The passage
      v1-7. First, the sign. Jesus is the light of the world (the divine life-giving revelation from God, 8:12) and he enacts this reality with a man born blind. The disciples assume that either the man's sin, or the parents' sin, has caused his blindness, but for Jesus, the man's condition serves as an opportunity to give sight to someone lost in darkness, both physical and spiritual. Jesus purposely defies ritual-purity laws with the use of saliva and dirt in a healing on the Sabbath, and so declares himself as a light that transcends that of Moses. Like Elisha with Naaman, Jesus calls for an act of faith on the man's part, and so begins this man's journey to life.
      v8-12. The man born blind is questioned by his neighbours. The blind man's neighbors have seen him begging, probably at the same spot for a very long time. Now that he sees, they are unsure if this is the same man. The questioning serves to identify the source of the miracle, namely, "the man called Jesus."
      v13-17. The man born blind is then questioned by the Pharisees. The neighbors obviously feel that the religious authorities should witness this amazing event, but the Pharisees are divided on whether this is an evil or good omen. As far as the man is concerned, Jesus is obviously a very special person under God ("prophet" - used in the sense of "a man of God").
      v18-23. The Pharisees then question the man's parent's. The parents recognize that the miracle is causing some agitation among the religious authorities and so affirm nothing more than that the man is their son and that he was born blind.
      v24-34. The man is further questioned by the Pharisees. Given that the Pharisees are unsure of Jesus' religious qualifications (origin, v29), but quite sure of his neglect of Mosaic law (he is a sinner, v24), they demand that the man born blind tell them by what deceitful means Jesus stage-managed this event ("give glory to God" = tell the truth). In response, the man observes that only a God-fearing man who does God's will, could undertake the healing of a person born blind. The truth always hurts and so for his troubles the man is excommunicated.
      v35-38. Jesus leads the man born blind to full faith. Jesus reveals himself as the divine revelation from the God, the Son of Man, the one who gives the light of life to those who seek it, but confirms the state of loss upon those who don't. In response, the man born blind believes and bows before his Lord.
      v39-41. The consequence of Jesus' light shining in the world is that some come to see while others remain in the dark. The purpose of Jesus' coming was not to bring division, but the consequence is indeed division. In the radiance of Christ, the divine revelation of life-giving truth, the blind see and live, while those who claim to see remain in the dark - lost in their sins.

The light shines in the darkness
      I have conducted more funerals than I would dare to remember. In the face of death, the issue that tests me is that of expectations. What should be mine, and what are the expectations of those who attend?
      The conductor, celebrant, minister, priest, .... so often uses the occasion as an evangelistic opportunity: to put forward the Christian message, or to encourage people back to church. The temptation is to slip into the "parsonic" mode that passes for identification with those who have lost their "dear friend." I have to say, I am never satisfied with the way I conduct a funeral.
      Those who attend will so often say that they don't want too much religion, but in the end they always want Psalm 23 and the Lord's Prayer. What they probably don't want is to be preached at. They just want to affirm their friend and say goodby.
      Confronted by the blindness of the world, a blindness encapsulated in the man born blind, Jesus said to his disciples, "we must work the works of him who sent me while it is day." By using "we", Jesus includes us in this work. The work is the work of shining light into the darkness and leading those who seek the light of divine truth into the presence of the Son of Man. It is there, through faith, that they will find life eternal.
      So, if we are in the light-shining business, how do we best do this at the moment when our world is at its darkest, at a funeral? Thankfully, secular humanity still likes the trappings of Christianity, albeit without the preaching. For myself, I do the friendly affirmation and farewell, encased in the eternal story.

v2
      tiV hJmarten (aJmartenw) aor. "who sinned ....?" - Exodus 20:5 certainly encouraged the notion that the stain of a parent's sin may infect a child, but the book of Job makes it clear that there is no direct correlation between a particular sin and sickness. "Whose sin caused this man's blindness?" Phillips.

