John 9:40

And some of the Pharisees which were with him heard these words, and said unto him, Are we blind also?

King James Version · Read in your translation · Open the Explore console

Word by word — the Greek

Word	Greek	Strong’s	Meaning
And	καὶ kai	G2532	and · conjunction
of	ἐκ ek	G1537	literal or figurative · preposition
Pharisees	Φαρισαίων Pharisaiōn	G5330	a separatist · noun — genitive plural masculine, a title
were	ὤν ṓn	G5607	being
with	μετ᾽ met᾽	G3326	properly · preposition
him	αὐτοῦ autou	G846	the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — genitive singular masculine
heard	ἤκουσαν ēkousan	G191	to hear (in various senses) · verb — aorist active indicative, 3rd person plural
words	ταῦτα taûta	G5023	these things
and	καὶ kai	G2532	and · conjunction
said	εἶπον eipon	G2036	to speak or say (by word or writing) · verb — second aorist active indicative, 3rd person plural
him	αὐτῷ· autō	G846	the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — dative singular masculine
Are	ἐσμέν esmén	G2070	we are
we	ἡμεῖς hēmeîs	G2249	we (only used when emphatic)
blind	τυφλοί tuphloi	G5185	opaque (as if smoky) · adjective — nominative plural masculine
also	καί kaí	G2532	and

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

Revelation 3:17 Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, a…
Matthew 15:12-14 Then came his disciples, and said unto him, Knowest thou that the Pharisees were offended, after they heard this saying?
Matthew 23:16-28 Woe unto you, ye blind guides, which say, Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gold of the t…
Luke 11:39-54 And the Lord said unto him, Now do ye Pharisees make clean the outside of the cup and the platter; but your inward part is full of ravening…
John 7:47-52 Then answered them the Pharisees, Are ye also deceived?
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.
Romans 2:19-22 And art confident that thou thyself art a guide of the blind, a light of them which are in darkness,

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on John 9:39–end

Christ, having spoken comfort to the poor man that was persecuted, here speaks conviction to his persecutors, a specimen of the distributions of trouble and rest at the great day, Th2 1:6, Th2 1:7. Probably this was not immediately after his discourse with the man, but he took the next opportunity that offered itself to address the Pharisees. Here is, I. The account Christ gives of his design in coming into the world (Joh 9:39): "For judgment I am come to order and administer the great affairs of the kingdom of God among men, and am invested with a judicial power in order thereunto, to be executed in conformity to the wise counsels of God, and in pursuance of them." What Christ spoke, he spo…

Read the whole note in the console

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on John 9:40

Are we blind also?--We, the constituted, recognized guides of the people in spiritual things? pride and rage prompting the question.

Adam Clarke on John 9:40

Are we blind also? - These Pharisees understood Christ as speaking of blindness in a spiritual sense, and wished to know if he considered them in that state.

John Gill on John 9:40

And some of the Pharisees which were with him,.... Who had followed him, and were watching him, and observing what he said and did, in order to take all advantages, and every opportunity against him, they could, heard these words, and said unto him, are we blind also? they perceived he pointed at them, and therefore with indignation ask this question, taking it as a great affront unto them, to put such wise, learned, and knowing men as they in company with the ignorant and unlearned common people; see Isaiah 42:19.

John Calvin on John 9:34–end

John 9:34-41 34. They answered, and said to him, Thou wast altogether born in sins, and dost thou teach us? And they cast him out. 35. Jesus heard that they had cast him out, and having found him, he said to him, Dost thou believe in the Son of God? 36. He answered and said, Who is he, Lord, that I should believe in him? 37. And Jesus said to him, Thou hast both seen him, and it is he who talketh with thee. 38. And he said, Lord, I believe; and he worshipped him. 39. Then Jesus said, For judgment am I come into this world, that they who see not may see, and that they who see may become blind. 40. Some of the Pharisees, who were with him, heard these things, and said to him, And are we blind…

The Church Fathers

"Some of them that followed Him, say unto Him, Are we also blind?" As in another place they said, "We were never servants to any man"; and, "We be not born of fornication" (c. viii. 33, 41); so now they gape on material things alone, and are ashamed of this kind of blindness.
— John Chrysostom, Homily on the Gospel of John 59

(Hom. lix. 1, 2) What then they thought their great praise, He shows would turn to their punishment; and at the same time consoles him who had been afflicted with bodily blindness from his birth. For it is not without reason that the Evangelist says, And some of the Pharisees which were with him, heard these words; but that he may remind us that those were the very persons who had first withstood Christ, and then wished to stone Him. For there were some who only followed in appearance, and were easily changed to the contrary side.
— John Chrysostom ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)), Catena Aurea by Aquinas

That is why, when the Pharisees who were listening to what he was saying, themselves said, "We are not blind too, are we?" They were obviously like the one who had gone up to the temple and was telling God, "I thank you, because I am not like other people, unjust, adulterers, rapacious," as though to say, "I thank you that I am not blind but can see, unlike other people of the same sort as this tax collector." What did those ones say? "We are not blind too, are we?" And the Lord answered them, "If you were blind, you would not have any sin. Now however, because you say 'We can see,' your sins remain." He did not say "your sin occurs" but remains. You see, it was already there; because when you do not confess it, it is not taken away but "remains."
— Augustine of Hippo, SERMON 136B.2

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

Self-Righteousness · 2:4; — 2:4;

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).

Word by word — the Greek

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on John 9:39–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on John 9:40

Adam Clarke on John 9:40

John Gill on John 9:40

John Calvin on John 9:34–end

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Word by word — the Greek

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on John 9:39–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on John 9:40

Adam Clarke on John 9:40

John Gill on John 9:40

John Calvin on John 9:34–end

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Tyndale Open Study Notes on John 9:40-41