Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary

Adam Clarke Commentary

A man that is called Jesus - The whole of this relation is simple and artless in the highest degree. The blind man had never seen Jesus, but he had heard of his name - he felt that he had put something on his eyes, which he afterwards found to be clay - but how this was made he could not tell, because he could not see Jesus when he did it; therefore he does not say, he made clay of spittle - but simply, he made clay, and spread it upon my eyes. Where a multitude of incidents must necessarily come into review, imposture and falsehood generally commit themselves, as it is termed; but, however numerous the circumstances may be in a relation of fact, simple truth is never embarrassed.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

He answered and said, a man that is called Jesus,.... Whom he had as yet little knowledge of, only by some means or another he had learned his name;

made clay and anointed mine eyes, &c. See Gill on John 9:6, John 9:7.

Robertson's Word Pictures in the New Testament

The man that is called Jesus (ο αντρωπος ο λεγομενος Ιησους — ho anthrōpos ho legomenos Iēsous). He does not yet know Jesus as the Messiah the Son of God (John 9:36).

Vincent's Word Studies

To the pool of Siloam

The best texts read simply, Go to Siloam.

Received sight ( ἀνέβλεψα )

Originally, to look up, as Matthew 14:19; Mark 16:4, and so some render it here; but better, I recovered sight.

Wesley's Explanatory Notes

He answered and said, A man that is called Jesus made clay, and anointed mine eyes, and said unto me, Go to the pool of Siloam, and wash: and I went and washed, and I received sight.

A man called Jesus — He seems to have been before totally ignorant of him.

Calvin's Commentary on the Bible

Я пошел, умылся. Столь счастливый исход послушания слепого убеждает нас, преодолев все сомнения, упорно идти туда, куда нас зовет Господь. Пусть мы не сомневаемся в успехе, там, куда мы пойдем под Его водительством и надзором.

John Trapp Complete Commentary

11 He answered and said, A man that is called Jesus made clay, and anointed mine eyes, and said unto me, Go to the pool of Siloam, and wash: and I went and washed, and I received sight.

Ver. 11. I went and washed, and received sight] His blind obedience made him see. Let God be obeyed readily without reasoning or wrangling, and success shall not be lacking. God calleth for Curristas non Quaeristas. Luther.

Thomas Coke Commentary on the Holy Bible

John 9:11. A man that is called Jesus, &c.— It appears from this verse, that the beggar knew that it was Jesus who spake to him. Probably he distinguished him by his voice, having formerly heard him preach; or he might know him by the information of the disciples. Hence he cheerfully submitted to the operation, though in itself a very unlikely means of obtaining sight.

Greek Testament Critical Exegetical Commentary

11.] ἀνέβλ., strictly speaking, is in-appropriate in the case of one born blind. Lücke refers to Aristotle as using the word thus, and cites Pausanias, who speaks of ὀφιονέα … τὸν ἐκ γενετῆς τυφλόν, whom ἐπέλαβε τῆς κεφαλῆς ἄλγημα ἰσχυρόν, καὶ ἀνέβλεψεν ἀπʼ αὐτοῦ. Sight being natural to men, the deprivation of it is regarded as a loss, and the reception of it, though never enjoyed before, as a recovery. So Grotius: “nec male recipere quis dicitur, quod communiter tributum humanæ naturæ ipsi abfuit.” There is no emphasis on μου here (as Bp. Wordsw.) nor in John 9:15; John 9:30 : nor on σου in John 9:10; John 9:17; John 9:26. See on Matthew 16:18, and compare Luke 12:18.

Johann Albrecht Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament

John 9:11. ἄνθρωπος λεγόμενος ἰησοῦς, a man who is called Jesus) The article is not added, but the participle. Comp. ch. John 11:54, “Into a city called Ephraim,” ἐφραὶμ λεγομένην πόλιν. The blind man had not known the celebrity of Jesus.— ἀνέβλεψα, I received [or recovered] sight) He had not had the power of seeing ever before; but yet that power is natural to man; on this account he says, I recovered sight [the strict sense of ἀνέβλεψα].

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible

By one that was called Jesus; probably he had heard some of the people mention him by that name; and he describeth to them the manner how he did it.

Whedon's Commentary on the Bible

11.A man’ called Jesus—The excitement produced by the miracles and preaching had not reached, as yet, the blind beggar. He knew his benefactor only by name.

Made clay—The man’s recital of the instrumentalities clearly indicates the impression they were intended to produce, (see our note on John 9:6,) and their obvious inadequacy demonstrated the miracle.

Schaff's Popular Commentary on the New Testament

John 9:11. He answered, The man that is called Jesus made clay, and anointed mine eyes, and said unto me, Go to Siloam, and wash. I went away therefore and washed, and I received sight. This man, then, knew his Deliverer, though not His true nature (John 9:36). The wording of the phrase would seem to imply that he had in his thoughts the meaning of the name ‘Jesus,’ so wonderfully illustrated in his own case.

E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes

answered and said. See App-122 and note or Deuteronomy 1:41.

to = unto. Greek. eis. App-104.

received sight = looked up [and saw]. App-133.

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - Unabridged

He answered and said, A man that is called Jesus made clay, and anointed mine eyes, and said unto me, Go to the pool of Siloam, and wash: and I went and washed, and I received sight.

He answered and said, A man that is called Jesus made clay, and anointed mine eyes, and said unto me, Go to the pool of Siloam, and wash: and I went and washed, and I received sight. This reply is so fresh and lively that, as Meyer says, our Evangelist probably received it from the man himself after he became a believer.

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(11) A man that is called Jesus.—Some of the better MSS. read, “The Man that is called Jesus,” implying that He would be known to the blind man and his friends. They can hardly have failed to hear of His teaching at the feast.

Made clay, and anointed mine eyes.—He gives the details in order, omitting the spitting on the ground, which he had not seen.

And I received sight.—The Greek word means exactly, “to see again.” The power, though given in this instance for the first time, was usually a restored power, and this is expressed in the word. This man uses the ordinary language of men, though, in strictness it was not applicable to his own case. This use of the word is, moreover, justified by other examples.

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

A man

6,7,27; Jeremiah 36:17

Calvin's Commentary on the Bible

11.And after I had gone and washed. So happy a result of obedience warns us to surmount every obstacle, and to proceed courageously wherever the Lord calls us, and not even to entertain a doubt that every thing which we undertake by his authority, and under his guidance, will have a prosperous issue.