John 9:8-12

“ His neighbors therefore, and those who before saw him begging, said, Is not this he that sat and begged? 9. Some said, It is he; others, He is like him. He said, I am Hebrews 10. Thereupon they said to him, How were thine eyes opened? 11. He answered and said, A man called Jesus made clay and anointed my eyes, and said to me, Go to the pool of Siloam and wash. Having gone thither and washed, I have recovered sight. 12. They said to him therefore, Where is this man? He says, I know not. ”

These verses describe in the most natural and most dramatic way the effect produced by the return of the blind man to his home. The evangelist distinguishes from the neighbors all those, in general, who were accustomed to see him (imperfect participle θεωροῦντες) asking alms. The question of John 9:8 is proposed by all; but two slightly different tendencies immediately manifest themselves in the solutions given in John 9:9. Some frankly recognize the fact: “Yes, it is he.” Others seem to be already preparing for themselves a means of eluding it: “He is like him.” In the Byzantine reading: He is like him, a resemblance is conceded which is calculated to establish identity. But according to the Alexandrian variant: “ No; but he is like him!” there would be already a denial of identity; everything would be reduced to an accidental resemblance. In any case, it is evidently the latter class who, upon the declaration of the blind man, present to him the questions of John 9:10 and John 9:12. The expression recover sight (John 9:11) arises from the fact that blindness, even from birth, is a state contrary to nature. The question of John 9:12 betrays the intention of provoking an inquiry; it is the transition to the following passage: