50
”
786
over.18. αὐτὸν ἐρωτήσατε. 24. p Zech, iv. I2; Six times in N.T, ὅτι 6 ἄνθρωπος οὗτος ἁμαρτωλός ἐστιν.” ἄρτι βλέπω.” ἤνοιξέ σου τοὺς ὀφθαλμούς ; ἤδη, καὶ οὐκ ἠκούσατε"' τί πάλιν θέλετε ἀκούειν; θέλετε αὐτοῦ μαθηταὶ γενέσθαι ; ” οἴδαμεν πόθεν ἐστίν. q Jas. iv.3; Καὶ ἀνέωξέ µου τοὺς ὀφθαλμούς. v. 16.
AN KATA TOANNHN ΧΙ. ᾿Εφώνησαν οὖν 5 ἐκ δευτέρου τὸν ἄνθρωπον ὃς ἦν τυφλὸς, καὶ εἶπον αὐτῷ, “Ads δόξαν τῷ Θεῷ: ἡμεῖς οἴδαμεν 25. ᾿Απεκρίθη οὖν ἐκεῖνος καὶ εἶπεν, “Et ἁμαρτωλός ἐστιν, οὐκ οἶδα " év οἶδα, ὅτι τυφλὸς dv, 26. Εἶπον δὲ αὐτῷ πάλιν, “Ti ἐποίησέσοι; πῶς 27. ᾿Απεκρίθη αὐτοῖς, ''Εἶπον ὅμιν μὴ καὶ ὑμεῖς 28. Ἑλοιδόρησαν οὖν αὐτὸν, καὶ εἶπον, “Σὺ ef μαθητὴς ἐκείνου: ἡμεῖς δὲ τοῦ Μωσέως ἐσμὲν µαθηταί. 20. ἡμεῖς οἴδαμεν ὅτι Μωσῇ λελάληκεν 6 Θεός: τοῦτον δὲ οὐκ 30. ᾿Απεκρίθη 6 ἄνθρωπος καὶ εἶπεν αὐτοῖς, “Ey γὰρ τούτῳ θαυµαστόν ἐστιν, ὅτι ὑμεῖς οὐκ οἴδατε πόθεν ἐστὶ, 31. Ἱοἴδαμεν δὲ ὅτι ἁμαρτωλῶν ὁ Θεὸς οὐκ ἀκούει" ἀλλ᾽ ἐάν τις θεοσεβὴς 4, καὶ τὸ θέληµα αὐτοῦ
~ , r Here only; ποιῃ, τούτου ἀκούει. cp. Lk. i. 70, etc.
as if he were a leper. This, to persons so poor as the parents of this beggar, would mean ruin and death (see Eders- heim, Life of Christ, ii. 183-4).—Ver. 24. Baffled by the parents the Pharisees turn again, ἐκ Sevtépov, a second time to the man and say: Ads δόξαν τῷ Θεῷ . . . ἐστιν. They no longer deny the miracle, but bid the man ascribe the glory of it to the right quarter ; to God: not to Jesus, because they can assure him on know- ledge of their own, ἡμεῖς οἴδαμεν, that He is a sinner.—Ver. 25. But they find in the man a kind of independence and ob- stinacy they are not used to. Et ἁμαρτωλός . . . Βλέπω. He does not question their knowledge, and he draws no express inferences from what has happened, but of one thing he is sure, that he was blind and that now he sees.— Ver. 26. Thwarted by the man’s boldness and perceiving that it was hopeless to deny the fact, they re- turn to the question of the means used. Τί ἐποίησέ σοι; At this the man loses patience. Their crafty and silly attempt to lead him into some inconsistent state- ment seems to him despicable, and he breaks out (ver. 27): Εἶπον . . . γενέσθαι. No more galling gibe could have been hurled at them than this man’s ‘Are you also wishing to become His disciples ?”—Ver. 28. It serves its purpose of exasperating them and bring- ing them to the direct expression of their feelings. ᾿Ελοιδόρησαν . . . ἐστίν. “They reviled him.” On ἐκείνου Bengel has: ‘‘Hoc vocabulo removent Jesum a sese’’.—Ver, 29. We know that
τις ὀφθαλμοὺς τυφλοῦ γεγεννηµένου.
32. ᾿ ἐκ τοῦ αἰῶνος οὐκ ἠκούσθη, ὅτι ἤνοιξέ
33. εἰ μὴ ἣν οὗτος παρὰ
‘Moses was a prophet, commissioned by
God to speak for Him (for λελάληκεν see Heb. i. 1); and if this man is commis- sioned He must show proof of His being sent from God, and not leave us in ignorance of His origin.—Ver. 30. This, in the face of the miracle, seems to the man a surprising statement: Ἐν yap τούτῳ, ‘“‘why, herein is that which is marvellous”. τὸ θαυµαστόν is the true reading. For the use of yap in rejoinders see Winer, p. 559, and Klotz, p. 242. It seems to imply an entire repudiation of what has just been said: “You utter an absurdity, for...” The marvel was that they should hesitate about the origin of one who had such power as was manifest in the cure wrought on him.—Ver. 31. This is elaborated in νετ. 31: οἵἴδαμεν .. . ἀκούε. They themselves had owned it a work of God, ver. 24; but God is not persuaded or induced to give such power to sinners, but only to those who do His will. This man therefore, were He a sinner, would have been unable to do anything, not to speak of such a work as has never before been done. Watkins expresses it as a syllogism. (1) God heareth not sinners but only those who worship Him and do His will; (2) That God heareth this man is certain, for such a miracle could be performed only by divine power; (3) This man, therefore, is not a sinner but is from God.—Ver. 32. ἐκ Tov αἰῶνος, rather “from of old’? than ‘since the world began”. Cf. Lk. i. 70, τῶν ἀπ᾿ αἰῶνος προφητῶν, and Acts. iii. 21, xv. 18. To