John · Majority Standard Bible
John 9 Majority Standard Bible
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
1 Now as Jesus was passing by, He saw a man blind from birth,
1 As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth.
2 and His disciples asked Him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”
2 His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”
3 Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but this happened so that the works of God would be displayed in him.
3 Jesus answered, “This man didn’t sin, nor did his parents, but that the works of God might be revealed in him.
4 While it is daytime, I must do the works of Him who sent Me. Night is coming, when no one can work.
4 I must work the works of him who sent me while it is day. The night is coming, when no one can work.
5 While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”
5 While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”
6 When Jesus had said this, He spit on the ground, made some mud, and applied it to the eyes of the blind man.
6 When he had said this, he spat on the ground, made mud with the saliva, anointed the blind man’s eyes with the mud,
7 Then He told him, “Go, wash in the Pool of Siloam” (which means “Sent”). So the man went and washed, and came back seeing.
7 and said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means “Sent”). So he went away, washed, and came back seeing.
8 At this, his neighbors and those who had formerly seen him blind began to ask, “Isn’t this the man who used to sit and beg?”
8 Therefore the neighbors and those who saw that he was blind before said, “Isn’t this he who sat and begged?”
9 Some claimed that he was, but others said, “He just looks like him.” But the man kept saying, “I am the one.”
9 Others were saying, “It is he.” Still others were saying, “He looks like him.” He said, “I am he.”
10 “How were your eyes opened?” they asked.
10 They therefore were asking him, “How were your eyes opened?”
11 He answered, “The man they call Jesus made some mud and anointed my eyes, and He told me to go to the Pool of Siloam and wash. So I went and washed and received my sight.”
11 He answered, “A man called Jesus made mud, anointed my eyes, and said to me, ‘Go to the pool of Siloam and wash.’ So I went away and washed, and I received sight.”
12 “Where is He?” they asked. “I do not know,” he answered.
12 Then they asked him, “Where is he?” He said, “I don’t know.”
13 They brought to the Pharisees the man who had been blind.
13 They brought him who had been blind to the Pharisees.
14 Now the day on which Jesus had made the mud and opened his eyes was a Sabbath.
14 It was a Sabbath when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes.
15 So the Pharisees also asked him how he had received his sight. The man answered, “He put mud on my eyes, and I washed, and now I can see.”
15 Again therefore the Pharisees also asked him how he received his sight. He said to them, “He put mud on my eyes, I washed, and I see.”
16 Because of this, some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for He does not keep the Sabbath.” But others said, “How can a sinful man perform such signs?” And there was division among them.
16 Some therefore of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, because he doesn’t keep the Sabbath.” Others said, “How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?” So there was division among them.
17 So 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.
17 Therefore they asked the blind man again, “What do you say about him, because he opened your eyes?” He said, “He is a prophet.”
18 The Jews still did not believe that the man had been blind and had received his sight until they summoned his parents
18 The Jews therefore didn’t believe concerning him, that he had been blind and had received his sight, until they called the parents of him who had received his sight,
19 and asked, “Is this your son, the one you say was born blind? So how is it that he can now see?”
19 and asked them, “Is this your son, whom you say was born blind? How then does he now see?”
20 His parents answered, “We know he is our son, and we know he was born blind.
20 His parents answered them, “We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind;
21 But how he can now see or who opened his eyes, we do not know. He is of age. Ask him. He can speak for himself.”
21 but how he now sees, we don’t know; or who opened his eyes, we don’t know. He is of age. Ask him. He will speak for himself.”
22 His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews. For the Jews had already determined that anyone who confessed Jesus as the Christ would be put out of the synagogue.
22 His parents said these things because they feared the Jews; for the Jews had already agreed that if any man would confess him as Christ, he would be put out of the synagogue.
23 That was why his parents said, “He is old enough. Ask him.”
23 Therefore his parents said, “He is of age. Ask him.”
24 So a second time they called for the man who had been blind and said, “Give glory to God! We know that this man is a sinner.”
24 So they called the man who was blind a second time, and said to him, “Give glory to God. We know that this man is a sinner.”
