the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — accusative singular masculine
disciples
μαθηταὶmathētai
G3101
a learner · noun — nominative plural masculine
asked
ἠρώτησανērōtēsan
G2065
to interrogate · verb — aorist active indicative, 3rd person plural
him
αὐτοῦautou
G846
the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — genitive singular masculine
saying
λέγοντες·legontes
G3004
properly · verb — present active participle, nominative plural masculine
Master
ῥαββί,rhabbi
G4461
my master · noun — vocative singular masculine, a title
who
τίςtis
G5101
an interrogative pronoun · interrogative pronoun — nominative singular masculine
sin
ἥμαρτεν,hēmarten
G264
properly · verb — second aorist active indicative, 3rd person singular
man
οὗτοςhoutos
G3778
the he (she or it) · demonstrative pronoun — nominative singular masculine
or
ἢē
G2228
disjunctive · conjunction
his
αὐτοῦ,autou
G846
the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — genitive singular masculine
parents
γονεῖςgoneis
G1118
a parent · noun — nominative plural masculine
that
ἵναina
G2443
compare G3588 (ὁ)) · conjunction
born
γεννηθῇ;¶gennēthēa
G1080
to procreate (properly · verb — aorist passive subjunctive, 3rd person singular
blind
τυφλὸςtuphlos
G5185
opaque (as if smoky) · adjective — nominative singular masculine
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Luke 13:2 And Jesus answering said unto them, Suppose ye that these Galilæans were sinners above all the Galilæans, because they suffered such things?
John 9:34 They answered and said unto him, Thou wast altogether born in sins, and dost thou teach us? And they cast him out.
Exodus 20:5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon…
Acts 28:4 And when the barbarians saw the venomous beast hang on his hand, they said among themselves, No doubt this man is a murderer, whom, though h…
Matthew 16:14 And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets.
Matthew 23:7 And greetings in the markets, and to be called of men, Rabbi, Rabbi.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on John 9:1-7
We have here sight given to a poor beggar that had been blind from his birth. Observe,
I. The notice which our Lord Jesus took of the piteous case of this poor blind man (Joh 9:1): As Jesus passed by he saw a man which was blind from his birth. The first words seem to refer to the last of the foregoing chapter, and countenance the opinion of those who in the harmony place this story immediately after that. There it was said, parēgen - he passed by, and here, without so much as repeating him name (though our translators supply it) kai paragō - and as he passed by. 1. Though the Jews had so basely abused him, both by word and deed gave him the highest provocation imaginable, yet he did not m…
who did sin, this man or his parents, that he was born blind--not in a former state of existence, in which, as respects the wicked, the Jews did not believe; but, perhaps, expressing loosely that sin somewhere had surely been the cause of this calamity.
Adam Clarke on John 9:2
Who did sin, this man, or his parents - The doctrine of the transmigration of souls appears to have been an article in the creed of the Pharisees, and it was pretty general both among the Greeks and the Asiatics. The Pythagoreans believed the souls of men were sent into other bodies for the punishment of some sin which they had committed in a pre-existent state. This seems to have been the foundation of the disciples question to our Lord. Did this man sin in a pre-existent state, that he is punished in this body with blindness? Or, did his parents commit some sin, for which they are thus plagued in their offspring?
Most of the Asiatic nations have believed in the doctrine of transmigration.…
And his disciples asked him,.... It may be that some of the twelve apostles, or others of his disciples, might put the following question to him on sight of this blind man, who by some means or another knew was born blind:
saying, master, who did man, or his parents, that he was born blind? the first of these questions, whether the man himself had sinned before he was born, which might be the occasion of his blindness, proceeds not upon the doctrine of original sin, though the Jews then believed that; See Gill on Romans 5:12; since that was common to all men, and therefore could not admit of such a question; but either upon the notion of transmigration of souls into other bodies; and so the…
The Church Fathers
(Tr. xliv. 1, 2) Rabbi is Master. They call Him Master, because they wished to learn: they put their question to our Lord, as to a Master.
Yet in the beginning of the world men lived long, and had no diseases. But when through carelessness they neglected the observation of the proper times, then the sons in succession cohabiting through ignorance at times when they ought not, place their children under innumerable afflictions. Whence our Teacher, when we inquired of Him in regard to the man who was blind from his birth, and recovered his sight, if this man sinned, or his parents, that he should be born blind, answered, 'Neither did he sin at all, nor his parents, but that the power of God might be made manifest through him in healing the sins of ignorance.'
There was a certain philosophy among the ancients that troubles came from sin because they were confident that God was not responsible for any evil. The notion that people suffer as an exercise so that they might perceive the power of God at last—this was not well known at all because they would rather have God give good rewards to the just then and there and not prolong suffering any longer for the sake of eternal life. Since he was a blind man from birth, it occurred to the disciples to ask. Since no one can sin before his birth, they ventured a guess that the parents were to blame. For they knew that children may suffer in order to bring grief to the parents. But the Lord said that the blindness did not occur because of any sin but for the sake of the glory of God that was about to take place as the power of God would be revealed through his unexpected recovery of sight.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Rabbi — My master, a title of dignity given by the Jews to their doctors of the law and their distinguished teachers. It is sometimes applied to Christ (Matt. 23:7, 8; Mark 9:5 (R.V.); John 1:38, 49; 3:2;…
Sabbath — (Heb. verb shabbath, meaning “to rest from labour”), the day of rest. It is first mentioned as having been instituted in Paradise, when man was in innocence (Gen. 2:2). “The sabbath was made for…
Afflictions Made Beneficial · In promoting the glory of God — In promoting the glory of God
Blindness · The miraculous healing of a man born blind — The miraculous healing of a man born blind
Heredity · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Miracles Of Christ, The · The blind restored to sight — The blind restored to sight
Siloam · Jesus directs the blind man whom he had healed to wash in — Jesus directs the blind man whom he had healed to wash in
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
John 9:1-5
1. And Jesus, passing by, saw a man blind from his birth. 2. And his disciples asked him, saying, Rabbi, who hath sinned, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind? 3. Jesus answered, Neither did this man sin, nor his parents; but that the works of God may be displayed in him. 4. I must work the works of him who sent me, while it is day; the night cometh, when no man can work. 5. While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.
1. Jesus saw a man blind. In this chapter, the Evangelist describes the restoration of sight to the blind man, at the same time mingling doctrine, to point out the fruit of the miracle. From his birth. This circumstance gives an additional di…
