The Sixth Sign: Healing a Man Born Blind

As he was passing by, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, “Rabbi,(A) who sinned, this man(B) or his parents,(C) that he was born blind?”

“Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” Jesus answered. “This came about so that God’s works(D) might be displayed in him. We[a] must do the works(E) of him who sent me[b] while it is day.(F) Night is coming when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”(G)

After he said these things he spit on the ground, made some mud(H) from the saliva, and spread the mud on his eyes. “Go,” he told him, “wash in the pool of Siloam”(I) (which means “Sent”). So he left, washed, and came back seeing.(J)

His neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar said, “Isn’t this the one who used to sit begging?” Some said, “He’s the one.” Others were saying, “No, but he looks like him.”

He kept saying, “I’m the one.”

10 So they asked him, “Then how were your eyes opened?”

11 He answered, “The man called Jesus made mud, spread it on my eyes, and told me, ‘Go to Siloam(K) and wash.’ So when I went and washed I received my sight.”(L)

12 “Where is he?” they asked.

“I don’t know,” he said.

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Footnotes

  1. 9:4 Other mss read I
  2. 9:4 Other mss read us

A Man Born Blind Is Given Sight

And as he[a] went away, he saw a man blind from birth. And his disciples asked him, saying, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he should be born blind?” Jesus replied, “Neither this man sinned nor his parents, but it happened[b] so that the works of God could be revealed in him. It is necessary for us to do the deeds of the one who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work! While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” When he[c] had said these things, he spat on the ground and made clay with the saliva, and smeared the clay on his eyes. And he said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which is translated “sent”). So he went and washed and came back seeing.

Then the neighbors and those who saw him previously (because he was a beggar) began to say,[d] “Is this man not the one who used to sit and beg?” Others were saying, “It is this man”; others were saying, “No, but he is like him.” That one was saying, “I am he!” 10 So they began to say[e] to him, “How[f] were your eyes opened?” 11 He replied, “The man who is called Jesus made clay and smeared it[g] on my eyes and said to me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash!’ So I went, and I washed, and[h] I received sight.” 12 And they said to him, “Where is that man?” He said, “I do not know.”

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Footnotes

  1. John 9:1 Here “as” is supplied as a component of the participle (“went away”) which is understood as temporal
  2. John 9:3 The words “it happened” are not in the Greek text but are implied
  3. John 9:6 Here “when” is supplied as a component of the participle (“had said”) which is understood as temporal
  4. John 9:8 *The imperfect tense has been translated as ingressive here (“began to say”)
  5. John 9:10 The imperfect tense has been translated as ingressive here (“began to say”)
  6. John 9:10 Some manuscripts have “Then how”
  7. John 9:11 Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
  8. John 9:11 Here “and” is supplied because the two previous participles (“went” and “washed”) have been translated as finite verbs