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Healing the Man Born Blind

While He was passing by, He noticed a man [who had been] blind from birth. His disciples asked Him, “Rabbi (Teacher), who [a]sinned, this man or his parents, that he would be born blind?” Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but it was so that the works of God might be displayed and illustrated in him. We must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; night is coming when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the Light of the world [giving guidance through My word and works].” When He had said this, He spat on the ground and made mud with His saliva, and He spread the mud [like an ointment] on the man’s eyes. And He said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of [b]Siloam” (which is translated, Sent). So he went away and washed, and came back seeing. So the neighbors, and those who used to know him as a beggar, said, “Is not this the man who used to sit and beg?” Some said, “It is he.” Still others said, “No, but he looks like him.” But he kept saying, “I am the man.” 10 So they said to him, “How were your eyes opened?” 11 He replied, “The Man called Jesus made mud and smeared it on my eyes and told me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash.’ So I went and washed, and I received my sight!” 12 They asked him, “Where is He?” He said, “I do not know.”

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Footnotes

  1. John 9:2 It was a commonly held belief that suffering was punishment for a specific, personal sin.
  2. John 9:7 The ancient town of Siloam is now an Arab village named Silwan. It is east of Jerusalem and south of the Old City. The pool of Siloam was fed by the Gihon Spring in the Kidron Valley through a channel (Hezekiah’s tunnel) that carried water into Jerusalem.

Jesus Heals a Man Born Blind

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

“Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him.(E) As long as it is day,(F) we must do the works of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”(G)

After saying this, he spit(H) on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man’s eyes. “Go,” he told him, “wash in the Pool of Siloam”(I) (this word means “Sent”). So the man went and washed, and came home seeing.(J)

His neighbors and those who had formerly seen him begging asked, “Isn’t this the same man who used to sit and beg?”(K) Some claimed that he was.

Others said, “No, he only looks like him.”

But he himself insisted, “I am the man.”

10 “How then were your eyes opened?” they asked.

11 He replied, “The man they call Jesus made some mud and put it on my eyes. He told me to go to Siloam and wash. So I went and washed, and then I could see.”(L)

12 “Where is this man?” they asked him.

“I don’t know,” he said.

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