Sunday, 22nd March 2026, Lent 5
John 11:1-45
The raising of Lazarus
11:1 Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha.
11:2 Mary was the one who anointed the Lord with perfume and wiped his feet with her hair; her brother Lazarus was ill.
11:3 So the sisters sent a message to Jesus, “Lord, he whom you love is ill.”
11:4 But when Jesus heard it, he said, “This illness does not lead to death; rather, it is for God’s glory, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”
11:5 Accordingly, though Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus,
11:6 after having heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was.
11:7 Then after this he said to the disciples, “Let us go to Judea again.”
11:8 The disciples said to him, “Rabbi, the Jews were just now trying to stone you, and are you going there again?”
11:9 Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours of daylight? Those who walk during the day do not stumble because they see the light of this world.
11:10 But those who walk at night stumble because the light is not in them.”
11:11 After saying this, he told them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I am going there to awaken him.”
11:12 The disciples said to him, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will be all right.”
11:13 Jesus, however, had been speaking about his death, but they thought that he was referring merely to sleep.
11:14 Then Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead.
11:15 For your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.”
11:16 Thomas, who was called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”
11:17 When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days.
11:18 Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, some two miles away,
11:19 and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them about their brother.
11:20 When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, while Mary stayed at home.
11:21 Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.
11:22 But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask of him.”
11:23 Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”
11:24 Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.”
11:25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live,
11:26 and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?”
11:27 She said to him, “Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world.”
11:28 When she had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary and told her privately, “The Teacher is here and is calling for you.”
11:29 And when she heard it, she got up quickly and went to him.
11:30 Now Jesus had not yet come to the village but was still at the place where Martha had met him.
11:31 The Jews who were with her in the house consoling her saw Mary get up quickly and go out. They followed her because they thought that she was going to the tomb to weep there.
11:32 When Mary came where Jesus was and saw him, she knelt at his feet and said to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”
11:33 When Jesus saw her weeping and the Jews who came with her also weeping, he was greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved.
11:34 He said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.”
11:35 Jesus began to weep.
11:36 So the Jews said, “See how he loved him!”
11:37 But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?”
11:38 Then Jesus, again greatly disturbed, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone was lying against it.
11:39 Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, “Lord, already there is a stench because he has been dead four days.”
11:40 Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?”
11:41 So they took away the stone. And Jesus looked upward and said, “Father, I thank you for having heard me.
11:42 I knew that you always hear me, but I have said this for the sake of the crowd standing here, so that they may believe that you sent me.”
11:43 When he had said this, he cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!”
11:44 The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with strips of cloth and his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”
11:45 Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what Jesus did believed in him.
[1] Ἦν δέ τις ἀσθενῶν Λάζαρος ἀπὸ Βηθανίας, ἐκ τῆς κώμης Μαρίας καὶ Μάρθας τῆς ἀδελφῆς αὐτῆς.
[2] ἦν δὲ Μαρία ἡ ἀλείψασα τὸν Κύριον μύρῳ καὶ ἐκμάξασα τοὺς πόδας αὐτοῦ ταῖς θριξὶν αὐτῆς, ἧς ὁ ἀδελφὸς Λάζαρος ἠσθένει.
[3] ἀπέστειλαν οὖν αἱ ἀδελφαὶ πρὸς αὐτὸν λέγουσαι· Κύριε, ἴδε ὃν φιλεῖς ἀσθενεῖ.
[4] ἀκούσας δὲ ὁ ᾿Ιησοῦς εἶπεν· αὕτη ἡ ἀσθένεια οὐκ ἔστι πρὸς θάνατον, ἀλλ᾽ ὑπὲρ τῆς δόξης τοῦ Θεοῦ, ἵνα δοξασθῇ ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ Θεοῦ δι᾽ αὐτῆς.
[5] ἠγάπα δὲ ὁ ᾿Ιησοῦς τὴν Μάρθαν καὶ τὴν ἀδελφὴν αὐτῆς καὶ τὸν Λάζαρον.
[6] ὡς οὖν ἤκουσεν ὅτι ἀσθενεῖ, τότε μὲν ἔμεινεν ἐν ᾧ ἦν τόπῳ δύο ἡμέρας·
[7] ἔπειτα μετὰ τοῦτο λέγει τοῖς μαθηταῖς· ἄγωμεν εἰς τὴν ᾿Ιουδαίαν πάλιν.
[8] λέγουσιν αὐτῷ οἱ μαθηταί· ῥαββί, νῦν ἐζήτουν σε λιθάσαι οἱ ᾿Ιουδαῖοι, καὶ πάλιν ὑπάγεις ἐκεῖ;
[9] ἀπεκρίθη ᾿Ιησοῦς· οὐχὶ δώδεκά εἰσιν ὧραι τῆς ἡμέρας; ἐάν τις περιπατῇ ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ, οὐ προσκόπτει, ὅτι τὸ φῶς τοῦ κόσμου τούτου βλέπει·
[10] ἐὰν δέ τις περιπατῇ ἐν τῇ νυκτί, προσκόπτει, ὅτι τὸ φῶς οὐκ ἔστιν ἐν αὐτῷ.
[11] ταῦτα εἶπε, καὶ μετὰ τοῦτο λέγει αὐτοῖς· Λάζαρος ὁ φίλος ἡμῶν κεκοίμηται· ἀλλὰ πορεύομαι ἵνα ἐξυπνίσω αὐτόν.
[12] εἶπον οὖν οἱ μαθηταὶ αὐτοῦ· Κύριε, εἰ κεκοίμηται, σωθήσεται.
[13] εἰρήκει δὲ ὁ ᾿Ιησοῦς περὶ τοῦ θανάτου αὐτοῦ· ἐκεῖνοι δὲ ἔδοξαν ὅτι περὶ τῆς κοιμήσεως τοῦ ὕπνου λέγει.
[14] τότε οὖν εἶπεν αὐτοῖς ὁ ᾿Ιησοῦς παρρησίᾳ· Λάζαρος ἀπέθανε,
[15] καὶ χαίρω δι᾽ ὑμᾶς, ἵνα πιστεύσητε, ὅτι οὐκ ἤμην ἐκεῖ· ἀλλ᾽ ἄγωμεν πρὸς αὐτόν.
[16] εἶπεν οὖν Θωμᾶς ὁ λεγόμενος Δίδυμος τοῖς συμμαθηταῖς· ἄγωμεν καὶ ἡμεῖς ἵνα ἀποθάνωμεν μετ᾽ αὐτοῦ.
[17]᾿Ελθὼν οὖν ὁ ᾿Ιησοῦς εὗρεν αὐτὸν τέσσαρας ἡμέρας ἤδη ἔχοντα ἐν τῷ μνημείῳ.
[18] ἦν δὲ ἡ Βηθανία ἐγγὺς τῶν ῾Ιεροσολύμων ὡς ἀπὸ σταδίων δεκαπέντε,
[19] καὶ πολλοὶ ἐκ τῶν ᾿Ιουδαίων ἐληλύθεισαν πρὸς τὰς περὶ Μάρθαν καὶ Μαρίαν ἵνα παραμυθήσωνται αὐτὰς περὶ τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ αὐτῶν.
[20] ἡ οὖν Μάρθα ὡς ἤκουσεν ὅτι ὁ ᾿Ιησοῦς ἔρχεται, ὑπήντησεν αὐτῷ· Μαρία δὲ ἐν τῷ οἴκῳ ἐκαθέζετο.
[21] εἶπεν οὖν ἡ Μάρθα πρὸς τὸν ᾿Ιησοῦν· Κύριε, εἰ ἦς ὧδε, ὁ ἀδελφός μου οὐκ ἂν ἐτεθνήκει.
[22 ]ἀλλὰ καὶ νῦν οἶδα ὅτι ὅσα ἂν αἰτήσῃ τὸν Θεόν, δώσει σοι ὁ Θεός.
[23] λέγει αὐτῇ ὁ᾿Ιησοῦς· ἀναστήσεται ὁ ἀδελφός σου.
[24] λέγει αὐτῷ Μάρθα· οἶδα ὅτι ἀναστήσεται ἐν τῇ ἀναστάσει ἐν τῇ ἐσχάτῃ ἡμέρᾳ.
[25] εἶπεν αὐτῇ ὁ ᾿Ιησοῦς· ἐγώ εἰμι ἡ ἀνάστασις καὶ ἡ ζωή.
[26] ὁ πιστεύων εἰς ἐμέ, κἂν ἀποθάνῃ, ζήσεται· καὶ πᾶς ὁ ζῶν καὶ πιστεύων εἰς ἐμὲ οὐ μὴ ἀποθάνῃ εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα. πιστεύεις τοῦτο;
[27] λέγει αὐτῷ· ναί, Κύριε, ἐγὼ πεπίστευκα ὅτι σὺ εἶ ὁ Χριστὸς ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ Θεοῦ ὁ εἰς τὸν κόσμον ἐρχόμενος.
[28] καὶ ταῦτα εἰποῦσα ἀπῆλθε καὶ ἐφώνησε Μαρίαν τὴν ἀδελφὴν αὐτῆς λάθρᾳεἰποῦσα· ὁ διδάσκαλος πάρεστι καὶ φωνεῖ σε.
[29]ἐκείνη ὡς ἤκουσεν, ἐγείρεται ταχὺ καὶ ἔρχεται πρὸς αὐτόν.
[30] οὔπω δὲ ἐληλύθει ὁ ᾿Ιησοῦς εἰς τὴν κώμην, ἀλλ᾽ ἦν ἐν τῷ τόπῳ ὅπου ὑπήντησεν αὐτῷ ἡ Μάρθα.
[31] οἱ οὖν ᾿Ιουδαῖοι οἱ ὄντες μετ᾽ αὐτῆς ἐν τῇ οἰκίᾳ καὶ παραμυθούμενοι αὐτήν, ἰδόντες τὴν Μαρίαν ὅτι ταχέως ἀνέστη καὶ ἐξῆλθεν, ἠκολούθησαν αὐτῇ, λέγοντες ὅτι ὑπάγει εἰς τὸ μνημεῖον ἵνα κλαύσῃ ἐκεῖ.
[32] ἡ οὖν Μαρία ὡς ἦλθεν ὅπου ἦν ὁ ᾿Ιησοῦς, ἰδοῦσα αὐτὸν ἔπεσεν αὐτοῦ εἰς τοὺς πόδας λέγουσα αὐτῷ· Κύριε, εἰ ἦς ὧδε, οὐκ ἂν ἀπέθανέ μου ὁ ἀδελφός.
[33]᾿Ιησοῦς οὖν ὡς εἶδεν αὐτὴν κλαίουσαν καὶ τοὺς συνελθόντας αὐτῇ ᾿Ιουδαίους κλαίοντας, ἐνεβριμήσατο τῷ πνεύματι καὶ ἐτάραξεν ἑαυτόν,
[34] καὶ εἶπε· ποῦ τεθείκατε αὐτόν;
[35]mλέγουσιν αὐτῷ· Κύριε, ἔρχου καὶ ἴδε. ἐδάκρυσεν ὁ ᾿Ιησοῦς.
[36] ἔλεγον οὖν οἱ ᾿Ιουδαῖοι· ἴδε πῶς ἐφίλει αὐτόν·
[37] τινὲς δὲ ἐξ αὐτῶν εἶπον· οὐκ ἠδύνατο οὗτος, ὁ ἀνοίξας τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς τοῦ τυφλοῦ, ποιῆσαι ἵνα καὶ οὗτος μὴ ἀποθάνῃ;
[38]᾿Ιησοῦς οὖν, πάλιν ἐμβριμώμενος ἐν ἑαυτῷ, ἔρχεται εἰς τὸ μνημεῖον· ἦν δὲ σπήλαιον, καὶ λίθος ἐπέκειτο ἐπ᾽ αὐτῷ.
[39] λέγει ὁ ᾿Ιησοῦς· ἄρατε τὸν λίθον. λέγει αὐτῷ ἡ ἀδελφὴ τοῦ τεθνηκότος Μάρθα· Κύριε, ἤδη ὄζει· τεταρταῖος γάρ ἐστι.
[40] λέγει αὐτῇ ὁ ᾿Ιησοῦς· οὐκ εἶπόν σοι ὅτι ἐὰν πιστεύσῃς, ὄψει τὴν δόξαν τοῦ Θεοῦ;
[41] ἦραν οὖν τὸν λίθον οὗ ἦν ὁ τεθνηκὼς κείμενος. ὁ δὲ ᾿Ιησοῦς ἦρε τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς ἄνω καὶ εἶπε· πάτερ, εὐχαριστῶ σοι ὅτι ἤκουσάς μου.
[42] ἐγὼ δὲ ᾔδειν ὅτι πάντοτέ μου ἀκούεις· ἀλλὰ διὰ τὸν ὄχλον τὸν περιεστῶτα εἶπον, ἵνα πιστεύσωσιν ὅτι σύ με ἀπέστειλας.
[43] καὶ ταῦτα εἰπὼν φωνῇ μεγάλῃ ἐκραύγασε· Λάζαρε, δεῦρο ἔξω.
[44] καὶ ἐξῆλθεν ὁ τεθνηκὼς δεδεμένος τοὺς πόδας καὶ τὰς χεῖρας κειρίαις, καὶ ἡ ὄψις αὐτοῦ σουδαρίῳ περιεδέδετο. λέγει αὐτοῖς ὁ ᾿Ιησοῦς· λύσατε αὐτὸν καὶ ἄφετε ὑπάγειν.
[45] Πολλοὶ οὖν ἐκ τῶν ᾿Ιουδαίων, οἱ ἐλθόντες πρὸς τὴν Μαρίαν καὶ θεασάμενοιἃ ἐποίησεν ὁ ᾿Ιησοῦς, ἐπίστευσαν εἰς αὐτόν.
Comments
The pericope exploits the natural and metaphorical meanings of three verbs: ‘I fall sleep’ (κοιμῶμαι) and ‘I stand up’ (ἀνίσταμαι), both of which could also be used in a metaphorical sense already in cl. Gk, and the LXX verb ‘I awaken someone’ (ἐξυπνίζω). Thus ‘I fall asleep’ can mean ‘I die’; ‘I stand up’ can signify ‘I return to life’; and ‘I awaken someone’, ‘I resurrect someone’. The noun ἀνάστασις, in the sense ‘rising from the dead’, is post-classical, and comes into its own in the NT.
[3] ἀπέστειλαν: ἀποστέλλω, ‘I dispatch’, esp. a messenger (cl. Gk: LSJ s.v., II); also in NT, with a person as obj. (EDNT s.v., 2). Here the obj. is understood: ‘they dispatched (a messenger) to him’.
ἴδε…ἀσθενεῖ: ἴδε, lit., ‘behold’, is deictic and emotive. (The term has been analysed in earlier comments.) ‘Behold’ (which the Engl. tr. omits) intensifies the message in Greek, as suspense culminates in ἀσθενεῖ, the final and emphatic term. ‘He whom you love… is ill.’ ἀσθενῶ (έω), ‘I am weak, sick’ (cl. Gk, LXX, and NT: LSJ s.v., 1; Muraoka, 1; EDNT). Cf. ἀσθενεῖ in v. 6. ἡ ἀσθένεια, in v. 4, is the related noun, ‘weakness, sickness’ (EDNT, etc.).
