9:21a

But: The word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as But indicates a contrast. The contrast is between what the parents knew and what they did not know. They said that they did not know what happened to cause their son to be able to see.

how he can now see: The man’s parents refused to say how the man had received his sight. Verse 9:22 implies that they had heard what happened but were afraid to say. They were apparently not telling the truth here.

or who opened his eyes, we do not know: The word or here introduces something else that the parents said that they did not know. In some languages it may be natural to leave the word or untranslated. For example:

But we don’t know how he can now see. We don’t know who opened his eyes. (New Century Version)

Again, the phrase opened his eyes does not mean that the man’s eyes were shut and Jesus caused him to open them. Rather it means that the man was blind and Jesus healed him.

9:21b

Ask him: The parents wanted to avoid saying that Jesus had given sight to their son. They were afraid that the leaders might punish them for saying something good about Jesus. So they told the religious leaders to ask the man himself. Here is a translation that implies that the parents wanted to avoid saying what they knew about Jesus:

You’ll have to ask him. (God’s Word)

In some languages it may be necessary to say what the leaders were to ask the son. For example:

Ask him ⌊about it⌋ .
-or-
Ask him ⌊how he is able to see⌋ .

He is old enough: This clause means that the man Jesus had healed was an adult. He was legally able to testify (tell what he knew) about what happened in a law court. In Jesus’ culture that meant that he was at least thirteen (13) years old.

Here are other ways to translate this clause:

he is a mature adult (NET Bible Bible)
-or-
he is not a child anymore

to speak for himself: This sentence indicates that the son could himself tell the religious leaders what happened to him. Here are other ways to translate this clause:

he can answer for himself (Good News Translation)
-or-
let him speak for himself (Revised English Bible)

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