25 He answered, “Whether He is a sinner I do not know. There is one thing I do know: I was blind, but now I see!”
25 He therefore answered, “I don’t know if he is a sinner. One thing I do know: that though I was blind, now I see.”
26 “What did He do to you?” they asked again. “How did He open your eyes?”
26 They said to him again, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?”
27 He replied, “I already told you, and you did not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become His disciples?”
27 He answered them, “I told you already, and you didn’t listen. Why do you want to hear it again? You don’t also want to become his disciples, do you?”
28 Then they heaped insults on him and said, “You are His disciple; we are disciples of Moses.
28 They insulted him and said, “You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses.
29 We know that God spoke to Moses, but we do not know where this man is from.”
29 We know that God has spoken to Moses. But as for this man, we don’t know where he comes from.”
30 “That is remarkable indeed!” the man said. “You do not know where He is from, and yet He opened my eyes.
30 The man answered them, “How amazing! You don’t know where he comes from, yet he opened my eyes.
31 We know that God does not listen to sinners, but He does listen to the one who worships Him and does His will.
31 We know that God doesn’t listen to sinners, but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does his will, he listens to him.
32 Never before has anyone heard of opening the eyes of a man born blind.
32 Since the world began it has never been heard of that anyone opened the eyes of someone born blind.
33 If this man were not from God, He could do no such thing.”
33 If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.”
34 They replied, “You were born in utter sin, and you are instructing us?” And they threw him out.
34 They answered him, “You were altogether born in sins, and do you teach us?” Then they threw him out.
35 When Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, He found the man and said, “Do you believe in the Son of God?”
35 Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, and finding him, he said, “Do you believe in the Son of God?”
36 “Who is He, Sir?” he replied. “Tell me so that I may believe in Him.”
36 He answered, “Who is he, Lord, that I may believe in him?”
37 “You have already seen Him,” Jesus answered. “He is the One speaking with you.”
37 Jesus said to him, “You have both seen him, and it is he who speaks with you.”
38 “Lord, I believe,” he said. And he worshiped Jesus.
38 He said, “Lord, I believe!” and he worshiped him.
39 Then Jesus declared, “For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind may see and those who see may become blind.”
39 Jesus said, “I came into this world for judgment, that those who don’t see may see; and that those who see may become blind.”
40 Some of the Pharisees who were with Him heard this, and they asked Him, “Are we blind too?”
40 Those of the Pharisees who were with him heard these things, and said to him, “Are we also blind?”
41 “If you were blind,” Jesus replied, “you would not be guilty of sin. But since you say, ‘We see,’ your guilt remains.”
41 Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you say, ‘We see.’ Therefore your sin remains.
Cross references (36)
Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info.
- 2 Luke 13:2; John 9:34; Exodus 20:5; Acts 28:4
- 3 John 11:4; John 11:40; Ecclesiastes 9:1–2; Job 2:3–6; Job 42:7
- 4 John 12:35; Ephesians 5:16; John 4:34; Ecclesiastes 9:10; John 11:9–10
- 5 John 8:12; John 12:46; Acts 13:47; John 1:4–9; Revelation 21:23
- 6 Mark 8:23; Mark 7:33; Revelation 3:18
- 7 Isaiah 35:5; John 9:11; John 11:37; Isaiah 8:6; Acts 26:18
- 8 1 Samuel 2:8; Luke 18:35; 1 Samuel 21:11; Acts 3:2–11; Luke 16:20–22
- 10 Mark 4:27; Ecclesiastes 11:5; John 3:9; John 9:26; John 9:15
- 11 John 9:6–7; John 9:27
- 12 Exodus 2:18–20; John 5:11–13; John 7:11
- 13 John 12:42; John 8:3–8; John 11:46–47; John 11:57; John 12:19