[5] καὶ τὸν Λάζαρον: the climax of the small list of persons whom Jesus loved? Or is Lazarus mentioned last perhaps because he was the youngest sibling?
[8] λιθάσαι: λιθάζω, c. acc. pers., ‘stone’ (cf. λίθος, ‘stone’ and Engl. neolithic). The vb occurs in late Gk and LXX. λιθοβολῶ is a synonym for this form of collective capital punishment (which was also used in ancient Greece).
[11] κεκοίμηται: 3rd pers. sg. of κοιμῶμαι (-άομαι), mid.-pass. voice, ‘fall asleep’ (Homer & cl. Gk: LSJ s.v., II.1-2), in the natural sense; but it also has the fig. sense ‘I die’ (cl. Gk and LXX: LSJ s.v. II.3, Muraoka, 5b). In the NT κ., ‘die’, is used of Church members (EDNT, s.v., 1). (In Homer, Hypnos/ Sleep and Thanatos/ Death were brothers.) κεκοίμηται is repeated in v. 12.
ἐξυπνίσω αὐτόν: 1st pers. sg., ἐξυπνίζω, ‘I awaken someone’, Hellenistic Gk (LSJ s.v.; LXX uses the pass. voice). The LXX adj. ἔξυπνος, ‘awakened from sleep’, means ‘smart, clever’ in modern Gk.
[12] εἰ κεκοίμηται, σωθήσεται: σῴζομαι, pass., ‘be healed, recover from illness’ (Hippocrates: LSJ s.v. σῴζω, 1a). In the NT, the act. and pass. voice of the vb is used in the medical sense usually when someone is healed by Jesus (EDNT s.v., 2b).
[14] παρρησίᾳ: παρρησία, ‘freedom of speech’ (on which classical Athenians prided themselves); also ‘candour’ (in cl. Gk and LXX: LSJ s.v. and Muraoka, b).
[23] ἀναστήσεται: 3rd pers. sg. ἀνίσταμαι, mid. voice, used intr., ‘stand up, rise’; ‘rise from sleep’ (cl. Gk: LSJ s.v. ἀνίστημι, B.1 7 2). In LXX, ‘to become alive after death’, e.g., Is 26.19, etc. (Muraoka II.4). Hence the noun ἀνάστασις, as in v. 24 below. Τhe 2nd aor. ἀνέστη in v.31, ‘rose’, ‘got up’ is used in the literal sense.
[24] ἀναστήσεται ἐν τῇ ἀναστάσει: ‘he will rise in the rising (from the dead).’ (A trivial point perhaps: this is a figura etymologica, in which etymologically cognate words are juxtaposed, creating assonance.) ἀνάστασις, ‘rising from the dead’ is post-classical, occurring first in LXX (Muraoka s.v., 1) and in e.g., Lucian. Cf. v. 25, ἐγώ εἰμι ἡ ἀνάστασις καὶ ἡ ζωή.
[33] ἐνεβριμήσατο τῷ πνεύματι: lit., ‘he snorted in his spirit’. ἐμβριμῶμαι (άομαι), ‘snort’, ‘scold’ c. dat. pers. (cl. Gk & LXX) is used figuratively. It most probably refers to Jesus being deeply moved. Cf. ἐμβριμώμενος ἐν ἑαυτῷ in v.38.
[39] ὄζει· τεταρταῖος γάρ ἐστι: ὄζω, ‘smell’, whether of pleasant or unpleasant smells (already in Homer); in LXX and the NT, the vb refers to a stench. (Cf. Engl. ozon.) τεταρταῖος, an adj., implies the source of the stench. Cf. v. 17, τέσσαρας ἡμέρας ἤδη ἔχοντα. In Herodotus 2.89, the phrase τεταρταῖος γενέσθαι means ‘to be four days dead’.
[43] φωνῇ μεγάλῃ ἐκραύγασε: the phrase occurs in LXX (2E 3.13). κραυγάζω, post-cl. Gk, is onomatopoeic, and can refer, e.g., to a raven’s crow. Used of a human being, it has the fig. meaning ‘to cry aloud, shout’. Jesus gave a mighty, throaty shout.
15th March 2026, 4th Sunday in Lent
John 9: 1-41
The man born blind
9:1 As he walked along, he saw a man blind from birth.
9:2 His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”
9:3 Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind so that God’s works might be revealed in him.
9:4 We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming when no one can work.
9:5 As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”
9:6 When he had said this, he spat on the ground and made mud with the saliva and spread the mud on the man’s eyes,
9:7 saying to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means Sent). Then he went and washed and came back able to see.
9:8 The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar began to ask, “Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?”
9:9 Some were saying, “It is he.” Others were saying, “No, but it is someone like him.” He kept saying, “I am the he.”
9:10 But they kept asking him, “Then how were your eyes opened?”
