9:32
Never before has anyone heard of opening the eyes of a man born blind: The man who had been healed continued his argument that Jesus was from God. He emphasized that Jesus had done a great miracle. He said that no one had ever heard of such a miracle happening before. (The phrase opening the eyes here means “healed the eyes.”) His point was not that no one had heard about such a miracle, but that such a miracle had never happened. No one had heard of it because it had not happened before. For example:
And this is the first time in history that anyone has ever given sight to someone born blind. (Contemporary English Version)
Never before: The phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Never before is more literally “from the age,” meaning “from ancient times.” Here are other ways to translate this phrase:
Since the beginning of the world (Good News Translation)
-or-
Since ⌊God⌋ created the world
-or-
through all of history
has anyone heard of: The verb phrase has anyone heard of is passive in Greek. It means that no one had heard that such a miracle happened. No one had heard about such a miracle because no one had reported that such a miracle happened. There are two ways to translate this expression:
• Use a passive verb. For example:
it has never been heard (New American Standard Bible)
-or-
no person has ever been reported
• Use an active verb like the Berean Standard Bible. For example:
Nobody has ever heard of…. (New International Version)
General Comment on 9:32
In some languages it may be natural to reorder the information in this verse. For example:
To open the eyes of a man born blind—that is unheard of since time began. (Revised English Bible)
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