John 9:11

9:11 The blind man identified Jesus and testified strongly about him. The man was healed of his physical infirmity, gained increasing spiritual insight (9:17, 33), and became Jesus’ disciple (9:38; cp. 5:11-15).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Joh 9:11. Ἄνθρωπος λεγόμενος Ἰησοῦς, a man who is called Jesus) The article is not added, but the participle. Comp. ch. Joh 11:54, “Into a city called Ephraim,” Ἐφραὶμ λεγομένην πόλιν. The blind man had not known the celebrity of Jesus.—ἀνέβλεψα, I received [or recovered] sight) He had not had the power of seeing ever before; but yet that power is natural to man; on this account he says, I recovered sight [the strict sense of ἀνέβλεψα].

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Verse 11. A man that is called Jesus] The whole of this relation is simple and artless in the highest degree. The blind man had never seen Jesus, but he had heard of his name - he felt that he had put something on his eyes, which he afterwards found to be clay - but how this was made he could not tell, because he could not see Jesus when he did it; therefore he does not say, he made clay of spittle - but simply, he made clay, and spread it upon my eyes. Where a multitude of incidents must necessarily come into review, imposture and falsehood generally commit themselves, as it is termed; but, however numerous the circumstances may be in a relation of fact, simple truth is never embarrassed.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

11. And after I had gone and washed. So happy a result of obedience warns us to surmount every obstacle, and to proceed courageously wherever the Lord calls us, and not even to entertain a doubt that every thing which we undertake by his authority, and under his guidance, will have a prosperous issue.

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(11) A man that is called Jesus.—Some of the better MSS. read, “The Man that is called Jesus,” implying that He would be known to the blind man and his friends. They can hardly have failed to hear of His teaching at the feast.

Made clay, and anointed mine eyes.—He gives the details in order, omitting the spitting on the ground, which he had not seen.

And I received sight.—The Greek word means exactly, “to see again.” The power, though given in this instance for the first time, was usually a restored power, and this is expressed in the word. This man uses the ordinary language of men, though, in strictness it was not applicable to his own case. This use of the word is, moreover, justified by other examples.

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

11. A man that is called Jesus] This looks as if he had heard little of the fame of Jesus. But the better reading gives, ‘The man that is called Jesus,’ which points the other way.

made clay] He does not say how, for this he had not seen. The rest he tells in order. Omit the words ‘the pool of.’

I received sight] The Greek may mean either ‘I looked up,’ as in Mar_6:41; Mar_7:34; Mar_16:4, &c.; or ‘I recovered sight,’ as Mat_11:5; Mar_10:51-52, &c. ‘I looked up’ does not suit Joh_9:15; Joh_9:18, where the word occurs again: and though ‘I recovered sight’ is not strictly accurate of a man born blind, yet it is admissible, as sight is natural to man.

Note the gradual development of faith in the man’s soul, and compare it with that of the Samaritan woman (see on Joh_4:19) and of Martha (see on Joh_11:21). Here he merely knows Jesus’ name and the miracle; in Joh_9:17 he thinks Him ‘a Prophet;’ in Joh_9:33 He is ‘of God;’ in Joh_9:39 He is ‘the Son of God.’ What writer of fiction in the second century could have executed such a study in psychology?

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

He answered and said, a man that is called Jesus,.... Whom he had as yet little knowledge of, only by some means or another he had learned his name;

made clay and anointed mine eyes, &c. See Gill on Joh 9:6, Joh 9:7.

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

11 He answered and said, A man that is called Jesus made clay, and anointed mine eyes, and said unto me, Go to the pool of Siloam, and wash: and I went and washed, and I received sight.

Ver. 11. I went and washed, and received sight] His blind obedience made him see. Let God be obeyed readily without reasoning or wrangling, and success shall not be lacking. God calleth for Curristas non Quaeristas. Luther.

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.

By one that was called Jesus; probably he had heard some of the people mention him by that name; and he describeth to them the manner how he did it.

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

11. A man… called Jesus—The excitement produced by the miracles and preaching had not reached, as yet, the blind beggar. He knew his benefactor only by name.

