To see (iva ién). The Greek construction is peculiar. Lit., that he should see; i.e., in the knowledge or anticipation that he should see.
My day. The exact meaning of the expression is altogether uncertain.
57. Thou art not yet fifty years old (zevtyxovta érn ove éxyeis). Lit., thow hast not yet fifty years. The age of com- pleted manhood.
Hast thou seen. Again misquoting the Lord’s words.
58. Was, | am (yevéoSat, éyo eiur). It is important to ob- serve the distinction between the two verbs. Abraham’s life was under the conditions of time, and therefore had a temporal beginning. Hence, Abraham came into being, or was born (yevéoSar). Jesus’ life was from and to eternity. Hence the formula for absolute, timeless existence, J am (éyw eius). See on i. 33 vil. 34.
59. Going through the midst of them, and so passed by. The best texts omit.
1. From his birth (é« yeverjs). The word only here in the New Testament.
2. This man, or his parents. It was a common Jewish view that the merits or demerits of the parents would appear in the children, and that the thoughts of a mother might affect the moral state of her unborn offspring. The apostasy of one of the greatest Rabbis had, in popular belief, been caused by the sinful delight of his mother in passing through an idol grove.
3. But that (dA iva). There is an ellipsis: but (he was born blind) that.
4. | must work (gue Se? épydfeoIar). The best texts read jas, us, instead of eué, me. Lit., of vs necessary for us to work. The disciples are thus associated by Jesus with Himself. Compare iii. 11.
Sent me, not ws. The Son sends the disciples, as the Father sends the Son.
5. As long as (drav). More correctly, whensoever. Rev, when. Whether in my incarnation, or before my incarnation, or after it. Compare John i. 4, 10.
The light. See on viii. 12. The article is wanting. West- cott says, “Christ is ‘light to the world,’ as well as ‘the one Light of the world’ The character is unchangeable, but the display of the character varies with the occasion.”
6. On the ground (yapal). Only here and xviii. 6.
Anointed (ééypice). Only here and ver. 11. The spittle was regarded as having a peculiar virtue, not only as a remedy for diseases of the eye, but generally as a charm, so that it was employed in incantations. Persius, describing an old crone handling an infant, says: “She takes the babe from the cradle, and with her middle finger moistens its foreliead and lips with spittle to keep away the evil eye” (“Sat.,” ii., 832, 33). Tacitus relates how one of the common people of Alexandria impor- tuned Vespasian for a remedy for his blindness, and prayed him to sprinkle his cheeks and the balls of his eyes with the secretion of his mouth (‘“ History,” iv., 81). Pliny says: “We are to believe that by continually anointing each morning with fasting saliva (7.e., before eating), inflammations of the eyes are prevented” (“ Natural History,” xxviii, 7). Some editors read here éwéInxev, put upon, for éréypucev, anointed.
Of the blind man. Omit, and read as Rev., his eyes.
GOSPEL OF JOHN. 183 ". Wash (vias). Wash the eyes. See on Acts xvi. 33.
Siloam. By Rabbinical writers, Shcloach: Septuagint, 2- Awd: Vulgate and Latin fathers, Siloe. Josephus, generally, Siloa. In scripture always called a pool or tank, built, and not natural. The site is clearly identified in a recess at the south- eastern termination of Zion, near the junction of the valley of Tyropeon with that of the Kidron. According to Dr. Thom- son, it is a parallelogram about fifty-three feet long and eigh- teen wide, and in its perfect condition must have been nearly twenty feet deep. It is thus the smallest of all the Jerusalem pools. The water flows into it through a subterraneous conduit from the Fountain of the Virgin, and the waters are marked by an ebb and flow. Dr. Robinson witnessed a rise and fall of one foot in ten minutes. The conduit has been traversed by two explorers, Dr. Robinson and Captain Warren. See the account of Warren’s exploration in Thomson, “Southern Pales- tine and Jerusalem,” p. 460. On the word pool, see on v. 2.