9:11 He answered, “The man called Jesus made mud, spread it on my eyes, and said to me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash.’ Then I went and washed and received my sight.”
9:12 They said to him, “Where is he?” He said, “I do not know.”
9:13 They brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind.
9:14 Now it was a Sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes.
9:15 Then the Pharisees also began to ask him how he had received his sight. He said to them, “He put mud on my eyes. Then I washed, and now I see.”
9:16 Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for he does not observe the Sabbath.” Others said, “How can a man who is a sinner perform such signs?” And they were divided.
9:17 So they said again to the blind man, “What do you say about him? It was your eyes he opened.” He said, “He is a prophet.”
9:18 The Jews did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight until they called the parents of the man who had received his sight
9:19 and asked them, “Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?”
9:20 His parents answered, “We know that this is our son and that he was born blind,
9:21 but we do not know how it is that now he sees, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him; he is of age. He will speak for himself.”
9:22 His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews, for the Jews had already agreed that anyone who confessed Jesus to be the Messiah would be put out of the synagogue.
9:23 Therefore his parents said, “He is of age; ask him.”
9:24 So for the second time they called the man who had been blind, and they said to him, “Give glory to God! We know that this man is a sinner.”
9:25 He answered, “I do not know whether he is a sinner. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.”
9:26 They said to him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?”
9:27 He answered them, “I have told you already, and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become his disciples?”
9:28 Then they reviled him, saying, “You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses.
9:29We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from.”
9:30The man answered, “Here is an astonishing thing! You do not know where he comes from, yet he opened my eyes.
9:31 We know that God does not listen to sinners, but he does listen to one who worships him and obeys his will.
9:32 Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a person born blind.
9:33 If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.”
9:34 They answered him, “You were born entirely in sins, and are you trying to teach us?” And they drove him out.
9:35 Jesus heard that they had driven him out, and when he found him he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”
9:36 He answered, “And who is he, sir? Tell me, so that I may believe in him.”
9:37 Jesus said to him, “You have seen him, and the one speaking with you is he.”
9:38 He said, “Lord, I believe.” And he worshiped him.
9:39 Jesus said, “I came into this world for judgment, so that those who do not see may see and those who do see may become blind.”
9:40 Some of the Pharisees who were with him heard this and said to him, “Surely we are not blind, are we?”
9:41 Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would not have sin. But now that you say, ‘We see,’ your sin remains.
1 Καὶ παράγων εἶδεν ἄνθρωπον τυφλὸν ἐκ γενετῆς.
2 Καὶ ἠρώτησαν αὐτὸν οἱ μαθηταὶ αὐτοῦ λέγοντες· ῥαββί, τίς ἥμαρτεν, οὗτος ἢ οἱ γονεῖς αὐτοῦ, ἵνα τυφλὸς γεννηθῇ;
3 Ἀπεκρίθη ᾿Ιησοῦς· οὔτε οὗτος ἥμαρτεν οὔτε οἱ γονεῖς αὐτοῦ, ἀλλ’ ἵνα φανερωθῇ τὰ ἔργα τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐν αὐτῷ.
4 Ἐμὲ δεῖ ἐργάζεσθαι τὰ ἔργα τοῦ πέμψαντός με ἕως ἡμέρα ἐστίν· ἔρχεται νὺξ ὅτε οὐδεὶς δύναται ἐργάζεσθαι.
5 Ὅταν ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ ᾦ, φῶς εἰμι τοῦ κόσμου.
6 Ταῦτα εἰπὼν ἔπτυσε χαμαὶ καὶ ἐποίησε πηλὸν ἐκ τοῦ πτύσματος, καὶ ἐπέχρισε τὸν πηλὸν ἐπὶ τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς τοῦ τυφλοῦ
7 καὶ εἶπεν αὐτῷ· ὕπαγε νίψαι εἰς τὴν κολυμβήθραν τοῦ Σιλωάμ, ὃ ἑρμηνεύεται ἀπεσταλμένος. Ἀπῆλθεν οὖν καὶ ἐνίψατο, καὶ ἦλθε βλέπων.
8 Οἱ οὖν γείτονες καὶ οἱ θεωροῦντες αὐτὸν τὸ πρότερον ὅτι τυφλὸς ἦν, ἔλεγον· οὐχ οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ καθήμενος καὶ προσαιτῶν;
9 Ἄλλοι ἔλεγον ὅτι οὗτός ἐστιν· ἄλλοι δὲ ὅτι ὅμοιος αὐτῷ ἐστιν. Ἐκεῖνος ἔλεγεν ὅτι ἐγώ εἰμι.
10 Ἔλεγον οὖν αὐτῷ· πῶς ἀνεῴχθησάν σου οἱ ὀφθαλμοί;
11 Ἀπεκρίθη ἐκεῖνος καὶ εἶπεν· ἄνθρωπος λεγόμενος Ἰησοῦς πηλὸν ἐποίησε καὶ ἐπέχρισέ μου τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς καὶ εἶπέ μοι· ὕπαγε εἰς τὴν κολυμβήθραν τοῦ Σιλωὰμ καὶ νίψαι· ἀπελθὼν δὲ καὶ νιψάμενος ἀνέβλεψα.
