John 9:3

Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him.

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Word by word — the Greek

Word	Greek	Strong’s	Meaning
Jesus	Ἰησοῦς· Iēsous	G2424	Jesus (i.e. Jehoshua) · noun — nominative singular masculine, a proper name
answered	Ἀπεκρίθη Apekrithē	G611	to conclude for oneself · verb — aorist middle deponent indicative, 3rd person singular
Neither	οὔτε oute	G3777	not too · conjunction — negative
hath	ἥμαρτεν hēmarten	G264	properly · verb — second aorist active indicative, 3rd person singular
this man	οὗτος houtos	G3778	the he (she or it) · demonstrative pronoun — nominative singular masculine
sinned	ἁμαρτάνω hamartánō	G264	properly
nor	οὔτε oute	G3777	not too · conjunction — negative
his	αὐτοῦ, autou	G846	the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — genitive singular masculine
parents	γονεῖς goneis	G1118	a parent · noun — nominative plural masculine
but	ἀλλ᾽ all᾽	G235	properly · conjunction
that	ἵνα ina	G2443	compare G3588 (ὁ)) · conjunction
the works	ἔργα erga	G2041	toil (as an effort or occupation) · noun — nominative plural neuter
of God	θεοῦ theou	G2316	figuratively · noun — genitive singular masculine, a title
should be made manifest	φανερωθῇ phanerōthēa	G5319	to render apparent (literally or figuratively) · verb — aorist passive subjunctive, 3rd person singular
in	ἐν en	G1722	"in · preposition
him	αὐτῷ. autō	G846	the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — dative 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

John 11:4 When Jesus heard that, he said, This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby.
John 11:40 Jesus saith unto her, Said I not unto thee, that, if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God?
Job 2:3-6 And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, o…
Ecclesiastes 9:1-2 For all this I considered in my heart even to declare all this, that the righteous, and the wise, and their works, are in the hand of God: n…
Job 42:7 And it was so, that after the LORD had spoken these words unto Job, the LORD said to Eliphaz the Temanite, My wrath is kindled against thee,…
Matthew 11:5 The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the…
Acts 4:21 So when they had further threatened them, they let them go, finding nothing how they might punish them, because of the people: for all men g…
Job 1:8-12 And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, o…

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…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on John 9:3

Neither . . . this man, &c.--The cause was neither in himself nor his parents, but, in order to the manifestation of "the works of God," in his cure.

Adam Clarke on John 9:3

Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents - That is, the blindness of this person is not occasioned by any sin of his own, nor of his parents, but has happened in the ordinary course of Divine providence, and shall now become the instrument of salvation to his soul, edification to others, and glory to God. Many of the Jews thought that marks on the body were proofs of sin in the soul. From a like persuasion, probably arose that proverb among our northern neighbors-Mark him whom God marks.

John Gill on John 9:3

Jesus answered, neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents,.... Not but that both were guilty of original sin, and had committed actual transgressions; but Christ's answer is to be considered agreeable to the design of the question; and the sense is, that it was not any sin that either of them had committed, whilst he was in the womb, or previous to his birth, that was the cause of this blindness; otherwise, all such irregularities and afflictions arise from sin, and the fall of man, as does that spiritual blindness with which all mankind are attended: but that the works of God should be manifest in him; that is, that Christ might have an opportunity of working a miracle in the cure of h…

The Church Fathers

(in Præf. Moral. c. 5) One stroke falls on the sinner, for punishment only, not conversion; another for correction; another not for correction of past sins, but prevention of future; another neither for correcting past, nor preventing future sins, but by the unexpected deliverance following the blow, to excite more ardent love of the Saviour's goodness.
— Gregory the Dialogist ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)), Catena Aurea by Aquinas

(Tr. xliv. 3) Was he then born without original sin, or had he never added to it by actual sin? Both this man and his parents had sinned, but that sin was not the reason why he was born blind. Our Lord gives the reason; viz. That the works of God should be made manifest in him.
— Augustine of Hippo ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)), Catena Aurea by Aquinas

The Lord taught the disciples that there are many reasons for all these events and that they are certainly secret and unexplainable. And so, we always complain about events whose causes we ignore, but then we also learn that nothing happens in vain. This knowledge will be given to us in the future world, because what is hidden now will be revealed to us.
— Theodore of Mopsuestia, COMMENTARY ON JOHN 4.9.3

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

Fall of man — An expression probably borrowed from the Apocryphal Book of Wisdom, to express the fact of the revolt of our first parents from God, and the consequent sin and misery in which they and all their…
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
Miracles · Manifest: The works of God — Manifest: The works of God
Miracles Of Christ, The · The blind restored to sight — The blind restored to sight
Sabbath · 9:13,14;10:31;13:15-22; — 9:13,14;10:31;13:15-22;
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 9:3

Word by word — the Greek

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on John 9:1-7

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on John 9:3

Adam Clarke on John 9:3

John Gill on John 9:3

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John 9:3

Word by word — the Greek

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on John 9:1-7

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on John 9:3

Adam Clarke on John 9:3

John Gill on John 9:3

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John Calvin on John 9:1-5

Tyndale Open Study Notes on John 9:2