Bible Strands
John 9:8
At this, his neighbors and those who had formerly seen him begging began to ask, “Isn’t this the man who used to sit and beg?”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Immediately after the blind man returns from washing at the Pool of Siloam, his neighbors and former onlookers confront him with a direct question about his identity.
The words — The participle `θεωροῦντες` (theōrountes) translates literally as "having seen," specifying the group that previously witnessed his begging before his physical change.
The thread — The narrative of a needy person being lifted aligns with 1 Samuel 2:8, while the theme of public identification appears in 1 Samuel 21:11 and the Jericho healing account in Mark 10:46.
Why it lands — The passage requires readers to weigh observable physical change against personal testimony, establishing that the man’s own declaration anchors the identity question.
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
The neighbours therefore, and they which before had seen him that he was blind, said, Is not this he that sat and begged?
Cross-references
- 1 Samuel 2:8 He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap. He seats them among princes and bestows on them a throne of honor. For the foundations of the earth are the LORD’s, and upon them He has set the world.
- 1 Samuel 21:11 But the servants of Achish said to him, “Is this not David, the king of the land? Did they not sing about him in their dances, saying: ‘Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands’?”
- Mark 10:46 Next, they came to Jericho. And as Jesus and His disciples were leaving Jericho with a large crowd, a blind beggar named Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, was sitting beside the road.
- Luke 16:20 And a beggar named Lazarus lay at his gate, covered with sores
- Luke 18:35 As Jesus drew near to Jericho, a blind man was sitting beside the road, begging.
- Acts 3:2 And a man who was lame from birth was being carried to the temple gate called Beautiful, where he was put every day to beg from those entering the temple courts.
- Ruth 1:19 So Naomi and Ruth traveled until they came to Bethlehem. When they entered Bethlehem, the whole town was stirred because of them, and the women of the town exclaimed, “Can this be Naomi?”