- 14 John 5:9; Luke 13:10–17; Matthew 12:1–14; Luke 14:1; Mark 2:23–3:6
- 15 John 9:26–27; John 9:10–11
- 16 John 10:19; John 7:43; John 7:12; Matthew 12:2; John 3:2
- 17 John 4:19; John 6:14; Acts 3:22–26; Acts 10:38; Acts 2:22
- 18 Hebrews 3:15–19; John 12:37–40; Hebrews 4:11; John 1:19; Isaiah 26:11
- 19 Acts 4:14; John 9:8–9; Acts 3:10
- 22 John 7:13; John 16:2; Luke 6:22; Isaiah 57:11; John 12:42–43
- 23 John 9:21
- 24 John 9:16; Joshua 7:19; John 8:49; John 19:6; Psalm 50:14–15
- 25 1 John 5:10; John 9:30; John 5:11
- 27 Luke 22:67
- 28 Romans 2:17; 1 Corinthians 4:12; 1 Corinthians 6:10; John 7:19; Matthew 27:39
- 29 John 8:14; Numbers 12:2–7; Psalm 22:6; 2 Kings 9:11; Isaiah 53:2–3
- 30 Psalm 119:18; John 12:37; Isaiah 29:18; Isaiah 29:14; John 3:10
- 31 Proverbs 15:29; Isaiah 1:15; Proverbs 28:9; Micah 3:4; Proverbs 1:28–29
- 32 Isaiah 64:4; Job 20:4; Luke 1:70; Revelation 16:18
- 33 John 9:16; John 3:2; Acts 5:38–39
- 34 John 9:2; John 9:22; Isaiah 66:5; Job 25:4; Luke 18:17
- 35 John 20:31; Romans 10:20; 1 John 5:13; 1 John 4:15; John 10:36
- 36 Romans 10:14; Song of Songs 5:9; Proverbs 30:3–4; John 1:38; Matthew 11:3
- 37 John 4:26; Psalm 25:8–9; John 7:17; Psalm 25:14; John 14:21–23
- 38 Matthew 14:33; Matthew 28:9; John 20:28; Matthew 28:17; Luke 24:52
- 39 John 3:19; Acts 26:18; John 12:46; John 8:12; 1 John 2:11
- 40 Revelation 3:17; Matthew 15:12–14; John 9:34; Matthew 23:16–28; Romans 2:19–22
- 41 Isaiah 5:21; John 15:22–24; Luke 18:14; 1 John 1:8–10; Proverbs 26:12
Cross references: OpenBible.info (CC BY), drawn mainly from the public-domain Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. · Sources & licences
What the Fathers said
Passages from the Church Fathers that expound or quote this chapter, verbatim from the public-domain Schaff edition (19th-century English translations).
How these were chosen
“Commentary” is the opening of a homily or exposition on this chapter (John Chrysostom’s homilies, Augustine’s tractates, sermons and expositions of the Psalms). “Quotes” are sentences where the edition’s own footnotes identify a quotation of a verse here, kept only when the wording matches the verse. Only works whose authorship is not in doubt are used. Psalms follow the Hebrew/English numbering (Augustine numbers them as the Septuagint does: his Psalm 50 is Psalm 51 here).
The Lord Jesus, as we heard when the Holy Gospel was being read, opened the eyes of a man who was born blind. Brethren, if we consider our hereditary punishment, the whole world is blind. And therefore came Christ the Enlightener, because the devil had been the Blinder.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 6 (1888)
We have just read the long lesson of the man born blind, whom the Lord Jesus restored to the light; but were we to attempt handling the whole of it, and considering, according to our ability, each passage in a way proportionate to its worth, the day would be insufficient.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 7 (1888)
"And as Jesus passed by, He saw a man which was blind from his birth." Being full of love for man, and caring for our salvation, and desiring to stop the mouths of the foolish, He omitteth nothing of His own part, though there be none to give heed.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 14 (1889)
They also maintain that the Saviour exhibited an emblem of this mystery in the case of that man who was blind from his birth, since the Æon was in this manner produced by Monogenes blind, that is, in ignorance, thus falsely ascribing ignorance and blindness to the Word of God, who, according to their own theory, holds the second [place …
The pool of Siloam, for example, where the man whose eyes our Lord had anointed with clay made out of spittle was commanded to wash, has a figurative significance, and undoubtedly conveys a secret sense; but yet if the evangelist had not interpreted that name, a meaning so important would lie unnoticed.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 2 (1887)