John 9:7

And said unto him, Go, wash in the pool of Siloam, (which is by interpretation, Sent.) He went his way therefore, and washed, and came seeing. AND SAID UNTO HIM, GO, WASH IN THE POOL OF SILOAM, (WHICH IS, BY INTERPRETATION, SENT.) These operations were not so incongruous in their nature as might appear, though it were absurd to imagine that they contributed in the least degree to the effect which followed. (See the note at ; Mark 7:33.) As the prescribed action was purely symbolical in its design, so in connection with it the Evangelist notices the symbolical name of the pool, as in this case bearing testimony to Him who was sent to do what it only symbolized. See , where this same pool is used figuratively to d...

7._Go, wash in the pool of Siloam. _Unquestionably, there was not, either in _the clay_, or in _the water of Siloam_, any power or fitness for curing the eyes; but Christ freely made use of those outward symbols, on various occasions, for adorning his miracles, either to accustom believers to the use of signs, or to show that all things were at his disposal, or to testify that every one of the creatures has as much power as he chooses to give them. But some inquire what is meant by_the clay _composed of _dust _and _spittle_, and they explain it to have been a figure of Christ, because _the dust _denotes the earthly nature of the flesh, and_the spittle, _which came from his mouth, denotes the Divine essence of the Word. For my part, I lay aside this allegory as being more ingenious than solid, and am satisfied with this simple view, that as man was at first made of _clay_, so in restoring...

1-7 Christ cured many who were blind by disease or accident; here he cured one born blind. Thus he showed his power to help in the most desperate cases, and the work of his grace upon the souls of sinners, which gives sight to those blind by nature. This poor man could not see Christ, but Christ saw him. And if we know or apprehend anything of Christ, it is because we were first known of him. Christ says of uncommon calamities, that they are not always to be looked on as special punishments of sin; sometimes they are for the glory of God, and to manifest his works. Our life is our day, in which it concerns us to do the work of the day. We must be busy, and not waste day-time; it will be time to rest when our day is done, for it is but a day. The approach of death should quicken us to improve all our opportunities of doing and getting good. What good we have an opportunity to do, we shou...

Verse John 9:7. _SILOAM_] Called also _Shiloah, Silos_, or _Siloa_, was a fountain under the walls of Jerusalem, towards the east, between the city and the brook _Kidron_. _Calmet_ thinks that this was the same with _En-rogel_, or the _fuller's fountain_, which is mentioned in Joshua 15:7; Joshua 18:16; in 2 Samuel 17:17; and in 1 Kings 1:9. Its waters were collected in a great reservoir for the use of the city; and a stream from it supplied the pool of Bethesda. _BY INTERPRETATION, SENT._] From the Hebre

WASH IN THE POOL - In the fountains. OF SILOAM - See the notes at Luke 13:4. BY INTERPRETATION, SENT - From the Hebrew verb to send perhaps because it was regarded as a blessing sent or given by God. Why Jesus sent him to wash there is not known. It is clear that the waters had no efficacy themselves to open the eyes of a blind man, but it is probable that he directed him to go there to test his obedience, and to see whether he was disposed to obey him in a case where he could not see the reason of it. An instance somewhat similar occurs in the case of Naaman, the Syrian leper, 2 Kings 5:10. The proud Syrian despised the direction; the tremble blind man obeyed and was healed. This case shows us that

EXPOSITION These chapters (9. and 10.) bring the conflict with the Jews to a climax before the commencement of the Peraean ministry. They are doubtless closely connected with what has preceded; but the note of time (John 10:22) implies an interval of some months of intense activity elsewhere—to have carried on the ministry of Christ from the Feast of Tabernacles to the winter. If John 10:22 points back, as Westcott argues by alteration of the Received Text and by special translation, to the preceding discourse, we are compelled to dissociate the cure of the blind man from the teaching of John 8:1., and to regard the opening verse of John 9:1. a

AND SAID UNTO HIM, GO WASH IN THE POOL OF SILOAM,.... A fountain of this name is called Siloah, Isaiah 8:6, and according to the Jewish writers, sometimes Gihon e; and this, they say f, was without Jerusalem, though near unto it: hither the Jews went at the feast of tabernacles g, and drew water with great rejoicing, and brought it, and poured it on the altar; the waters thereof also the priests drank for digestion, when they had eaten too much flesh h; and this was likewise made use of to wash in, in case of uncleanness. It is said i of Benaiah, one of David's worthies, that "one day he set his foot upon a dead toad, and he went down to Siloah, and broke the pieces of hail, (or ice congealed together,) and dipped himself.'' This fountain was to the south west of Jerusalem; and was, as Josephus says, sweet and large k; and from it were two watercourses, upper and lower,...

John 9:1. _And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth. And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind? Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him. I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world. When he had thus spoken, he spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and he anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay, and said unto him, Go, wash in the pool of Siloam, (which is by interpretation, Sent.) He went his way before, and washed, and came seeing._ I will not say anything now about this miracle, as it will form the subject of my discourse. This exposition consisted of readings from...

CHAPTER 9 _ 1. The Man Born Blind, Healed. (John 9:1 .)_ 2. The Healed Man Questioned. (John 9:8 .) 3. Reviled and Cast Out. (John 9:27 .) 4. Jesus Reveals Himself to Him. (John 9:35 .) The healing of the man born blind is a type and an illustration of how Christ, the Light, communicates light and how he who follows the Light walks no more in darkness, but has the light of life. (John 8:12 .) And before He healed the man He testified that His day of activity on earth as Man was rapidly drawing to its close. ...

JOHN 9. THE HEALING OF THE MAN BORN BLIND. JESUS THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. HOSTILITY TO HIS FOLLOWERS. John 9:1. The Miracle. The expression passed by (_cf._ Mark 1:16) does not necessarily connect the incident with the preceding chapter. In subject-matter it is more closely connected with the first part of ch. 10. It belongs to the period between the Feasts of Tabernacles and the Dedication. The encounter with a man born blind suggests the question of sin and suffering, so often raised in the OT and especially in Job. The disciples see the difficulty of the orthodox Jewish explanation. Can this man's suffering be due either to his own or his parents'sin? There is probably a reference, either to the Greek view of the soul's pre-existence (_cf._ Wis_8:19 f., being good I came into a body undefiled), or to th