John 9:19
in John 9and asked, “Is this your son, the one you say was born blind? So how is it that he can now see?”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
and asked them, saying, Is this your son, who ye say was born blind? how then doth he now see?
KJV
And they asked them, saying, Is this your son, who ye say was born blind? how then doth he now see?
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This verse in John 9
Commentary
11 notes on this verseAnd they asked them, saying. Here is touched upon the diligence of the Jews in inquiring: for they ask the parents three things: the person, the condition, and the wondrous change. For this reason it is said: Is this your son? They ask about the …
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
Is this your son
Bonaventure counts three questions put to the parents: the person, his condition at birth, and the change. The words the one you say was born blind show a court that still doubts the blindness itself. Barnes says they answered two without hesitation.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
"Is this your son?" (and they said not, "who once was blind," but) "of whom ye say that he was born blind?" As if they were acting deceitfully, and plotting on behalf of Christ. O ye accursed, utterly accursed! What father would choose to invent such falsehoods against his child? For they almost say, "Whom ye have made out blind, and not only so, but have spread abroad the report everywhere." "How then doth he now see?" O folly! "Yours," saith one, "is the trick and the contrivance." For by these two things do they attempt to lead the parents to a denial; by using the words, "Whom ye say," and, "How then doth he now see?" 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 acknowledge 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.
The Medieval Church2 voices
1332 The Pharisees now question his parents. Here they ask about three things. First, about their son, saying Is this your son? Secondly, about his blindness; and so they add, who you say was born blind. They did not say, "who at one time was …
They do not say "is this your son, who was once blind," but rather "of whom you say," as if speaking thus: "whom you made out to be blind and spread the rumor of this everywhere, entirely fabricated and false." But, O impious Pharisees! What …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
): They asked them in an imperious threatening way, " Is this your son? Do you say he was born blind? Or did he but pretend to be so, to have an excuse for his begging?
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens+odd-straight-quotes
And they asked them, saying, is this your son,....
3 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century3 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)
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
19 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| καὶ | kai | And | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| ἠρώτησαν | erotesan | they asked | G2065 → | 62 times |
| αὐτοὺς | autous | them | G846 → | 5565 times |
| λέγοντες· | legontes | saying; | G3004 → | 1325 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 |
| ὑμῶν | humon | of you | G4771 → | 2973 times |
| ὃν | hon | of whom | G3739 → | 1405 times |
| ὑμεῖς | humeis | you yourselves | G4771 → | 2973 times |
| λέγετε | legete | say | G3004 → | 1325 times |
| ὅτι | hoti | that | G3754 → | 1292 times |
| τυφλὸς | tuphlos | blind | G5185 → | 50 times |
| ἐγεννήθη; | egennethe | he was born? | G1080 → | 97 times |
| πῶς | pos | How | G4459 → | 103 times |
| οὖν | oun | then | G3767 → | 497 times |
| βλέπει | blepei | does he see | G991 → | 132 times |
| ἄρτι;¶ | arti | presently | G737 → | 36 times |
καὶAnd
kaiG2532 →9120 times
ἠρώτησανthey asked
erotesanG2065 →62 times
αὐτοὺςthem
autousG846 →5565 times
λέγοντες·saying;
legontesG3004 →1325 times
οὗτόςThis
houtosG3778 →1381 times
ἐστινis
estinG1510 →2333 times
ὁthe
hoG3588 →19766 times
υἱὸςson
huiosG5207 →377 times
ὑμῶνof you
humonG4771 →2973 times
ὃνof whom
honG3739 →1405 times
ὑμεῖςyou yourselves
humeisG4771 →2973 times
λέγετεsay
legeteG3004 →1325 times
ὅτιthat
hotiG3754 →1292 times
τυφλὸςblind
tuphlosG5185 →50 times
ἐγεννήθη;he was born?
egennetheG1080 →97 times
πῶςHow
posG4459 →103 times
οὖνthen
ounG3767 →497 times
βλέπειdoes he see
blepeiG991 →132 times
ἄρτι;¶presently
artiG737 →36 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
Acts 3:10they recognized him as the man who used to sit begging at the Beautiful Gate of the temple, and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.
it leads to
- Acts 3:2
And a man who was lame from birth was being carried to the temple gate called Beautiful, where he was put every day to beg from those entering the temple courts.
- John 9:3
Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but this happened so that the works of God would be displayed in him.
- Luke 9:43
And they were all astonished at the greatness of God. While everyone was marveling at all that Jesus was doing, He said to His disciples,
- John 5:20
The Father loves the Son and shows Him all He does. And to your amazement, He will show Him even greater works than these.
- Acts 3:2
Through
Acts 4:14And seeing the man who had been healed standing there with them, they had nothing to say in response.
it leads to
- Acts 3:8–12
He sprang to his feet and began to walk. Then he went with them into the temple courts, walking and leaping and praising God.
- Acts 19:36
Since these things are undeniable, you ought to be calm and not do anything rash.
- Acts 4:10
then let this be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel: It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from…
- Acts 4:16
“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.
- Acts 3:8–12
Where this verse is studied
About John
This page draws on 11 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; 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.