What Does John 9:23 Mean?
So his parents said, He is full-grown; ask him.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
Therefore said his parents, He is of age; ask him.THE KEY
His parents name his maturity, then return the question to the person who sees.
THE MEANING
His parents attest that he is grown and direct the question to him, the one whose sight is being examined. The verse gives his own perception a voice that someone else’s account cannot replace.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It dissolves the belief that another person’s testimony can stand in for the testimony of the one who experienced the thing.
THE ROOT
ἡλικίαν
hēlikían
GROWS FROM
ἡλικ-
hēlik-
Age, stature, or size: the measure of years or bodily growth.
“full-grown” in this verse is hēlikían. English separates chronological age from stature, but Greek ἡλικία can hold both in one word. His parents name his maturity, and the sentence then places the answer with him.
ALSO GROWS
hēlikia: The noun can refer to age or bodily stature.
ἡλικία
Luke 2:52 uses this same word for Jesus’ “stature,” showing how the word spans age and growth.
hēlikos: A related form that expresses magnitude or size.
ἡλίκος
James 3:5 uses this form for “how great,” keeping the idea of measure within the same word family.
THE PATTERN
When a person’s experience is under question, their own testimony carries what another person’s account cannot.
Come and hear, all you who stand in awe of God, and I will recount what he has done for my living soul.For we cannot keep from speaking what we have perceived and heard.THE THREAD
He answered, Whether he misses the mark or not, I do not know. One thing I know, that I was blind, and now I see.The parents’ “ask him” reaches its answer here. He sets aside what he cannot say about the healer and gives the testimony only he can give: he was blind, and now he sees.
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