| John 9 | |
|---|---|
.jpg) John 16:14-22 on therecto side ofPapyrus 5, written about AD 250 | |
| Book | Gospel of John |
| Category | Gospel |
| Christian Bible part | New Testament |
| Order in the Christian part | 4 |
John 9 is the ninth chapter of theGospel of John in theNew Testament of theChristianBible. It maintains theprevious chapter's theme "Jesus is light",[1] recording thehealing of an unnamed man who had been blind from birth, a miracle performed byJesus, and their subsequent dealings with thePharisees.[2] The man born blind comes to complete faith in Jesus, while some of the Pharisees remain in their sin.[3] The author of the book containing this chapter isanonymous, but early Christian tradition uniformly affirmed thatJohn composed thisGospel.[4]
The original text was written inKoine Greek.This chapter is divided into 41 verses. Some earlymanuscripts containing the text of this chapter are:
René Kieffer notes the similarity between this chapter andchapter 5, where another healing at a pool on the sabbath day is recounted. In chapter 9, the "progressive insight" of the man born blind is a central motif in the narrative.[3] Themessianic significance of the story is noted in theNew English Translation.[5] The progress of the narrative can be seen in the sub-headings used by theNew King James Version:
Jesus and His disciples are said to be "passing by" or "going along",[6] and there is no indication yet that they have leftJerusalem, the scene of the narrative inchapters 7 and8. Jesus sends the man he heals to thePool of Siloam, a rock-cut pool on the southern slope of Jerusalem, located outside the walls of theOld City to the southeast. However, there are also references to a Jewish ruling that anyone who believed Jesus to be the Messiah would be excluded from thesynagogue (John 9:22). There is no other New Testament reference to Jerusalem having a synagogue, butrabbinical tradition states that there were 480 synagogues in Jerusalem at the time of theJewish rebellion.[7]
The initial events of this chapter occur on aSabbath (John 9:14), not necessarily connected with theFeast of Tabernacles or the days immediately afterwards when the events ofJohn 7-8 took place. H. W. Watkins suggests that this was the last day, the "great day" of the Feast of Tabernacles referred to inJohn 7:37 because "nothing has taken place which makes it necessary to suppose any interval, and though the discourses seem long, they would have occupied but a short time in delivery",[1] and thePulpit Commentary agrees that "the day may have been a festival sabbath".[8]
This verse begins with "we must" (Greek:ἡμᾶς δεῖ,hemas dei) in theWestcott-Hort version[10] and in theNew International Version.[11] TheTextus Receptus and theVulgate both use the singular, "I must" (Latin:Me oportet).[12] The plural is "probably right".[3] The reference to "Him who sent me" anticipates the evangelist's note that "Siloam means 'Sent' (verse 6), meaning that Jesus, who has been sent by his Father, "is also present in this water".[3]
The circumstances are similar to thehealing at Bethesda in John 5.[3]
"The word for ‘out of the synagogue’ (Greek:ἀποσυνάγωγος) is peculiar to John, occurring [in]John 12:42,John 16:2, and nowhere else".[15] The decision has been linked to the possibleCouncil of Jamnia which was once thought to have decided the content of the Jewish canon sometime in the late 1st century (c. 70–90 AD).[16]
Verse 34 confirms that "they cast him out",[17] theAmplified Bible and theNew Living Translation adding text to refer to his exclusion from the synagogue.[18]
Pope Paul VI describes the faith evidenced in this verse as "firm and resolute, ... though always humble and diffident".[20] A few manuscripts, such as Papyrus 75 and Codex Sinaiticus, omit the whole of verse 38 and the beginning of verse 39.[21]
| Preceded by John 8 | Chapters of the Bible Gospel of John | Succeeded by John 10 |