John 9:17
in John 9So once again they asked the man who had been blind, “What do you say about Him, since it was your eyes He opened?” “He is a prophet,” the man replied.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
They say therefore unto the blind man again, What sayest thou of him, in that he opened thine eyes? And he said, He is a prophet.
KJV
They say unto the blind man again, What sayest thou of him, that he hath opened thine eyes? He said, He is a prophet.
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This verse in John 9
Commentary
17 notes on this verseAnd he said, He is a prophet. They receive a sharp arrow into their hearts, who do not admit fair and just reasoning, and are eager to seek that only which gratifies their malice. For, as it is written, the crafty man shall not meet with prey. For their zealous design is upset, contrary to their expectation; and they are greatly disappointed of their hope when to their surprise they receive the reply: He is a prophet. For the man who had been healed, judging very rightly, agrees with the opinion of the other party.
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
He is a prophet
Barnes reads the question as what the man thinks of the One who gave him sight, and prophet as one sent from God. Cyril says the court hoped for an answer to feed its malice. The man sided with the party that doubted the charge.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers5 voices
(Tr. xliv. 9) Or they sought how they could throw reproach upon the man, and cast him out of their synagogue. He declares however openly what he thinks: He said, He is a Prophet. Not being anointed yet in heart, he could not confess the Son of God; nevertheless, he is not wrong in what he says: for our Lord Himself says of Himself, A prophet is not without honour, save in his own country. (Luke 4:24)
"They say then unto the blind man again, What sayest thou of him who hath opened thine eyes?" What is thy feeling about him? what is thine opinion? what is thy judgment? They sought how to revile the man, that he might be cast out of the synagogue, but be found by Christ. But he steadfastly expressed what he felt. For he said, "That he is a prophet." As yet, indeed, anointed only in heart, he does not thus far confess the Son of God, and yet he speaks not untruthfully. For the Lord saith of Himself, "A prophet is not without honor, save in his own country."
While they were discussing things, they turned to the blind man again, as if they chose him as their arbiter, and they said to him, "What do you say about him? It was your eyes he opened." Should we admire him for the work he …
We must go over the Scriptures not in a chance way or carelessly, but with all exactness, that we be not entangled. Since even now in this place one might with show of reason question, how, when they had asserted, "This man is not of God, because he keepeth not the Sabbath," they now say to the man, "What sayest thou of him, that he hath opened thine eyes?" and not, "What sayest thou of him, that he hath broken the Sabbath?" but put now that which was the ground of the defense, not that of the accusation. What then have we to reply? That these (who speak) are not the men who said, "This man is not of God," but those who separated themselves from them, who also said, "A man that is a sinner cannot do such miracles." For desiring to silence their opponents the more, in order that they may not seem to be partisans of Christ, they bring forward the man who had received proof of His power, and question him. Observe now the wisdom of the poor man, he speaketh more wisely than them all. First he saith, "He is a Prophet"; and shrank not from the judgment of the perverse Jews who spake against Him and said, "How can this man be of God, not keeping the Sabbath?" but replied to them, "He is a Prophet."
A commentator
Cyril of AlexandriaCommentary on the Gospel of John, Book 6 · Written before 444.
proposed
They say therefore unto the blind man again, What sayest thou of Him, in that He opened thine eyes? They imagine those who are disposed to judge fairly to be wandering in their wits, and they seem to me to have forgotten altogether Him Who says: Judge righteous judgment; and having been taken captive as it were in the bonds of envy, they cannot endure to listen at all to any word that honours Christ. Turning away from any one wishing to speak of His miracles as from some one most hostile to themselves, and mistrusting their own powers of explanation, they haughtily address their words to the man that had been healed. Again they ask what had been many times told them, having already proclaimed their belief that He Who had performed an action contrary to the sabbath was both worthless and wicked. They think that in this way the blind man will join them in condemning Him, and take his cue from their words; that he will suppress all outward signs of gratitude, out of fear and trembling before their anger, and readily charge Jesus with contempt of the law, because of its being the sabbath. Evil therefore was the design of the Pharisees, and it cannot be doubted that it was foolish also. For how could the voice of one thankless man weaken the force of the miracle? And would not Christ's Divine glory appear, if it so happened that the blind man, overcome by fear, should deny the kindness he had received, in order to avoid suffering anything from those wont to inflict pain? But envy is powerful to persuade those who are bursting with it to eagerly do any thing in their passion, even though it involves conduct very fairly open to ridicule. The mind which is free from such thoughts, however, is not entangled by foolish arguments; but, ever preserving its natural excellence untarnished, is borne directly towards a right conclusion, and does not go beyond the limits of truth. […]
9 more voices on this verse
The Medieval Church4 voices
Who were those asking "what do you say about Him?" They were from among the prudent ones, for they were saying: "How can a sinner do such things?" So as not to appear to be defending Him without cause, they bring forth as witness the …
Therefore they say again to the blind man, namely the Pharisees: What do you say of him who opened your eyes? namely whether he is good or evil: and they inquire maliciously, but the blind man answered simply. But he said: He is a Prophet: …
1329 Next (v 17), they ask the blind man for his opinion. And first we have the question the Pharisees asked; secondly, the blind man's answer. They question him, saying, what do you say about him? According to Chrysostom, this question was not asked by …
See with what good intent they put the question. They do not say, What sayest thou of Him that keepeth not the sabbath, but mention the miracle, that He hath opened thine eyes; meaning it would seem, to draw out the healed man himself; He hath benefited them, they seem to say, and thou oughtest to preach Him.
