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They therefore were asking him, “How were your eyes opened?”
John 9:10 · World English Bible
Parallel translations
  • KJV Therefore said they unto him, How were thine eyes opened?
  • BSB “How then were your eyes opened?” they asked.
  • NKJV Therefore they said to him, “How were your eyes opened?”
  • NASB So they were saying to him, “How then were your eyes opened?”
  • NLT They asked, “Who healed you? What happened?”

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

The people ask how his eyes were opened. They seek an explanation for the obvious miracle.

Overview

Confronted with undeniable change, the crowd presses for the means of healing. Their question gives the man opportunity to recount what Jesus did. It advances the narrative toward the formal inquiry by the Pharisees and the man's growing testimony about Christ.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 7

  • John 9:26They said to him again, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?”
  • John 9:21but how he now sees, we don’t know; or who opened his eyes, we don’t know. He is of age. Ask him. He will speak for himself.”
  • 1 Cor 15:35But someone will say, “How are the dead raised?” and, “With what kind of body do they come?”
  • Eccl 11:5As you don’t know what is the way of the wind, nor how the bones grow in the womb of her who is with child; even so you don’t know the work of God who does all.
  • Mark 4:27and should sleep and rise night and day, and the seed should spring up and grow, he doesn’t know how.
  • John 9:15Again therefore the Pharisees also asked him how he received his sight. He said to them, “He put mud on my eyes, I washed, and I see.”
  • John 3:9Nicodemus answered him, “How can these things be?”

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (3)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — John videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on John 9:10YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on JohnMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

John declares him plainly: the eternal Word made flesh, the Lamb of God, the great 'I AM' — bread, light, door, shepherd, way, truth, life, resurrection — that you may believe and have life in his name.

How John 9:10 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.