John 9 12

John 9:12 kjv

Then said they unto him, Where is he? He said, I know not.

John 9:12 nkjv

Then they said to him, "Where is He?" He said, "I do not know."

John 9:12 niv

"Where is this man?" they asked him. "I don't know," he said.

John 9:12 esv

They said to him, "Where is he?" He said, "I do not know."

John 9:12 nlt

"Where is he now?" they asked. "I don't know," he replied.

John 9 verses

John 9 12 Meaning

John 9:12 records the healed man's sincere declaration of ignorance regarding Jesus's current location, in response to the probing question from those around him. This verse highlights Jesus's intentional and often mysterious method of operating – performing miracles and then withdrawing – thereby allowing the initial encounter to be purely about the divine work without immediate personal or political attachment to the Healer's physical presence. It underscores that initial faith or experience of God's power does not always entail a full understanding of His identity or whereabouts at that moment.

John 9 12 Context

John chapter 9 recounts the pivotal event of Jesus healing a man born blind. The chapter opens with Jesus’ disciples inquiring if the man's blindness was due to his own sin or his parents' sin, reflecting common belief. Jesus rejects this, stating the blindness was to display God's works. Jesus then used mud mixed with His saliva to open the man’s eyes, instructing him to wash in the pool of Siloam (Jn 9:6-7). This miraculous healing occurs on the Sabbath, sparking immediate controversy and escalating the already tense conflict between Jesus and the Jewish religious authorities, particularly the Pharisees.

After his healing, the man's neighbors and others who recognized him question his identity. When he affirms he is the man who was blind, they ask how he was healed, and he recounts the simple facts. At John 9:12, the inquiry turns from how he was healed to where the Healer, Jesus, has gone. This question by the crowd, who later bring him before the Pharisees (Jn 9:13), reveals a desire to find Jesus, likely for confrontation or scrutiny rather than admiration. The healed man’s response, "I do not know," perfectly sets the stage for the deepening theological and personal drama that unfolds in the rest of the chapter, highlighting the gap between experiencing God's power and fully understanding the Person behind it.

John 9 12 Word analysis

• They (εἶπαν / eipan): Refers to the people interrogating the man. While John 9:8 mentions "neighbors and those who had seen him formerly," by John 9:13, it becomes clear that these interrogators include the Pharisees or are acting on their behalf, signifying institutional scrutiny and growing opposition to Jesus.

• said to him (αὐτῷ / autō): Direct address, highlighting the intense pressure and the focus of the interrogation on the newly sighted man.

• Where (Ποῦ / Pou): A simple spatial question, yet it carries immense weight. The interrogators' motivation is not benign curiosity; it's a search for Jesus, primarily to challenge or condemn him for what they considered Sabbath-breaking. This question foreshadows attempts to apprehend Jesus.

• is he (ἐστίν / estin): Simple verb indicating current presence. The intent is to ascertain his current whereabouts for follow-up action.

• He said (ἔφη / ephē): A common Greek verb for "he said," signifying a straightforward declaration by the man who was blind. His response is factual and without pretense.

• I do not know (Οὐκ οἶδα / Ouk oida):

  • Οὐκ (ouk): Strong negation, "not at all." The man genuinely lacks this information.
  • οἶδα (oida): "I know," referring to intuitive or experienced knowledge, as opposed to factual or learned knowledge (ginōskō). The healed man truly did not have the information; Jesus had simply performed the miracle and then departed without revealing His identity or location. This emphasizes Jesus’ humility and his pattern of withdrawing after miracles (e.g., Matt 12:15-16; Jn 6:15), often to avoid immediate popularity or political misunderstandings, and to allow the miracle to speak for itself. It also reveals the man's simple, non-preconceived experience of Jesus.

• Words-group analysis:

  • "They said to him, 'Where is he?'": This question marks a transition from inquiring about how the man was healed (John 9:10) to actively seeking who did the healing and where he could be found. It reflects the rising concern of the authorities and society about Jesus’s presence and actions, highlighting their desire for control and confrontation. The direct nature of the question reveals their underlying intent to investigate Jesus, not to glorify God for the miracle.
  • "He said, 'I do not know.'": This concise answer is a testament to the man's sincerity and the nature of his encounter with Jesus. It suggests that Jesus did not linger for adulation or discussion. For the man, the immediate impact was the restoration of sight; full knowledge of the Healer's identity and ongoing presence was not part of that initial divine intervention. This confession of ignorance highlights the authenticity of his testimony later in the chapter and underscores the process of faith and revelation.

John 9 12 Bonus section

• The stark contrast between the religious leaders who claim to know God (Jn 9:24, "We know that this man is a sinner") and the man born blind who professes "I do not know" (Jn 9:12), yet later clearly articulates the divine origin of Jesus (Jn 9:30-33), is a profound Johannine irony. Those who think they know are spiritually blind, while the formerly blind man, who starts with confessed ignorance, moves to profound insight.
• Jesus’s deliberate act of not revealing his full identity or remaining with the man after the healing mirrors other instances where he sought to avoid being made a king or prematurely fulfilling certain expectations (Jn 6:15). This controlled revelation demonstrates His divine timing and wisdom.
• The absence of Jesus in this specific verse is a deliberate literary device that heightens the tension and sets up the dramatic re-encounter and revelation in John 9:35-38. It allows the man's testimony to stand alone, uninfluenced by Jesus's direct presence during the interrogation, making his defense of Jesus all the more powerful and convicting to his questioners.

John 9 12 Commentary

John 9:12 acts as a crucial pause in the unfolding drama of the healing of the man born blind. It exposes the interrogators' true agenda—not genuine spiritual inquiry, but a legalistic hunt for Jesus—and simultaneously reveals the simple, unembellished truth of the healed man’s initial experience. His "I do not know" is a factual statement of Jesus's physical absence but profoundly illustrates the initial phase of faith: an experience of God's saving power (seeing), followed by the recipient’s immediate, joyful benefit, often without a full, immediate comprehension of the divine Agent’s identity or location. Jesus’s withdrawal here serves several purposes: it prevents Him from being immediately seized, it focuses attention on the miracle itself rather than on Jesus's celebrity, and it sets the stage for a later, more personal revelation to the man (John 9:35-38). This dynamic teaches us that an initial encounter with Christ, though transformative, often leads to a deeper, ongoing journey of discovery and relationship. The man's lack of immediate knowledge did not negate the reality of his healing or the genuineness of his testimony; rather, it underscores the progressive nature of spiritual understanding.