Bible Strands
John 9:25
He answered, “Whether He is a sinner I do not know. There is one thing I do know: I was blind, but now I see!”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The healed blind man speaks to the Pharisees during their second interrogation about Jesus. He responds directly to their command to give glory to God and their declaration that Jesus is a sinner.
The words — The Greek εἰ ἁμαρτωλὸς ἐστιν (ei hamartōlos estin) literally renders "whether he is a sinner." The man places this conditional phrase at the start of his reply to mark his boundary of knowledge before stating his certainty.
The thread — The contrast between human judgment and observable reality appears in John 9:30, where the man notes his interrogators do not know Jesus's origin despite his eyes being opened. This pattern of empirical witness aligns with the testimony principle in 1 John 5:10 and the direct pointing to a healing act in John 5:11.
Why it lands — The text states the man's refusal to adjudicate Jesus's moral status while insisting on the factual report of his own sight. It requires the reader to separate verifiable personal experience from theological condemnation without adding devotional explanation.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
He answered and said, Whether he be a sinner or no, I know not: one thing I know, that, whereas I was blind, now I see.
Cross-references
- John 9:30 “That is remarkable indeed!” the man said. “You do not know where He is from, and yet He opened my eyes.
- 1 John 5:10 Whoever believes in the Son of God has this testimony within him; whoever does not believe God has made Him out to be a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has given about His Son.
- John 5:11 But he answered, “The man who made me well told me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk.’”