9:18 Now the Jewish religious leaders 3 refused to believe 4 that he had really been blind and had gained his sight until at last they summoned 5 the parents of the man who had become able to see. 6
1 tn Or “this.” The Greek pronoun can mean either “this one” or “this” (BDAG 740 s.v. οὗτος 1).
2 sn There is irony in the Samaritans’ declaration that Jesus was really the Savior of the world, an irony foreshadowed in the prologue to the Fourth Gospel (1:11): “He came to his own, and his own did not receive him.” Yet the Samaritans welcomed Jesus and proclaimed him to be not the Jewish Messiah only, but the Savior of the world.
3 tn Or “the Jewish religious authorities”; Grk “the Jews.” In NT usage the term ᾿Ιουδαῖοι (Ioudaioi) may refer to the entire Jewish people, the residents of Jerusalem and surrounding territory, the authorities in Jerusalem, or merely those who were hostile to Jesus. (For further information see R. G. Bratcher, “‘The Jews’ in the Gospel of John,” BT 26 [1975]: 401-9.) Here the phrase refers mainly to the Pharisees, mentioned by name in John 9:13, 15, 16. References in this context to Pharisees and to the synagogue (v. 22) suggest an emphasis on the religious nature of the debate which is brought out by the translation “the Jewish religious leaders.”
4 tn The Greek text contains the words “about him” at this point: “the Jewish authorities did not believe about him…”
5 tn Grk “they called.”
6 tn Or “the man who had gained his sight.”
7 tn Grk And they.” The conjunction καί (kai, “and”) has not been translated here in keeping with the tendency of contemporary English style to use shorter sentences.
8 tn Or “received.”
9 tn The word “them” is not in the Greek text, but is implied. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context.
10 tn Or “truly.”
11 tn Or have come to know.”