Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of John 9:11
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.
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?
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
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.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
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.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
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 comments on Joh 9:6],
[See comments on Joh 9:7].
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
The man that is called Jesus ( ). He does not yet know Jesus as the Messiah the Son of God (9:36).
I received sight (). First aorist active indicative of , old verb to see again, to recover sight, not strictly true of this man who had never seen. He got back sight that he had never had. Originally the verb means to look up (Mt 14:19).
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
To the pool of Siloam. The best texts read simply, Go to Siloam. Received sight [] . Originally, to look up, as Mt 14:19; Mr 16:4, and so some render it here; but better, I recovered sight.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “He answered and said,” (apekrithe ekeinos) “That one replied,” the one who had sat as a blind beggar, now replied to his neighbors and others who had often seen him and perhaps given him alms in response to his cry as a beggar. His explanation is simple and direct.
2) “A man that is called Jesus made clay,” (ho anthropos ho logomenos lesous pelon epoiesen) “The man who is being called Jesus (the Savior) made clay,” perhaps explained to him by Jesus, and others who witnessed the scene, Joh 9:6. At first the blind man only knew that Jesus was a man, a caring man, a concerned physician who offered free help to him, the thing the Great Physician does for all spiritually blind believers, 1Jn 5:1.
3) “And anointed mine eyes,” (kai epechrisen mou tous ophthalmous) “And he anointed my eyes,” because I felt it and when my eyes were opened, I could see what had happened, Joh 9:6. The anointing of the eyes, the touch of a physician’s hands, lifted his hope and motivated his obeying the man, Jesus, the Son of man, a thing that led to the man’s salvation, Joh 9:38; Joh 20:30-31.
4) “And said unto me, Go to the pool of Siloam and wash: (kai eipen moi hoti hupage eis ton Siloam kai nipsai) “And he told me that I was to go to the pool of Siloam and wash,” Joh 9:7, wash myself, for myself, or on my own behalf, much as Elisha told Naaman, at which time and act of obedience he was healed of leprosy, as I was of blindness from birth, 2Ki 5:1-16.
5) “And I went and washed, and I received sight.” (apelthon oun kai nipsamenos aneblepsa) “Then upon going and washing (while I was washing) I saw,” or came to see,” when I did what He told me to do. Though he had not yet been saved, or come to know who Jesus was, or believed on Him as the Redeemer, Joh 9:35-38; Joh 2:5. He now had a good witness or word to speak of this physician called Jesus, though he did not yet know Him as Savior, Act 1:8; Joh 9:35-38.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
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.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(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.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
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.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Joh 9:11. A man that is called Jesus, &c. It appears from this verse, that the beggar knew that it was Jesus who spake to him. Probably he distinguished him by his voice, having formerly heard him preach; or he might know him by the information of the disciples. Hence he cheerfully submitted to the operation, though in itself a very unlikely means of obtaining sight.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
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.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
11. ] ., strictly speaking, is in-appropriate in the case of one born blind. Lcke refers to Aristotle as using the word thus, and cites Pausanias, who speaks of , whom , . 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 human natur ipsi abfuit.” There is no emphasis on here (as Bp. Wordsw.) nor in Joh 9:15 ; Joh 9:30 : nor on in Joh 9:10 ; Joh 9:17 ; Joh 9:26 . See on Mat 16:18 , and compare Luk 12:18 .
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
answered and said. See App-122 and note or Deu 1:41.
to = unto. Greek. eis. App-104.
received sight = looked up [and saw]. App-133.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
11.] ., strictly speaking, is in-appropriate in the case of one born blind. Lcke refers to Aristotle as using the word thus, and cites Pausanias, who speaks of , whom , . 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 human natur ipsi abfuit. There is no emphasis on here (as Bp. Wordsw.) nor in Joh 9:15; Joh 9:30 : nor on in Joh 9:10; Joh 9:17; Joh 9:26. See on Mat 16:18, and compare Luk 12:18.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Joh 9:11. , a man who is called Jesus) The article is not added, but the participle. Comp. ch. Joh 11:54, Into a city called Ephraim, . The blind man had not known the celebrity of Jesus.-, 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 ].
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Joh 9:11
Joh 9:11
He answered, The man that is called Jesus made clay, and anointed mine eyes, and said unto me, Go to Siloam, and wash: so I went away and washed, and I received sight.-He seems not to have known much about Jesus, but tells plainly what was done and the effect. This implied that Jesus possessed miraculous power. [Note the growth in this mans apprehension of Jesus; here he is the man”-in Joh 9:17 a prophet, in Joh 9:33 from God. Thus he gropes toward the final truth.]
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
A man: Joh 9:6, Joh 9:7, Joh 9:27, Jer 36:17
Reciprocal: Luk 13:4 – in Siloam Joh 5:15 – and told Joh 9:15 – the Pharisees
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
1
A. man that is called Jesus. All this blind man knew was what he heard, for he was blind and had to get his information by hearing only. Hence this verse is a statement of facts, without any reasoning or conclusions upon those facts.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Joh 9:11. He answered, The man that is called Jesus made clay, and anointed mine eyes, and said unto me, Go to Siloam, and wash. I went away therefore and washed, and I received sight. This man, then, knew his Deliverer, though not His true nature (Joh 9:36). The wording of the phrase would seem to imply that he had in his thoughts the meaning of the name Jesus, so wonderfully illustrated in his own case.