John 9:8

The neighbours therefore, and they which before had seen him that he was blind, said, Is not this he that sat and begged? THE NEIGHBOURS THEREFORE, AND THEY WHICH BEFORE HAD SEEN HIM THAT HE WAS BLIND, [ tuflos (G5185)]. The true reading here appears plainly to be, 'that he was a beggar' [ hoti (G3754) prosaitees (G4319a) een (G2258)] - this being what would most immediately identify him, as the following words indeed show. So all recent critical editors, and nearly all critical expositors. SAID, IS NOT THIS HE THAT SAT AND BEGGED?...

8._Then the neighbors, and those who had formerly seen him. The blind man _was known not only to _the neighbors_, but to all the inhabitants of the town, having been wont to sit and beg at the gate of the temple; and the common people look more readily at such persons than at others. This circumstance — of the man being _known _— contributed to make many people acquainted with the fame of the miracle. But, as impiety is ingenious in obscuring the works of God, many thought that it was not the same man, because a new power of God openly appeared in him. Thus we find that the more brightly the majesty of God is displayed in his works, the less credit do they obtain among men. But the doubts of those men aided in proving the miracle, for, in consequence of those doubts, the blind man celebrated more highly the grace of Christ by his testimony. It is not without good reason, therefore, that...

8-12 Those whose eyes are opened, and whose hearts are cleansed by grace, being known to be the same person, but widely different in character, live as monuments to the Redeemer's glory, and recommend his grace to all who desire the same precious salvation. It is good to observe the way and method of God's works, and they will appear the more wonderful. Apply this spiritually. In the work of grace wrought upon the soul we see the change, but we see not the hand that makes it: the way of the Spirit is like that of the wind, which thou hearest the sound of, but canst not tell whence it comes, nor whither it goes....

Verse John 9:8. _THAT HE WAS BLIND_] Ὁτι τυφλος ην: but, instead of this, προσαιτης, _when he begged_, or _was a beggar_, is the reading of ABC*DKL, _seven_ others, both the _Syriac_, both the _Arabic_, later _Persic, Coptic, AEthiopic, Armenian, Sahidic, Gothic,_ _Slavonic, Vulgate_, eight copies of the _Itala_, and some of the primitive fathers. This is in all probability the true reading, and is received by _Griesbach_ into the text. Beggars in all countries have a language peculiar to themselves. The language of the Jewish beggars was the following: זבי כי _Deserve something by me _- Give me something that God may reward you. רכי ני זכי גר מך _O ye tender-hearted, do yourselves good by_ _me_. Another form, which seems to have been used by such as had formerly been in better circumstances, was this: סכי כי מה הוינא

THE NEIGHBOURS ... - This man seems to have been one who attracted considerable attention. The number of persons totally blind in any community is very small, and it is possible that this was the only blind beggar in Jerusalem. The case was one, therefore, likely to attract attention, and one where there could be no imposture, as he was generally known....

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

THE NEIGHBOURS THEREFORE, AND THEY WHICH BEFORE HAD SEEN HIM,.... For it seems the blind man was not a stranger, one that came out of the country to the city to beg; but a native of Jerusalem, that had long lived in a certain neighbourhood in it, and was well known to be what he was; THAT HE WAS BLIND; the Alexandrian copy, and one of Beza's exemplars, and the Vulgate Latin version read, "that he was a beggar"; to which agree the Syriac, Arabic, and Ethiopic versions: wherefore they SAID, IS THIS NOT HE THAT SAT AND BEGGED? they particularly remark his begging posture; he was not laid all along, as the lame man in Acts 3:2; nor did he go from door to door, as others were used to do, but he sat in some certain place, as blind men generally did; see Matthew 20:30.

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:_ That is to say, their sin was not the cause of his blindness. John 9:3. 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 therefore, and washed, and

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