9:11a

He answered: The word He refers to the man who had been blind.

The man they call Jesus: This phrase identifies who healed the blind man. The verb call is passive and there are at least two ways to translate it:

• Use a passive verb. For example:

Someone named Jesus (Contemporary English Version)

• Use an active verb. For example:

The man they call Jesus (New International Version)
-or-
The man whose name is Jesus

made some mud and anointed my eyes: The man described how Jesus healed him. See how you refer to these actions in 9:6.

9:11b

and He told me to go to Siloam and wash: These words indicate that Jesus told the blind man to go and wash in the pool called Siloam. See the General Comment to see how to translate this expression using indirect speech. In some languages it may be natural to begin a new sentence here. For example:

11a He answered, “Someone named Jesus made some mud and spread it on my eyes. 11b He told me to go and wash it off in Siloam Pool….”

wash: The word wash indicates that Jesus wanted the man to wash the mud off his eyes. See how you translated 9:7a, b. In some languages it may be natural to make explicit that Siloam was the name of a pool. For example:

wash it off in Siloam Pool (Contemporary English Version)

General Comment on 9:11b

This clause contains a quotation inside a quotation. In some languages it may be natural to translate the inner direct quotation as an indirect quotation. For example:

told me to go to Siloam and wash my face. (Good News Translation)

9:11c

So: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as So here introduces what happened as a result of Jesus’ command to the blind man.

I went: The blind man obeyed Jesus and went to Siloam pool. It may be necessary to say explicitly where the man went. For example:

I went ⌊to the pool⌋

washed and received my sight: The Greek expression that the Berean Standard Bible translates as washed and received my sight is more literally “washing, I saw.” It indicates that when the blind man washed the mud off his eyes, he could immediately see. For example:

as soon as I washed, I could see (Good News Translation)
-or-
when I washed, I gained my sight (New Jerusalem Bible)
-or-
When I did, I could see. (Contemporary English Version)

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