v3
      iJna + subj. "so that [the work of God might be displayed]" - NIV reads the hina clause as expressing purpose, but such a reading implies that God made the man blind so that Jesus could heal him. It is more likely that the clause expresses result. The man's blindness provides an opportunity for Jesus to be the light of the world. The man's blindness has nothing to do with his or his parent's sin, "but because of his blindness, you will see God perform a miracle for him", CEV.

v4
      JhmaV "we" - The use of the plural here by Jesus may be original, although some manuscripts have "I". If the plural is original, Jesus is including his disciples in this ministry statement.
      ercetai (ercomai) pres. "[night] is coming" - go, come. Futuristic or predictive present, "night will come", "it will soon be night."

v5
      fwV eimi tou kosmou "I am the light of the world" - The genitive is best expressed here as "for" rather than "of"; "I am light for the world", Moffatt; also CEV.

v6
      eptusen (ptuw) aor. "he spit [on the ground]" - he spat. It was commonly held that saliva had curative powers, but its use was later banned in Jewish circles due to its use in the magical arts. Carson notes David Smith's suggestion that, saliva, as with dirt, implied ritual impurity and that Jesus here is defying Jewish sensibilities and healing independently of the prevailing notions of ritual cleanliness. As noted later, the day Jesus does this on is the Sabbath. This too may be a further intended affront to Jewish religious sensibilities.

v7
      niyai (niptw) aor. imp. "wash" - wash, bathe. Aorist probably indicates the command expects an immediate response. Note the parallel with 2 Kings 5:10-13. Implied object is obviously "eyes"; "wash your face", TEV.
      thn kolumbhqran tou Silwam "the pool of Siloam" - The pond for the diverted waters from the spring of Gihon that flowed through Hezekiah's tunnel. It is most likely the "lower pool", not the pool now identified as "the pool of Siloam"
      apestalmenoV (apostellw) perf. pas. part. "sent" - [which is translated] having been sent. John typically explains Semitic words, here a word based on the root slh, "to send" - the waters sent from Gihon.
      hlqen blepwn "came home seeing" - came seeing. The NIV "home" is assumed. He certainly didn't come back to Jesus, so "home" is a good guess.

v8
      oiJ qewrounteV (qewrew) pres. part. "those who had [formerly] seen him" - the ones seeing him. The present tense probably indicates continuous action, ie. they regularly saw him begging at a particular place.

v9
      elegon (legw) imperf. "claimed" - said. Imperfect indicates that numerous comments were made of the man.
      egw eimi "I am the man" - I am. An interesting use of a phrase that Jesus enjoyed using with some import. Here probably it carries no weight other than to mean, "I am the man who used to beg at ........."; "I am the man alright", Phillips.

v10
      hnew/cqhsan (anoigw) aor. pas. "opened" - were opened. The sense is "how is it that you now see?"; "how was your blindness cured?" Phillips.
      elegon imperf. "they demanded" - they were saying/asking. Imperfect again indicating a continuous asking.

v11
      epecrisen (epicriw) aor. "put it on" - rub on, anoint. The man is describing what happened; "smeared it on my eyes", CEV.
      apelqwn (apercomai) aor. part. "I went" - having gone. For ease of reading, the participle is translated as a finite verb. "Washed" is treated in the same way.

v13
      agousin (ago) act. "they brought" - drive, lead, bring. NEB "was brought" gives a passive sense, reinforcing the idea that those who knew the man insisted that he come with them to see the religious authorities.
      FarisaiouV "Pharisees" - Later in the chapter John refers to "Jews", "Jewish authorities" TEV, but probably no distinction is intended.

v14
      Phillips treats this verse as a parentheses: "(It should be noted that Jesus made the clay and restored his sight on a Sabbath day)."

v15
      palin adv. "also" - again. The NIV dodges the ambiguity of "again" with the use of "also", given that the "again" does not mean that this is the second time the Pharisees had questioned the man.

v16
      ouk estin ouJtoV para qeou "this man is not from God" - NEB carries the sense better, "is no man of God" (the sense of "from beside" will be preferred by those who think the statement has messianic overtones, ie. "he cannot be the one God has sent") and this because he does not obey the Sabbath law, cf. Deut.13:1-5. In strict accordance with the law, Jesus should have properly waited till the first day of the week to perform the healing, since the man's condition was not life threatening.
      ou threi (threw) "he does not keep [the Sabbath]" - The sense is "he does not observe the Sabbath law."

