John 9:17

17 Again they asked the blind man,^[a] "What do you say about Him, since He opened your eyes?" "He's a prophet," he said.

John 9:17 Meaning and Commentary

John 9:17

They say unto the blind man again
After they had discoursed among themselves, and could not agree about the author of the miracle, they turn to him that had been blind, who is called the blind man, because he had been so, and ask him his sentiments of him:

what sayest thou of him, that he hath opened thine eyes?
the question seems, at first sight, as if it was, whether Jesus had opened his eyes or not; but by the answer it appears, that it required his thoughts of him, "who hath opened thine eyes", as the Vulgate Latin and Persic versions read; or "seeing", or "because he hath opened thine eyes", as the Arabic and Ethiopic versions:

he said, he is a prophet;
the Syriac and Persic versions read, "I say he is a prophet"; or, "he is certainly a prophet", as the Arabic version. The Jews were wont to conclude a man's being a prophet from miracles wrought by him; see ( John 6:14 ) ( 7:31 ) ; though it does not appear that he believed him, as yet, to be that prophet, or the Messiah, that was to come; see ( John 9:36 ) .

John 9:17 In-Context

15 So again the Pharisees asked him how he received his sight. "He put mud on my eyes," he told them. "I washed and I can see."

16 Therefore some of the Pharisees said, "This man is not from God, for He doesn't keep the Sabbath!" But others were saying, "How can a sinful man perform such signs?" And there was a division among them.

17 Again they asked the blind man, "What do you say about Him, since He opened your eyes?" "He's a prophet," he said.

18 The Jews did not believe this about him-that he was blind and received sight-until they summoned the parents of the one who had received his sight.

19 They asked them, "Is this your son, [the one] you say was born blind? How then does he now see?"

Footnotes

• [a]. the man who had been blind