12 Εἶπον οὖν αὐτῷ· ποῦ ἐστιν ἐκεῖνος; λέγει· οὐκ οἶδα.
13 Ἄγουσιν αὐτὸν πρὸς τοὺς Φαρισαίους, τόν ποτε τυφλόν.
14 Ἦν δὲ σάββατον ὅτε τὸν πηλὸν ἐποίησεν ὁ Ἰησοῦς καὶ ἀνέῳξεν αὐτοῦ τοὺς ὀφθαλμούς.
15 Πάλιν οὖν ἠρώτων αὐτὸν καὶ οἱ Φαρισαῖοι πῶς ἀνέβλεψεν. Ὁ δὲ εἶπεν αὐτοῖς· πηλὸν ἐπέθηκέ μου ἐπὶ τοὺς ὀφθαλμούς, καὶ ἐνιψάμην, καὶ βλέπω.
16 Ἔλεγον οὖν ἐκ τῶν Φαρισαίων τινές· οὗτος ὁ ἄνθρωπος οὐκ ἔστι παρὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ, ὅτι τὸ σάββατον οὐ τηρεῖ. ἄλλοι ἔλεγον· πῶς δύναται ἄνθρωπος ἁμαρτωλὸς τοιαῦτα σημεῖα ποιεῖν; Καὶ σχίσμα ἦν ἐν αὐτοῖς.
17 Λέγουσι τῷ τυφλῷ πάλιν· σὺ τί λέγεις περὶ αὐτοῦ, ὅτι ἤνοιξέ σου τοὺς ὀφθαλμούς; Ὁ δὲ εἶπεν ὅτι προφήτης ἐστίν.
18 Οὐκ ἐπίστευσαν οὖν οἱ ᾿Ιουδαῖοι περὶ αὐτοῦ ὅτι τυφλὸς ἦν καὶ ἀνέβλεψεν, ἕως ὅτου ἐφώνησαν τοὺς γονεῖς αὐτοῦ τοῦ ἀναβλέψαντος
19 καὶ ἠρώτησαν αὐτοὺς λέγοντες· οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ υἱὸς ὑμῶν, ὃν ὑμεῖς λέγετε ὅτι τυφλὸς ἐγεννήθη; πῶς οὖν ἄρτι βλέπει;
20 Ἀπεκρίθησαν δὲ αὐτοῖς οἱ γονεῖς αὐτοῦ καὶ εἶπον· οἴδαμεν ὅτι οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ υἱὸς ἡμῶν καὶ ὅτι τυφλὸς ἐγεννήθη·
21 πῶς δὲ νῦν βλέπει οὐκ οἴδαμεν, ἢ τίς ἤνοιξεν αὐτοῦ τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς ἡμεῖς οὐκ οἴδαμεν· αὐτὸς ἡλικίαν ἔχει, αὐτὸν ἐρωτήσατε, αὐτὸς περὶ ἑαυτοῦ λαλήσει.
22 Ταῦτα εἶπον οἱ γονεῖς αὐτοῦ, ὅτι ἐφοβοῦντο τοὺς ᾿Ιουδαίους· ἤδη γὰρ συνετέθειντο οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι ἵνα, ἐάν τις αὐτὸν ὁμολογήσῃ Χριστόν, ἀποσυνάγωγος γένηται.
23 Διὰ τοῦτο οἱ γονεῖς αὐτοῦ εἶπον ὅτι ἡλικίαν ἔχει, αὐτὸν ἐρωτήσατε.
24 Ἐφώνησαν οὖν ἐκ δευτέρου τὸν ἄνθρωπον ὃς ἦν τυφλός, καὶ εἶπον αὐτῷ· δὸς δόξαν τῷ Θεῷ· ἡμεῖς οἴδαμεν ὅτι ὁ ἄνθρωπος οὗτος ἁμαρτωλός ἐστιν.
25 Ἀπεκρίθη οὖν ἐκεῖνος καὶ εἶπεν· εἰ ἁμαρτωλός ἐστιν οὐκ οἶδα· ἓν οἶδα, ὅτι τυφλὸς ὢν ἄρτι βλέπω.
26 Εἶπον δὲ αὐτῷ πάλιν· τί ἐποίησέ σοι; Πῶς ἤνοιξέ σου τοὺς ὀφθαλμούς;
27 Ἀπεκρίθη αὐτοῖς· εἶπον ὑμῖν ἤδη, καὶ οὐκ ἠκούσατε· τί πάλιν θέλετε ἀκούειν; Μὴ καὶ ὑμεῖς θέλετε αὐτοῦ μαθηταὶ γενέσθαι;
28 Ἐλοιδόρησαν αὐτὸν καὶ εἶπον· σὺ εἶ μαθητὴς ἐκείνου· ἡμεῖς δὲ τοῦ Μωυσέως ἐσμὲν μαθηταί.
29 Ἡμεῖς οἴδαμεν ὅτι Μωυσεῖ λελάληκεν ὁ Θεός· τοῦτον δὲ οὐκ οἴδαμεν πόθεν ἐστίν.
