What Does John 9:26 Mean?

Then they said to him again, What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?

John 9:26 · SDV

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.

This verse in the King James

King James wording

King James Version

Then said they to him again, What did he to thee? how opened he thine eyes?

THE KEY

The question asks how the eyes opened, but the verb points to a change in what can now be seen.

THE MEANING

This verse meets you when a change in your sight becomes a subject of questioning: what happened matters, and so does what has become visible. The repeated question presses for the way the opening happened, while the opened eyes remain the plain fact before them.

THE ROOT

ἤνοιξεν

ēnoixen

GROWS FROM

ἀνοίγω

anoigō

to open, open up, make accessible

“opened” in this verse is ēnoixen. The verb describes an opening that makes sight possible. Its related form is also used when eyes open to recognition and when a heart opens to receive; the same image reaches beyond physical vision.

ALSO GROWS

diēnoichthēsan: were opened

διηνοίχθησαν

In Luke 24:31, this related form describes eyes opening so the travelers recognize Jesus. The opening changes what they can perceive.

diēnoixen: opened fully

διήνοιξεν

In Acts 16:14, the related form describes the Lord opening Lydia’s heart to attend. The image extends from seeing to receiving.

THE PATTERN

Opening makes what was unseen available to perception.

And God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of waters, and went and filled the skin with waters, and gave the boy drink.

Genesis 21:19 · SDVHer eyes open, and provision that was not in view becomes visible.

The LORD opens the eyes of the blind; the LORD straightens the bent; the LORD loves the aligned.

Psalm 146:8 · SDVOpening the blind person’s eyes appears alongside being lifted from a bowed-down state.

And their eyes were thrown open, and they recognized him, and he became unseen to them.

Luke 24:31 · SDVOpened eyes reveal a presence that had been with them but was not yet recognized.

THE THREAD

And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple from the city of Thyatira, who stood in awe of God, listened to us. The Lord opened her heart wide, and she held fast to the things Paul spoke.

Acts 16:14 · SDV

The same Greek verb family that describes opened eyes here describes the Lord opening Lydia’s heart. The image moves from seeing to attending: an opening makes reception possible.

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