Dost thou believe on the Son of God? - This was the same with, Dost thou believe on the Messiah? for these two characters were inseparable; see John 1:34 , John 1:49 ; John 10:36 ; Matthew 16:16 ; Mark 1:1 . read more
Who is he, Lord? - It is very likely that the blind man did not know that it was Jesus the Christ who now spoke to him; for it is evident he had never seen him before this time; and he might now see him without knowing that he was the person by whom he was cured, till our Lord made that discovery of himself, mentioned in the following verse. read more
And he said, Lord, I believe - That is, I believe thou art the Messiah; and, to give the fullest proof of the sincerity of his faith, he fell down before and adored him. Never having seen Jesus before, but simply knowing that a person of that name had opened his eyes, he had only considered him as a holy man and a prophet; but now that he sees and hears him he is convinced of his divinity, and glorifies him as his Savior. We may hear much of Jesus, but can never know his glories and... read more
Verse 34 34.Thou wast altogether born in sins They alluded, I doubt not, to his blindness; as proud men are wont to teaze those who have any distress or calamity; and, therefore, they continually insult him, as if he had come out of his mother’s womb, bearing the mark of his sins For all the scribes were convinced in their hearts, that souls, after having finished one life, entered into new bodies, and there suffered the punishment of their former crimes. Hence they conclude that he who was... read more
Verse 35 35.Jesus heard that they had cast him out. From this circumstance I conjecture that they proceeded to it in a solemn manner, as an affair of great importance, By this example, we are taught how trivial and how little to be dreaded are the excommunications of the enemies of Christ. If we are cast out from that assembly in which Christ reigns, it is a dreadful judgment which is executed against us, that we are delivered to Satan, (1 Corinthians 5:5,) because we are banished from the... read more
Verse 36 36.Who is he, Lord, that I may believe in him? From this reply of the blind man it is evident that, though he had not yet attained any clear or certain knowledge of Christ, still he was obedient and ready to receive instruction; for these words mean, “As soon as he is pointed out to me, I am ready to embrace him.” But it ought to be observed that the blind man desires to be instructed by Christ as a Prophet; for he was already convinced that Christ had been sent by God, and therefore... read more
Verse 37 37.Thou hast both seen him. By these words of Christ the blind man could not be carried higher than to a very small and cold portion of faith. For Christ does not mention his power, or the reason why he was sent by the Father, or what he has brought to men. But what principally belongs to faith is, to know that, by the sacrifice of his death, atonement has been made for our sins, and we are reconciled to God; that his resurrection was a triumph over vanquished death; that we are... read more
Verse 38 38.And he worshipped him. It may be asked, Did the blind man honor or worship Christ as God? (275) The word which the Evangelist employs ( προσέκυνησει) means nothing more than to express respect and homage by bending the knee, or by other signs. For my own part, certainly, I think that it denotes something rare and uncommon; namely, that the blind man gave far more honor to Christ than to an ordinary man, or even to a prophet. And yet I do not think that at that time he had made such... read more
The removal of the closing words of John 8:59 from the text as a gloss, favors a pause between the attempt to stone Jesus and the miracle. Lange has the inconsistent remark that the παράγων is "the participle of the preceding though doubtful παρῆγεν ." If it were a gloss, the παρῆγεν had been introduced by some copyist from the παράγων , and therefore the latter can derive no meaning from the former. Admitting the spuriousness of the gloss, the connection between the... read more
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Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - John 9:34
Thou wast altogether born in sins - Thou hast not only been a vile wretch in some other pre-existent state, but thy parents also have been grossly iniquitous; therefore thou and they are punished by this blindness: Thou wast altogether born in sins - thou art no other than a sinful lump of deformity, and utterly unfit to have any connection with those who worship God. And they cast him out - They immediately excommunicated him, as the margin properly reads - drove him from their assembly... read more