30 Ἀπεκρίθη ὁ ἄνθρωπος καὶ εἶπεν αὐτοῖς· ἐν γὰρ τούτῳ θαυμαστόν ἐστιν, ὅτι ὑμεῖς οὐκ οἴδατε πόθεν ἐστί, καὶ ἀνέῳξέ μου τοὺς ὀφθαλμούς.
31 Οἴδαμεν δὲ ὅτι ἁμαρτωλῶν ὁ Θεὸς οὐκ ἀκούει, ἀλλ’ ἐάν τις θεοσεβὴς ᾖ καὶ τὸ θέλημα αὐτοῦ ποιῇ, τούτου ἀκούει.
32 Ἐκ τοῦ αἰῶνος οὐκ ἠκούσθη ὅτι ἤνοιξέ τις ὀφθαλμοὺς τυφλοῦ γεγεννημένου.
33 Εἰ μὴ ἦν οὗτος παρὰ Θεοῦ, οὐκ ἠδύνατο ποιεῖν οὐδέν.
34 Ἀπεκρίθησαν καὶ εἶπον αὐτῷ· ἐν ἁμαρτίαις σὺ ἐγεννήθης ὅλος, καὶ σὺ διδάσκεις ἡμᾶς; Καὶ ἐξέβαλον αὐτὸν ἔξω.
35 Ἤκουσεν ὁ Ἰησοῦς ὅτι ἐξέβαλον αὐτὸν ἔξω, καὶ εὑρὼν αὐτὸν εἶπεν αὐτῷ· σὺ πιστεύεις εἰς τὸν υἱὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ;
36 Ἀπεκρίθη ἐκεῖνος καὶ εἶπε· καὶ τίς ἐστι, Κύριε, ἵνα πιστεύσω εἰς αὐτόν;
37 Εἶπε δὲ αὐτῷ ὁ Ἰησοῦς· καὶ ἑώρακας αὐτὸν καὶ ὁ λαλῶν μετὰ σοῦ ἐκεῖνός ἐστιν.
38 Ὁ δὲ ἔφη· πιστεύω, Κύριε· καὶ προσεκύνησεν αὐτῷ.
39 Καὶ εἶπεν ὁ Ἰησοῦς· εἰς κρῖμα ἐγὼ εἰς τὸν κόσμον τοῦτον ἦλθον, ἵνα οἱ μὴ βλέποντες βλέπωσι καὶ οἱ βλέποντες τυφλοὶ γένωνται.
40 Καὶ ἤκουσαν ἐκ τῶν Φαρισαίων ταῦτα οἱ ὄντες μετ’ αὐτοῦ, καὶ εἶπον αὐτῷ· μὴ καὶ ἡμεῖς τυφλοί ἐσμεν;
41 Εἶπεν αὐτοῖς ὁ Ἰησοῦς· εἰ τυφλοὶ ἦτε, οὐκ ἂν εἴχετε ἁμαρτίαν· νῦν δὲ λέγετε ὅτι βλέπομεν· ἡ οὖν ἁμαρτία ὑμῶν μένει.
Comments
‘Blindness’ and ‘sight’ are key to this lengthy pericope. In Greek, *εἴδω (cf. Latin video), ‘to see’, is related etymologically to οἶδα, ‘to know’. Knowledge is figurative sight. Plato’s ‘ideas’, ἰδέαι, i.e. his abstract archetypes or forms, are connected to the verb ‘to see’.
[1] τυφλὸν: τυφλός = ‘blind’ is first attested in the Iliad: Zeus struck king Lycurgus blind to punish him for brazenly attacking the infant god Dionysus (Iliad 6.139). The word is repeated throughout the passage no less than thirteen times after v. 1 (vv. 2, 6, 8, 13, 17, 18, 19, 20, 24, 25, 32, 40, 41).
[2] , τίς ἥμαρτεν, οὗτος ἢ οἱ γονεῖς αὐτοῦ, ἵνα τυφλὸς γεννηθῇ;: ἥμαρτεν, 2nd aor., 3rd pers. sg. < ἁμαρτάνω, absol., ‘I err’; ‘I sin’ (cl. Greek: LSJ, s.v.); ‘I act sinfully, I sin’ (LXX & NT Greek: Muraoka & EDNT, s.v.).
ἵνα τυφλὸς γεννηθῇ: strictly speaking, this purpose clause, lit., ‘in order that he may be born blind’ refers to the future, whereas the context plainly suggests that the question concerns a past event. In LXX Gk, ἵνα + aor. subj. (as here) can express a result (Muraoka s.v. ἵνα, 2). Here too the clause is consecutive, ‘so that he was born blind’. It elucidates and amplifies the adverbial (temporal) phrase in v. 1, ἐκ γενετῆς, ‘from birth’, ‘congenitally’. This prep. phrase is already found in Homer and cl. Gk (LSJ, s.v. γενετή).
[3] ἀλλ’ ἵνα φανερωθῇ: here the clause introduced by ἵνα is final.
