John 9:10

Joh 9:10; Joh 9:12. How were thine eyes opened? — The fact being ascertained that a man, born blind, had received his sight, they are disposed to inquire how so extraordinary an event was brought about. Observe, reader, the works of the Lord, being great, ought to be sought out: and they will appear more wonderful the more we examine them, and are made acquainted with the way in which they are effected. He answered, A man called Jesus made clay, &c. — He seems to have been before totally ignorant of Jesus; and I went and washed — As he directed me; and immediately I received sight — And this, in a few words, is a true and exact account of this wonderful fact. Thus, those who have experienced special instances of God’s power and goodness, in temporal or spiritual things, should be ready, upon all occasions, to declare what they have thus known, for the glory of God, and for the instruction and encouragement of others. Then said they, Where is he? — Where can we find the man that performed this miracle? Some, doubtless, asked this question out of curiosity: Where is he, that we may see him? A man that did such cures as these deserved to be seen: one would go a good way for the sight of such a person. But some, we may hope, asked it out of a good design: Where is he, that we may be acquainted with him? Where is he, that we may come to him, and share in the favours he is so free to impart? He said, I know not — I have never seen him, or conversed with him, otherwise than as I have now told you. As soon as Christ had sent him to the pool of Siloam, it seems he withdrew immediately, as he did chap. Joh 5:1; and did not stay till the man returned, as if he either doubted of the effect, or waited for the man’s thanks. Humble persons take more pleasure in doing good than in hearing of it again; it will be time enough to hear of it at the resurrection of the just. The man had never seen Jesus; for, by the time he had gained his sight he had lost his physician: and he, as well as the people, probably asked, Where is he? None of all the new and surprising objects that presented themselves to his view could be so grateful to him as one sight of Christ; but as yet he knew no more of him than that he was called, and rightly called, Jesus, a Saviour. Thus, in the work of grace wrought upon the soul, we see the change, but see not the hand that makes it; for the way of the Spirit is like that of the wind, of which thou hearest the sound, but canst not tell whence it comes or whither it goes.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Joh 9:10 . This being ascertained the next question was, Πῶς ἀνεῴχθησάν σου οἱ ὀφθλμοί ; In reply the cured man relates his experience. He had ascertained Jesus’ name from some bystander; and it is noticeable that he speaks of Him as one not widely known: ἄνθρωπος λεγόενος Ἰησοῦς . ἀνέβλεψα . “I recovered sight”. The man, who now saw for the first time, “uses the ordinary language of men, though in strictness it was not applicable to his own case,” Watkins.

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

This is an Hebrew kind of speech, for they call a man’s eyes shut, when they cannot receive any light: And therefore they are said to have their eyes opened, which of blind men are made to see.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

(10) How were thine eyes opened?—They wonder at the change wrought in him, and seek to know how it happened. The question is important if we adopt the better reading, beggar, for “blind,” in Joh_9:8, as showing that they knew he had been blind, the moment they knew that he was the same person who used to sit and beg.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Therefore said they unto him,.... When the case was clear, and it was out of question that he was the man:

how were thine eyes opened? or made to see: they might well ask this question, since such a thing was never known before, that one born blind received his sight; and as great a miracle it is in grace, and as great a mystery to a natural man, how one should be born again, or be spiritually enlightened.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

10 Therefore said they unto him, How were thine eyes opened?

Ver. 10. How were thine eyes opened?] It is good to ask Christ’s illuminates such savoury questions, how they were called out of darkness into marvellous light? what discoveries of himself Christ had made unto them? &c. Austin (Confess. vi. 2) confesseth that before his conversion he was of this opinion, that it was impossible for him to find such comfort as now he did in a Christian life. Cyprian saith as much of himself to his friend Donatus, beginning his epistle thus, Accipe quod sentitur, antequam dicitur.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

According as is the nature of most men upon the sight of any new and strange accident, they are curious to know how it came to pass, who did it, and where he was. The blind man tells them, that he was cured.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

They said therefore to him, How then were thine eyes opened? If you are the very man, how has this come about?

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Connecting Statement:

The neighbors of the man who had been blind continue to speak to him.

Then how were your eyes opened?

"Then what caused you to be able to see?" or "How is it that you can see now?"

smeared it on my eyes

"used his fingers to cover my eyes with mud." See how you translated a similar phrase in John 9:6.

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

10. ἠνεῴχθησαν (אBCD) for ἀνεωχθησαν (AKUS). For this triple augment comp. Mat 9:30, Act 16:26, Rev 19:11.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

10.] Jesus the light, for the healing of the world and the judgment of the Jews.

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

10. πῶς οὖν ἠνεῴχθησάν σου οἱ ὀφθαλμοί; The fact that the man’s sight had been restored is not challenged; it is only the manner of the cure that is in question. See vv. 15, 19, 26.

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.