Discovery BoxJohn 9:39-41 
Context9:39 Jesus 1 said,] 2 “For judgment I have come into this world, so that those who do not see may gain their sight, 3 and the ones who see may become blind.”
9:40 Some of the Pharisees 4 who were with him heard this 5 and asked him, 6 “We are not blind too, are we?” 7 9:41 Jesus replied, 8 “If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin, 9 but now because you claim that you can see, 10 your guilt 11 remains.” 12
1 tn Grk “And Jesus.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, καί (kai) has not been translated here.
2 tc ‡ Some early and important witnesses (Ì75 א* W b sams ac2 mf) lack the words, “He said, ‘Lord, I believe,’ and he worshiped him. Jesus said,” (vv. 38-39a). This is weighty evidence for the omission of these words. It is difficult to overstate the value of Ì75 here, since it is the only currently available papyrus ms extant for the text of John 9:38-39. Further, א is an important and early Alexandrian witness for the omission. The versional testimony and codex W also give strong support to the omission. Nearly all other
3 tn Or “that those who do not see may see.”
4 sn See the note on Pharisees in 1:24.
5 tn Grk “heard these things.”
6 tn Grk “and said to him.”
7 tn Questions prefaced with μή (mh) in Greek anticipate a negative answer. This can sometimes be indicated by using a “tag” at the end in English (here the tag is “are we?”).
8 tn Grk “Jesus said to them.”
9 tn Grk “you would not have sin.”
10 tn Grk “now because you say, ‘We see…’”
11 tn Or “your sin.”
12 sn Because you claim that you can see, your guilt remains. The blind man received sight physically, and this led him to see spiritually as well. But the Pharisees, who claimed to possess spiritual sight, were spiritually blinded. The reader might recall Jesus’ words to Nicodemus in 3:10, “Are you the teacher of Israel and don’t understand these things?” In other words, to receive Jesus was to receive the light of the world, to reject him was to reject the light, close one’s eyes, and become blind. This is the serious sin of which Jesus had warned before (8:21-24). The blindness of such people was incurable since they had rejected the only cure that exists (cf. 12:39-41).
