9:17a

So: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as So introduces a result–what the Pharisees did when they could not agree among themselves. Here is another way to translate this word:

Therefore

once again they asked the man who had been blind: The Pharisees once more spoke to the man who had been healed. They asked him another question. Here are some other ways to translate these words:

They asked the man who had been born blind another question (God’s Word)
-or-
They asked the man again (New Century Version)

they: The pronoun they here refers to the Pharisees, the Jewish religious leaders.

the man who had been blind: This phrase refers to the man who had been blind but was now healed. Refer to him in a natural way. Make sure that your readers will understand that he was no longer blind. For example:

the man (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
the man who had been born blind (God’s Word)

What do you say about Him: The Jewish leaders wanted the healed man to tell them what sort of person that he thought Jesus was. Here are other ways to translate this question:

What’s your opinion about this man? (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
What do you think about him?
-or-
Who do you think he is?

9:17b

since it was your eyes He opened: The Greek text connects this sentence to the previous sentence with a conjunction that means “because.” This conjunction indicates that the Pharisees questioned the man because he was the one who was healed. (The word opened here means “healed.”) The Berean Standard Bible uses since to indicate this connection.

Here are other ways to translate this sentence:

because he enabled you to see

General Comment on 9:17a–b

In some languages it may be natural to reverse the order of 9:17a–b. For example:

17b You say he cured you of your blindness—17a well, what do you say about him? (Good News Translation)

9:17c

He is a prophet: This clause means “Jesus is a prophet.” A prophet is someone whom God sends to speak God’s message to people. The healed man thought that Jesus was a messenger and representative of God like that. Here are some ways to translate prophet :

a messenger/representative for God
-or-
a man who speaks God’s words
-or-
God’s message-speaker

See Prophet 1.a. in Key Biblical Terms and see how you translated prophet elsewhere in John, for example, 1:21d, 45, 4:19.

the man replied: The pronoun the man refers to the man who was healed. Here is another way to translate this phrase:

he answered

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