Made clay—The man’s recital of the instrumentalities clearly indicates the impression they were intended to produce, (see our note on Joh_9:6,) and their obvious inadequacy demonstrated the miracle.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

He the man there singled outanswered (and said), The Man that is called Jesus made clay, and anointed my eyes, and said to me, Go to the Siloam, and wash. So I went, and when I washed I received my sight. Nothing more as yet than the name of his Benefactor has broken upon him. The name is full of significance to him the "Savior,": the "Healer;" but he knows nothing of his Messianic claims, nor of his Divine authority. He began, where all disciples must, with the Man. The manner of man soon wakes within him loftier questionings and a better explanation. At present the process seems magical, altogether inexplicable. Clay and Siloam water do not cure birth-blindness, tie is in a maze, as well he might be. The anebleqa should be rendered, according to Meyer, "I looked up". (see Mar_16:4) It cannot be so translated in vers. 15 and 18. Doubtless it strictly means, "I received sight again;" but there is something in Grotius"s explanation, "No one is incorrectly said to receive that which, though he be deprived of it, belongs to human nature as a whole" (see Westcott). The eyes were there, but unused. Meyer quotes from Pausanias the similar use of anablepein in reference to the recovery or obtaining of sight by a man born blind.

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

A man called Jesus - He seems to have been before totally ignorant of him.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

11. After ἐκεῖνος omit καὶ εἶπεν with אBCDL against A. ὁ ἄνθρωπος ὁ λεγόμενος (אBL) for ἄνθρ. λεγ. (AD). τὸν (אBDLX) for τὴν κολυμβήθραν τοῦ (A).

11. ἐκεῖνος. S. John’s fondness for this pronoun has been remarked. Here and in Joh 9:25; Joh 9:36 it marks the man’s prominence in the scene. Comp. Joh 1:8, Joh 2:21, Joh 13:25, Joh 18:17; Joh 18:25, Joh 20:15-16.

ὁ ἄνθρ. ὁ λεγ. The man that is called; implying that Jesus was well known. Was he thinking of the meaning of the name ‘Jesus’?

πηλὸν ἐπ. He had not seen how: the rest he tells in order.

ἀνέβλεψα. This may mean either ‘I looked up’ (Mar 6:41; Mar 7:34; Mar 16:4, &c.); or ‘I recovered sight’ (Mat 11:5; Mar 10:51-52, &c.). ‘I looked up’ does not suit Joh 9:15; Joh 9:18, where the word occurs again: and though ‘I recovered sight’ is not strictly accurate of a man born blind, yet it is admissible, as sight is natural to man.

Note the gradual development of faith in the man’s soul, and compare it with that of the Samaritan woman (see on Joh 4:19) and of Martha (see on Joh 11:21). Here he merely knows Jesus’ name and the miracle; in Joh 9:17 he thinks Him ‘a Prophet;’ in Joh 9:33 He is ‘of God;’ in Joh 9:39 He is ‘the Son of God.’ What writer of fiction in the second century could have executed such a study in psychology?

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.

11.] ἀνέβλ., strictly speaking, is in-appropriate in the case of one born blind. Lücke refers to Aristotle as using the word thus, and cites Pausanias, who speaks of Ὀφιονέα … τὸν ἐκ γενετῆς τυφλόν, whom ἐπέλαβε τῆς κεφαλῆς ἄλγημα ἰσχυρόν, καὶ ἀνέβλεψεν ἀπʼ αὐτοῦ. Sight being natural to men, the deprivation of it is regarded as a loss, and the reception of it, though never enjoyed before, as a recovery. So Grotius: “nec male recipere quis dicitur, quod communiter tributum humanæ naturæ ipsi abfuit.” There is no emphasis on μου here (as Bp. Wordsw.) nor in vv. 15, 30: nor on σου in vv. 10, 17, 26. See on Mat 16:18, and compare Luk 12:18.

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

11. Ὁ ἄνθρ. ὁ λεγόμενος Ἰησοῦς κτλ., “the man who is called Jesus,” etc. He does not yet acknowledge Jesus as the Christ (cf. v. 36).

ὕπαγε εἰς τὸν Σιλωὰμ καὶ νίψαι. Some Latin and Syriac renderings give “wash thy eyes”; the Egyptian versions have “wash thy face.” (See on v. 7 above.)

νιψάμενος ἀνέβλεψα. For ἀναβλέπειν of recovering sight, see Tob. 14:2, Mat 11:5, Mar 10:51, Luk 18:41; and cf. Luk 4:18. The aor. ἀνέβλεψα would suggest that the man was cured immediately after the washing at the Pool of Siloam; but cf. v. 7 above. Strictly speaking, the verb is inappropriate to the case of congenital blindness; but a parallel is cited from Pausanias (Messen. iv. 12. 10), in which a man, who is described as τὸν ἐκ γενετῆς τυφλόν, after an attack of headache recovers his sight (ἀνέβλεψεν ἀπʼ αὐτοῦ), although only temporarily.

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

To the pool of Siloam. The best texts read simply, Go to Siloam. Received sight [ανεβλεψα] . Originally, to look up, as Mt 14:19; Mr 16:4, and so some render it here; but better, I recovered sight.

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.