
| ἠνεῴχθησάν | eneochthesan | were opened | G455 → | 77 times |
| σου | sou | of you | G4771 → | 2973 times |
| οἱ | hoi | the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| ὀφθαλμοί; | ophthalmoi | eyes? | G3788 → | 100 times |
ἔλεγονThey were saying
elegonG3004 →1325 times
οὖνtherefore
ounG3767 →497 times
αὐτῷ·to him;
autoG846 →5565 times
πῶςHow
posG4459 →103 times
οὖνthen
ounG3767 →497 times
ἠνεῴχθησάνwere opened
eneochthesanG455 →77 times
σουof you
souG4771 →2973 times
οἱthe
hoiG3588 →19766 times
ὀφθαλμοί;eyes?
ophthalmoiG3788 →100 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
Ecclesiastes 11:5As you do not know the path of the wind, or how the bones are formed in a mother’s womb, so you cannot understand the work of God, the Maker of all things.
it leads to
- Ecclesiastes 8:17
I saw every work of God, and that a man is unable to comprehend the work that is done under the sun. Despite his efforts to search it out, he cannot find its meaning;…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- John 3:8
The wind blows where it wishes. You hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”
- Psalms 92:5
How great are Your works, O LORD, how deep are Your thoughts!
- Romans 11:33
O, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments, and untraceable His ways!
- Isaiah 40:28
Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary; His understanding is beyond searching…
- Ecclesiastes 8:17
Through
1 Corinthians 15:35But someone will ask, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body will they come?”
it leads to
- Ezekiel 37:3
Then He asked me, “Son of man, can these bones come to life?” “O Lord GOD,” I replied, “only You know.”
- Philippians 3:21
who, by the power that enables Him to subject all things to Himself, will transform our lowly bodies to be like His glorious body.
- Ezekiel 37:3
Through
Mark 4:27Night and day he sleeps and wakes, and the seed sprouts and grows, though he knows not how.
it leads to
- Ecclesiastes 11:5
As you do not know the path of the wind, or how the bones are formed in a mother’s womb, so you cannot understand the work of God, the Maker of all things.
- Ecclesiastes 11:5
Where this verse is studied
About John
This page draws on 11 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Augustine of Hippo, Tractates on John 44; Bonaventure, Commentary on John, Chapter 9; Cyril of Alexandria, Commentary on the Gospel of John, Book 6; Ephrem the Syrian, COMMENTARY ON TATIAN'S DIATESSARON 16.30; J. C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on the Gospels, John; 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 57; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on John.