[4] Ἐμὲ δεῖ ἐργάζεσθαι τὰ ἔργα: the pers. pron. Ἐμὲ at the head of the sentence is emphatic. Lit., ‘it is necessary/ obligatory for ME to work the (specific) works’, hence ‘I must perform, carry out the specific works (or tasks)’. ἐργάζομαι ἔργα in ancient Greek is used properly of farm work or other manual labour (cf. LSJ, s.v.). ἔργα = cognate acc. object. The phrase ἐργάζομαι ἔργα is frequent in LXX and NT (EDNT, p. 48, s.v. ἐργάζομαι ).
ἔρχεται νὺξ ὅτε οὐδεὶς δύναται ἐργάζεσθαι: the sentence follows on without connection to the preceding one; such absence of a conjunction (asyndeton) also occurs in Greek of earlier periods, and implies a causal connection to the preceding sentence. Thus: ‘(because) the night is coming…’ The present tense of the two vbs in this sentence represent a ‘prophetic present’, which expresses a future certainty and is also found in cl. Gk. (This type of future has been discussed in other comments.)
[6] Ταῦτα εἰπὼν ἔπτυσε χαμαὶ καὶ ἐποίησε πηλὸν ἐκ τοῦ πτύσματος, καὶ ἐπέχρισε τὸν πηλὸν ἐπὶ τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς τοῦ τυφλοῦ: ἔπτυσε, aor., 2nd pers. sg., πτύω, absol., ‘I spit’ (cl. Greek); the verb is onomatopoieic (imitative) like the Engl. ‘spit’.
πτύσματος: genet. sg., πτύσμα, τό, ‘sputum, spittle’ (cl. Greek), also onomatopoeic.
χαμαὶ: adv. (place), ‘on the ground’ (already in Homer). Cf. Engl. chameleon, ‘lion on the ground’.
ἐποίησε: aor., 3rd pers. sg., ποιῶ (έω), ‘Ι make, fashion, create’, hence ποιητής, ‘maker’, ‘poet’, ‘creator’.
ἐπέχρισε: aor., 3rd pers. sg., επιχρίω (a compound vb), ‘I anoint’, ‘smear’ (already in Homer); see LSJ, s.v. Cf. Χριστός. ἐπέχρισε recurs in v. 11.
[7] ὕπαγε νίψαι εἰς τὴν κολυμβήθραν: ὕπαγε, 2nd pers. imper. in the present < ὑπάγω, ‘go, go away, go forth’ (standard in koine and frequent in NT, esp. in miracle accounts).
νίψαι: 2nd pers. sg. imper., aor. < νίπτομαι (middle voice), ‘wash my face, hands, or feet’ (a favourite vb in St John). The man is to wash his face, not bathe. The vb will recur in this v. and in v. 15.
Ἀπῆλθεν οὖν καὶ ἐνίψατο, καὶ ἦλθε βλέπων: note the opposites, Ἀπῆλθεν, ‘he went away, departed’ (< ἀπ-έρχομαι) and ἦλθε, ‘he came back, returned’ (< ἔρχομαι). βλέπων, ‘able to see’, coming at the end of the sentence, is emphatic. Βλέπω can mean the opposite of ‘I am blind’ as here and in Sophocles, Oedipus Rex 302 (see LSJ, s.v.). The vb will recur in v. 15, and cf. the cmpd ἀναβλέπω in vv. 11, 15, and 18.
[11] ἀνέβλεψα: 1st pers. sg., aor. < ἀναβλέπω βλέπω, lit., ‘look up’ (in cl. Gk, LXX, & NT); but also (in cl. Gk, LXX, and NT) ‘receive my sight’, ‘recover my eyesight’, the sense required here. One can imagine the blind man looking up (ἀνα-) and seeing. As the aorists in v. 7 (immed. above), the aor. tense ἀνέβλεψα indicates a one-off action and hence an instantaneous miracle.
[13] τόν ποτε τυφλόν: ποτε is an indefinite adv., ‘once’ (referring to the past, as in Engl. ‘once upon a time’). Here it means in effect ‘formerly, erstwhile’.
[25] ἓν οἶδα, ὅτι τυφλὸς ὢν ἄρτι βλέπω: ‘I can see’ (βλέπω) at the end of the sentence is climactic.
τυφλὸς ὢν: concessive participle, ‘albeit blind’, ‘though I was blind’. A dramatic antithesis. It is appropriate that οἶδα ‘I know’, ‘I see mentally’ is echoed by the genuinely visual verb, βλέπω.
[34] ἐξέβαλον αὐτὸν ἔξω: ‘they threw him out, expelled him’; ἔξω, adv., ‘out, out of’ is construed with a vb of motion. As it is inherent in the vb ἐξ–έβαλον, the adv. is redundant but, for that reason, emphatic.
[39] ἵνα οἱ μὴ βλέποντες βλέπωσι καὶ οἱ βλέποντες τυφλοὶ γένωνται: structurally the purpose clause is a chiasmus (A~B, b~a: the blind ~ see, those with sight ~ become blind). It neatly enacts miraculous topsy-turviness.
Insights into Biblical Greek Grammar and Syntax 