John 9:26
in John 9“What did He do to you?” they asked. “How did He open your eyes?”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
They said therefore unto him, What did he to thee? how opened he thine eyes?
KJV
Then said they to him again, What did he to thee? how opened he thine eyes?
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This verse in John 9
Commentary
12 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
How opened he thine eyes? - The reason why they asked this so often was doubtless to attempt to draw him into a contradiction; either to intimidate him, or throw him off his guard, so that he might be detected in denying what he had before affirmed. But God gave to this poor man grace and strength to make a bold confession of the truth, and sufficient common sense completely to confound his proud and subtle examiners.
This site's exposition
How did He open your eyes
on John 9:26-29
They put the same questions again, hoping repetition will crack the account. The man offers them a place among the disciples, and they answer with insults and with Moses, whose disciples they claim to be. John 5:46 answers that claim: Moses wrote of Jesus.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers3 voices
"Then said they to him again, What did he to thee? how opened he thine eyes? He answered them, I have told you already, and ye did not hear: wherefore would ye hear it again?" See how bold one becomes who is filled with light; see how the blind was not afraid of the Jews his parents fear. To wit, they interrogated him as to what good they might gain from his answers; not, of course, that they might themselves receive sight, but that they might draw him to say something that might furnish them with the means of accusing him, namely Christ, because he made clay and anointed the blind man's eyes. "Will ye also be his disciples?" What means this "also," save as if he said, Already I am: will ye also be? Contumely to them, health to the man.
A commentator
Cyril of AlexandriaCommentary on the Gospel of John, Book 6 · Written before 444.
proposed
They again resort to questioning, and inquire about the manner of the Divine sign; not doing this out of good feeling or a laudable curiosity, but placing and reckoning the speaking well of Christ by any living being as baser than any villainy and worse than any wickedness, they stir up all these matters afresh; thinking perhaps that the man would no more repeat the same words, but would vary his account of the event, and say something inconsistent with his former answers, so that they might lay hold of the contradiction and denounce him as an impostor and a liar.
"What did he to thee? How opened he thine eyes?" What was his reply? Having conquered and cast them down, he no longer speaks to them submissly. As long as the matter needed enquiry and arguments he spake guardedly, while he supplied the proof; but when he had conquered and gained a splendid victory, he then takes courage, and tramples upon them. What saith he? "I have told you once, and ye did not hear; wherefore would ye hear it again?" Seest thou the bold-speaking of a beggar towards Scribes and Pharisees? So strong is truth, so weak is falsehood. Truth, though she take hold but of ordinary men, maketh them to appear glorious; the other, even though it be with the strong, shows them weak. What he saith is of this kind: "Ye give no heed to my words, therefore I will no longer speak or answer you continually, who question me to no purpose, and who do not desire to hear in order to learn, but that you may insult over my words." "Will ye also be His disciples?" Now he hath ranked himself among the band of disciples, for the "will ye also?" is the expression of one who is declaring himself to be a disciple. Then he mocked and annoyed them abundantly. For since he knew that this struck them hard, he said it, wishing to upbraid them with exceeding severity; the act of a soul courageous, soaring on high and despising their madness, pointing out the greatness of this dignity, in which he was very confident, and showing that they insulted him who was a man worthy to be admired, but that he took not the insult to himself, but grasped as an honor what they offered as a reproach.
The Medieval Church2 voices
When they again asked him "what did He do to you," placing blame on the Savior for having performed the anointing with clay on the Sabbath, this man understood that they were asking not for the sake of inquiry but for accusation.
They therefore said to him: What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes? They attempt to draw him back by cunning; therefore they maliciously inquire, so that they might raise some objection against the miracle. Chrysostom: "They scrutinize the manner of …
5 more voices on this verse
The Medieval Church1 voice
1338 They again question the man born blind in order to malign him. First, we have the cunning interrogation of the Pharisees; and secondly, the contemptuous reply of the blind man (v 27). 1339 He says, with respect to the first, They said to him: …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Then said they to him again,.... Finding they could not bring him to deny the fact, or cause him to entertain an ill opinion of him that did it, they examine him again about the manner of it: what did he to thee? how opened he thine eyes?
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
J.C. Ryle1816–1900
Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: John (lightly modernized text, Grace Gems edition) (1869)
We see in these verses how much wiser the poor sometimes are than the rich. The man whom our Lord healed of his blindness was evidently a person of very humble condition. It is written that he was one who "sat and begged." (See v. 8.) Yet he saw things which the proud rulers of the Jews could not see, and would not receive. He saw in our Lord's miracle an unanswerable proof of our Lord's divine commission. "If this Man were not of God," he cries, "He could do nothing."
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Give God the praise; we know that this man is a sinner--not wishing him to own, even to the praise of God, that a miracle had been wrought upon him, but to show more regard to the honor of God than ascribe any such act to one who was a sinner.
A commentator
J.C. Ryle1816–1900
Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: John (lightly modernized text, Grace Gems edition) (1869)
proposed
We see in these verses how much wiser the poor sometimes are than the rich. The man whom our Lord healed of his blindness was evidently a person of very humble condition. It is written that he was one who "sat and begged." (See v. 8.) Yet he saw things which the proud rulers of the Jews could not see, and would not receive. He saw in our Lord's miracle an unanswerable proof of our Lord's divine commission. "If this Man were not of God," he cries, "He could do nothing." In fact, from the day of his cure his position was completely altered. He had eyes, and the Pharisees were blind. The same thing may be seen in other places of Scripture. The servants of Pharaoh saw "the finger of God" in the plagues of Egypt, when their master's heart was hardened. The servants of Naaman saw the wisdom of Elisha's advice, when their master was turning away in a rage. The high, the great, and the noble are often the last to learn spiritual lessons. Their possessions and their position often blind the eyes of their understanding, and keep them back from the kingdom of God. It is written that "not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called." (1 Cor. 1:26.) The Christian poor man never need be ashamed of his poverty. It is a sin to be proud, and worldly-minded, and unbelieving; but it is no sin to be poor. The very riches which many long to possess are often veils over the eyes of men's souls, and prevent their seeing Christ. The teaching of the Holy Spirit is more frequently to be seen among men of low degree than among men of rank and education. The words of our Lord are continually proved most true, "How hard it is for rich people to get into the Kingdom of God!" "You have hid these things from the wise and prudent, and have revealed them unto babes." (Mark 10:23; Matt. 11:25.)
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
11 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| εἶπον | eipon | They said | G2036 → | 925 times |
| οὖν | oun | therefore | G3767 → | 497 times |
| αὐτῷ | auto | to him | G846 → | 5565 times |
| τί | ti | What | G5101 → | 563 times |
| ἐποίησέν | epoiesen | did He | G4160 → | 569 times |
| σοι; | soi | to you? | G4771 → | 2973 times |
| πῶς | pos | How | G4459 → | 103 times |
| ἤνοιξέν | enoixen | opened He | G455 → | 77 times |
| σου | sou | of you | G4771 → | 2973 times |
| τοὺς | tous | the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| ὀφθαλμούς;¶ | ophthalmous | eyes? | G3788 → | 100 times |
εἶπονThey said
eiponG2036 →925 times
οὖνtherefore
ounG3767 →497 times
αὐτῷto him
autoG846 →5565 times
τίWhat
tiG5101 →563 times
ἐποίησένdid He
epoiesenG4160 →569 times
σοι;to you?
soiG4771 →2973 times
πῶςHow
posG4459 →103 times
ἤνοιξένopened He
enoixenG455 →77 times
σουof you
souG4771 →2973 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.
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); 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; 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); Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on John and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on John.
