John 9:8

8 His neighbors and those who formerly had seen him as a beggar said, "Isn't this the man who sat begging?"

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 After He said these things He spit on the ground, made some mud from the saliva, and spread the mud on his eyes.

7 "Go," He told him, "wash in the pool of Siloam" (which means "Sent"). So he left, washed, and came back seeing.

8 His neighbors and those who formerly had seen him as a beggar said, "Isn't this the man who sat begging?"

9 Some said, "He's the one." "No," others were saying, "but he looks like him." He kept saying, "I'm the one!"

10 Therefore they asked him, "Then how were your eyes opened?"