v17
      palin adv. "again" - NIV "finally ..... again", "so they asked the blind man once more", Moffatt.
      oJti "-" - since, because. The conjunction here is often regarded as if reflecting Aramaic form, and so is treated as a relative pronoun. It is best to treat it as either introducing a direct quotation, so TEV, or meaning "since/because", "what do you say about him, since it was your eyes he opened?"
      profhthV "prophet" - The man possibly thinks Jesus is an Elisha type, even possibly that he is the promised Prophet like Moses, the one who precedes the Messiah, but it is more likely he sees Jesus in a more general sense, as a special person who is obviously a man of God.

v18
      oiJ Ioudaioi "the Jews" - "The Jewish authorities"
      ouk episteusan (pisteuw) aor. "did not believe" - "Did not really believe", Phillips.
      "had received his sight" - left out of some manuscripts probably because of the unnecessary repetition.
      efwnhsan (fwnew) aor. "they sent" - they called. Although not stated, the investigation of the parents is obviously undertaken without their blind son being present.

v19
      For stylistic reasons the NIV divides this Greek sentence into two sentences separated by "they asked". "Is this your son who you say was born blind?" RSV.

v20
      Lit. "therefore the parents of him answered and said."

v21
      hnoixen autou touV ofqalmouV "opened his eyes" - "Gave him back his sight". "We do not know how he got his sight or who gave it to him", CEV.
      hJlikian (a) "he is of age" - a span of life. "He is a grown-up man", Phillips.

v22
      suneteqeito (suntiqhmi) pluperf. "had decided" - agreed together. The pluperfect indicates that the decision to act against anyone who acknowledged Jesus was made well before these events.
      aposunagwgoV adj. "put out of the synagogue" - excommunicate. John is probably referring to a total excommunication of believers from Israel, a banishment. There were other more formal disciplinary banishments which could last a week or a month and which did not bar a person from religious services. "Should be banned from the Synagogue", NEB.

v24
      ek deuterou "a second time" - of second. "They called back the man who had been born blind", ATH.
      doV doxan tw/ qew/ "give glory to God" - The sense is probably "swear by God to tell the truth", CEV.

v25
      ie aJmartwloV "if he is a sinner" - Jesus did heal on the sabbath so his legal standing under the law is something the blind man is unable to debate.
      wn (eimi) pres. part. "I was" - The participle is probably concessive, "although ......, yet ......", ie. he concedes the point that he was blind and that a possible sinner set about to heal him, yet the result is that he now sees. What does that say about this man Jesus?

v27
      ouk hkousate (akouw) aor. "you did not listen" - " Some suggest "would not listen", eg . Moffatt. Some manuscripts have "believe" and others leave out the negative, carrying the sense "you have heard what I said to you."
      The rhetorical question is formed in Greek to expect a negative answer, "why do you want to hear it over again?", Moffatt. "You don't want to become his disciples, do you?" Williams.

v28
      eloidorhsan (loidorew) aor. " they hurled insults" - insult, scoff, revile. "they became abusive", NEB.
      tou MwusewV esmen maqhtai "we are disciples of Moses" - of Moses we are disciples. Moses is the source of the Law and therefore, he is the person religious Jews should follow.

v29
      ouk oidamen poqen estin "we don't even know where he comes from" - we do not know from where he is. Most commentators suggest that the "where" is his home town, eg. "we don't even know where his hometown is." Yet 7:27 indicates that the Jewish authorities do know that Jesus comes from Nazareth and given that no one will know where the messiah comes from, it is obvious (to them!) that Jesus is not the messiah. It is quite possible that we have here a general statement as to Jesus' lack of divine association and therefore, authority, unlike Moses whose authority comes from an intimate association with the divine. This approach makes sense of v30 where it is nonsensical to link a knowledge of Jesus hometown with his miraculous powers.

