John 9:14
in John 9Now the day on which Jesus had made the mud and opened his eyes was a Sabbath.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Now it was the sabbath on the day when Jesus made the clay, and opened his eyes.
KJV
And it was the sabbath day when Jesus made the clay, and opened his eyes.
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This verse in John 9
Commentary
16 notes on this verseWhen the blessed Evangelist is making it manifest to us that they were immoderately vexed at the making of clay on the sabbath, he fitly hints at the absurdity of the thing, by adding: Now it was the sabbath on the day when Jesus made the clay.
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.
This site's exposition
was a Sabbath
Cyril hears John holding the charge up to ridicule by naming the day only after the cure is told. Clarke adds that some rabbis counted spittle a remedy for the eyes and forbade its use on the Sabbath. Henry thinks Christ chose the day on purpose.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers3 voices
(Tr. xliv. 4, 5) It was Christ, who divided the day into light and darkness.
"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.
The Evangelist adds, And it was the sabbath day when Jesus made the clay, and opened his eyes; in order to expose their real design, which was to accuse Him of a departure from the law, and thus detract from the miracle: as appears from what follows, Then again the Pharisees also asked him how he had received his sight.
The Medieval Church2 voices
Now it was the Sabbath. Here is touched upon the occasion for censuring, which was from the feast day and the manner of healing. By reason of the day he says: Now it was the Sabbath when Jesus made the clay and opened his eyes: …
The Evangelist notes that "it was the Sabbath" in order to show their malice, how they seize upon every occasion against Christ: they accuse Him of violating the Sabbath and thereby attempt to overshadow the miracle. Therefore they do not ask him "how did you …
8 more voices on this verse
The Medieval Church1 voice
1322 The Evangelist shows that their intention was perverse, saying, it was a Sabbath day when Jesus made the clay. He says this to show their evil intention and the reason why they sought Jesus, that is, to find a charge against him and detract …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Works of necessity and mercy are allowed, and the sabbath-rest to be kept, not so much for its own sake as in order to the sabbath-work. Christ chose to work his cures on the sabbath day to dignify and sanctify the day, and to intimate that spiritual cures should be wrought mostly on the Christian sabbath day.
), "Master," say they, "whose sin is the cause of this impotency?" Being at a loss what construction to put upon this providence, they desire to be informed. The equity of God's dispensations is always certain, for his righteousness is as the great mountains, but not always to be accounted for, for his judgments are a great deep. Christ's answer to this question.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
And it was the sabbath day when Jesus made the clay,.... Which was reckoned a violation of the sabbath, Joh 9:16, and was one reason why they had the man to the Pharisees to be examined, and why they were desirous of knowing where Jesus was: and opened his eyes; by putting on the clay, and sending him to wash in the Pool of Siloam: nor did the miracle, nor the good done to the man, excuse with them, what they thought a breach of the sabbath.
The Nineteenth Century4 voices
It was the Sabbath - Some of the ancient rabbins taught, and they have been followed by some moderns, not much better skilled in physic than themselves, that the saliva is a cure for several disorders of the eyes; but the former held this to be contrary to the law, if applied on the Sabbath. See Lightfoot’s Hor. Talm.
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
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.
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
16 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ἦν | en | Was | G1510 → | 2333 times |
| δὲ | de | now | G1161 → | 2765 times |
| σάββατον | sabbaton | Sabbath | G4521 → | 68 times |
| ἐν | en | in | G1722 → | 2738 times |
| ᾗ | he | which | G3739 → | 1405 times |
| ἡμέρᾳ | hemera | day | G2250 → | 389 times |
| τὸν | ton | the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| πηλὸν | pelon | clay | G4081 → | 6 times |
| ἐποίησεν | epoiesen | made | G4160 → | 569 times |
| ὁ | ho | <the> | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| Ἰησοῦς | iesous | Jesus | G2424 → | 908 times |
| καὶ | kai | and | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| ἀνέῳξεν | aneoxen | opened | G455 → | 77 times |
| αὐτοῦ | autou | of him | G846 → | 5565 times |
| τοὺς | tous | the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| ὀφθαλμούς. | ophthalmous | eyes. | G3788 → | 100 times |
ἦνWas
enG1510 →2333 times
δὲnow
deG1161 →2765 times
σάββατονSabbath
sabbatonG4521 →68 times
ἐνin
enG1722 →2738 times
ᾗwhich
heG3739 →1405 times
ἡμέρᾳday
hemeraG2250 →389 times
τὸνthe
tonG3588 →19766 times
πηλὸνclay
pelonG4081 →6 times
ἐποίησενmade
epoiesenG4160 →569 times
ὁ<the>
hoG3588 →19766 times
ἸησοῦςJesus
iesousG2424 →908 times
καὶand
kaiG2532 →9120 times
ἀνέῳξενopened
aneoxenG455 →77 times
αὐτοῦof him
autouG846 →5565 times
τοὺςthe
tousG3588 →19766 times
ὀφθαλμούς.eyes.
ophthalmousG3788 →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
John 5:9Immediately the man was made well, and he picked up his mat and began to walk. Now this happened on the Sabbath day,
it leads to
- Acts 3:7–8
Taking him by the right hand, Peter helped him up, and at once the man’s feet and ankles were made strong.
- Mark 3:2–4
In order to accuse Jesus, they were watching to see if He would heal on the Sabbath.
- Mark 1:31
So He went to her, took her by the hand, and helped her up. The fever left her, and she began to serve them.
- Mark 10:52
“Go,” said Jesus, “your faith has healed you.” And immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road.
- Mark 1:42
And immediately the leprosy left him, and the man was cleansed.
- Acts 3:7–8
Through
Luke 14:1One Sabbath, Jesus went to eat in the home of a leading Pharisee, and those in attendance were watching Him closely.
it leads to
- Mark 3:2
In order to accuse Jesus, they were watching to see if He would heal on the Sabbath.
- Proverbs 23:7
for he is keeping track, inwardly counting the cost. “Eat and drink,” he says to you, but his heart is not with you.
- Luke 20:20
So they watched Him closely and sent spies who pretended to be sincere. They were hoping to catch Him in His words in order to hand Him over to the rule and authority of…
- Mark 3:2
Where this verse is studied
About John
This page draws on 13 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Augustine of Hippo, Catena Aurea by Aquinas; Augustine of Hippo, Tractates on John 44; 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.