9:9a

Some claimed that he was: The word Some refers to some of the people mentioned in 9:8a. They were people who were familiar with the blind beggar. Here is another way to translate this phrase:

Some of them said (God’s Word)

he was: In this sentence the people were saying that this man was the same as the blind beggar. Use the expression that is natural in your language to identify someone in this way. For example:

He’s the one. (God’s Word)
-or-
It is him all right.

General Comment on 9:9a

In some languages it may be natural to translate this short comment as an indirect quotation. For example:

Some said he was (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
Some thought it was the same man.
-or-
Some agreed that he was.

9:9b

but others said: The word others refers to some other people who had known the blind man, not the ones who spoke in 9:9a.

No: The word No indicates that they did not think that this was the man who used to beg. Use an expression that is natural for disagreeing with or rejecting a suggestion.

he just looks like him: These people thought that this man and the blind man looked very much alike. They were not the same individual but they just looked like one another. For example:

he only looks like him (New International Version)
-or-
but he’s very like him (Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English)
-or-
rather they just look alike

General Comment on 9:8b

In some languages it may be natural to translate some or all of this direct quotation as an indirect quotation. For example:

But the others denied it. “He is only like him,” they said.
-or-
But others disagreed. They thought that he just looked like the blind man.
-or-
while other said he only looked like him (Contemporary English Version)

9:9c

But the man kept saying: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as the man kept saying emphasizes the phrase the man. This emphasis contrasts the man with the other people who were discussing him. For example:

But he himself insisted (New International Version)
-or-
The man himself said (New Century Version)

I am the one: In this clause, the man was identifying himself as the blind beggar. Here are other ways to translate this clause:

I am that man. (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
That was me.

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