John 9:8

8 At this, his neighbors and those who had formerly seen him begging began to ask, “Isn’t this the man who used to sit and beg?”

John 9:8 Meaning and Commentary

John 9:8

The neighbours therefore, and they which before had seen
him
For it seems the blind man was not a stranger, one that came out of the country to the city to beg; but a native of Jerusalem, that had long lived in a certain neighbourhood in it, and was well known to be what he was;

that he was blind;
the Alexandrian copy, and one of Beza's exemplars, and the Vulgate Latin version read, "that he was a beggar"; to which agree the Syriac, Arabic, and Ethiopic versions: wherefore they

said, is this not he that sat and begged?
they particularly remark his begging posture; he was not laid all along, as the lame man in ( Acts 3:2 ) ; nor did he go from door to door, as others were used to do, but he sat in some certain place, as blind men generally did; see ( Matthew 20:30 ) .

John 9:8 In-Context

6 When Jesus had said this, He spit on the ground, made some mud, and applied it to the man’s eyes.

7 Then He told him, “Go, wash in the Pool of Siloam” (which means “Sent”). So the man went and washed, and came back seeing.

8 At this, his neighbors and those who had formerly seen him begging began to ask, “Isn’t this the man who used to sit and beg?”

9 Some claimed that he was, but others said, “No, he just looks like him.” But the man kept saying, “I am the one.”

10 “How then were your eyes opened?” they asked.