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
They say unto the blind man again,....
The Nineteenth Century4 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
What sayest thou of him? ... - The translation here expresses the sense obscurely. The meaning is, “What sayest thou of him for giving thee sight?” (Campbell); or, “What opinion of him hath this work of power and mercy to thee wrought in thee?” (Hammond). He is a prophet - That is “I think that the power to work such a miracle proves that he is sent from God.
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
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.
He is a prophet - They had intended to lay snares for the poor man, that, getting him to acknowledge Christ for the Messiah, they might put him out of the synagogue, Joh 9:22, or put him to death, that such a witness to the Divine power of Christ might not appear against them. But, as the mercy of God had given him his sight, so the wisdom of God taught him how to escape the snares laid for his ruin. On all thy glory there shall be a defense, says the prophet, Isa 4:5. When God gives any particular mercy or grace, he sends power to preserve it, and wisdom to improve it. The man said, He is a prophet. Now, according to a Jewish maxim, a prophet might dispense with the observation of the Sabbath. See Grotius. If they allow that Jesus was a prophet, then, even in their sense, he might break the law of the Sabbath, and be guiltless: or, if they did not allow him to be a prophet, they must account for the miracle some other way than by the power of God; as from Satan or his agents no good can proceed - to do this it was impossible. So the wisdom of God taught the poor man to give them such an answer as put them into a complete dilemma, from which they could not possibly extricate themselves.
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
21 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| λέγουσιν | legousin | They say | G3004 → | 1325 times |
| οὖν | oun | therefore | G3767 → | 497 times |
| τῷ | to | to the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| τυφλῷ | tuphlo | blind [man] | G5185 → | 50 times |
| πάλιν· | palin | again; | G3825 → | 139 times |
| τί | ti | What | G5101 → | 563 times |
| σὺ | su | you yourself | G4771 → | 2973 times |
| λέγεις | legeis | say | G3004 → | 1325 times |
| περὶ | peri | concerning | G4012 → | 332 times |
| αὐτοῦ | autou | Him | G846 → | 5565 times |
| ὅτι | hoti | for | G3754 → | 1292 times |
| ἠνέῳξέν | eneoxen | He opened | G455 → | 77 times |
| σου | sou | of you | G4771 → | 2973 times |
| τοὺς | tous | the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| ὀφθαλμούς; | ophthalmous | eyes? | G3788 → | 100 times |
| ὁ | ho | <the> | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| δὲ | de | And | G1161 → | 2765 times |
| εἶπεν | eipen | he said | G2036 → | 925 times |
| ὅτι | hoti | that | G3754 → | 1292 times |
| προφήτης | prophetes | A prophet | G4396 → | 144 times |
| ἐστίν. | estin | He is. | G1510 → | 2333 times |
λέγουσινThey say
legousinG3004 →1325 times
οὖνtherefore
ounG3767 →497 times
τῷto the
toG3588 →19766 times
τυφλῷblind [man]
tuphloG5185 →50 times
πάλιν·again;
palinG3825 →139 times
τίWhat
tiG5101 →563 times
σὺyou yourself
suG4771 →2973 times
λέγειςsay
legeisG3004 →1325 times
περὶconcerning
periG4012 →332 times
αὐτοῦHim
autouG846 →5565 times
ὅτιfor
hotiG3754 →1292 times
ἠνέῳξένHe opened
eneoxenG455 →77 times
σουof you
souG4771 →2973 times
τοὺςthe
tousG3588 →19766 times
ὀφθαλμούς;eyes?
ophthalmousG3788 →100 times
ὁ<the>
hoG3588 →19766 times
δὲAnd
deG1161 →2765 times
εἶπενhe said
eipenG2036 →925 times
ὅτιthat
hotiG3754 →1292 times
προφήτηςA prophet
prophetesG4396 →144 times
ἐστίν.He is.
estinG1510 →2333 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 6:14When the people saw the sign that Jesus had performed, they began to say, “Truly this is the Prophet who is to come into the world.”
it leads to
- Matthew 21:11
The crowds replied, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.”
Reached by 3 separate paths from here.
- Deuteronomy 18:15–18
The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your brothers. You must listen to him.
- Acts 7:37
This is the same Moses who told the Israelites, ‘God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your brothers.’
- Matthew 11:3
to ask Him, “Are You the One who was to come, or should we look for someone else?”
- Matthew 21:11
Through
John 4:19“Sir,” the woman said, “I see that You are a prophet.
it leads to
- Luke 7:16
A sense of awe swept over all of them, and they glorified God. “A great prophet has appeared among us!” they said. “God has visited His people!”
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Luke 7:16
Through
Acts 2:22Men of Israel, listen to this message: Jesus of Nazareth was a man certified by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs, which God did among you through Him, as you yourselves know.
it leads to
- John 3:2
He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs You are doing if God were…
- Matthew 12:28
But if I drive out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.
- John 14:10–11
Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me? The words I say to you, I do not speak on My own. Instead, it is the Father…
- John 3:2
Where this verse is studied
About John
This page draws on 15 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, 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, Homily on the Gospel of John 58; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); John Lightfoot, Horae Hebraicae et Talmudicae on John; Theodore of Mopsuestia, COMMENTARY ON JOHN 4.9.13-18; Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on John; Theophylact of Ohrid, Catena Aurea by Aquinas and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on John.