John 9:8

8 His neighbours, therefore, and the other people to whom he had been a familiar object because he was a beggar, began asking, "Is not 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 After thus speaking, He spat on the ground, and then, kneading the dust and spittle into clay, He smeared the clay over the man's eyes and said to him,

7 "Go and wash in the pool of Siloam" --the name means `Sent.' So he went and washed his eyes, and returned able to see.

8 His neighbours, therefore, and the other people to whom he had been a familiar object because he was a beggar, began asking, "Is not this the man who used to sit and beg?"

9 "Yes it is," replied some of them. "No it is not," said others, "but he is like him." His own statement was, "I am the man."

10 "How then were your eyes opened?" they asked.