v31
      oidamen (oida) perf. "we know" - The blind man also uses "the royal" plural, obviously paralleling the use by the Jewish authorities.
      aJmartwlwn oJ qeoV ouk akouew "God does not listen to sinners" - sinners God does not hear. "Sinners" in the sense of those in rebellion against God, defiant of God. The proposition is that God does not answer the prayers of those who are against him, eg. Isa.1:15.
      ean + subj. "-" - Conditional clause. "If anyone is a God-fearing man and does His will, he listens to him", Weymouth.
      tiV qeosebhV adj. "the godly man" - anyone god-fearing, respectful, devout, pious. "The man who has proper respect for God", Phillips. For a Jew, a devout person is one who does what God wants them to do; so second clause.

v32
      ek tou aiwnoV ouk hkousqh "nobody has ever heard" - from the age it was not heard. It is "absolutely unheard of", Brown. "There is no record in any canonical writings of a person regaining their sight who was born blind."

v33
      ei mh + imperf. "if ..... not .." - Indicating a negated present conditional sentence contrary to fact. The usual mh in the protasis and ou, ouk in the apodosis, but without an in the apodosis. cf. 3:10.

v34.
      en aJmartiaiV su egennhqhV oJloV "you were steeped in sin" - you were born in sin altogether. Possibly referring to his life as a sinner, "you a sinner through and through since you were born", JB, or referring to his state of original sin evidenced by his being born blind, "you were born in utter sin", RSV. Probably the latter.
      kai su didaskeiV hJmaV "how dare you lecture us!" - and you are teaching us. "Who are you to give us lessons", NEB, although the NIV strikes the right cord.

v35
      euJrwm (euJriskw) aor. part "he found [him]" - having found. "On meeting him", Moffatt, fails to underline the fact that Jesus seeks him out. "He went and found the man", CEV.
      uiJon tou anqrwpou "Son of Man" - Why does Jesus represent himself to the blind man with the enigmatic title of Son of Man? Some manuscripts have "Son of God", which probably illustrates that some earlier copyists pondered the same question. John possibly uses this title for the attention of the reader. For John, the Son of Man is the divine revelation from God, the Word incarnate, who gives life to all who believe, cf. 1:51, but who also has authority to condemn those who don't, v39, cf. 5:27. This verse then, encapsulates the message of this episode.

v36
      kai tiV estin, kurie "who is he, sir?" - and who is he, lord? "Tell me who he is, sir", TEV
      iJna + subj. "so that I may" - Consecutive clause = consequence, result.
      pisteusw (pisteuw) aor. subj. "believe" - The aorist carries the sense, "that I may come to put my faith in him."

v37
      eJwrakaV (oJraw) perf. "now seen" - you have seen. The NIV adds the "now" to draw out the sense of the Greek perfect, "you have already seen him", TEV.
      oJ lalwn pres. part. "he is the one speaking [with you]" - The TEV adds "now" to draw out the continuous sense of the Greek present.

v38
      prosekunhsen (proskunew) aor. "he worshiped [him]" - bowed down before, did obeisance. "Knelt down before", TEV. Possibly an inceptive imperfect serving to underline the beginning of the action, "he began to kneel down ..."

v39
      This verse, along with v38, is not found in some manuscripts.
      krima (a atoV) "judgment" - decision. Jesus did not come into the world to judge the world, 3:17. Yet, as a consequence of his coming, judgement does take place. In the face of God's revelation, people separate into two distinct groups. "This is the paradox of the revelation, that in order to bring grace it must also give offence, and so can turn to judgment", Bultmann.
      iJna + subj. "so that" - The NIV purpose clause seems best. The divisive nature of the revelation has as its purpose the drawing out of those who seek the light.
      oi bleponteV (blepw) part. "those who see" - the ones seeing. The purpose of the revelation is not really that "those who see will become blind", but rather "that those who claim to have spiritual sight will be shown up for the blind people that they really are", Stott.

v40
      mh kai hJmeiV tufloi esmen "what, are we blind too?" - The Greek implies an expected negative answer to the question, "we are not blind, are we?" The expected answer would be "of course not."