John C. Poirier, «'Day and Night' and the Sabbath Controversy of John 9.», Vol. 19 (2006) 113-119
This article provides a new argument for an alternative punctuation of Jn
9,3-4, associating “the works of Him who sent me” with what follows rather
than what precedes. Rather than being allusions to his departure from this
world, Jesus’ references to working “while it is day” and not working “when
night comes” refer to a literal nightfall, formulated in a way that undermines
the pharisaic halakha of Sabbath observance (for which nightfall frees one to
resume working). This interpretation is supported by the fact that Jesus has
the blind man break the Sabbath as visibly as possible.
113
“DAY AND NIGHT†AND THE SABBATH
CONTROVERSY OF JOHN 9
JOHN C. POIRIER
This article provides a new argument for an alternative punctuation of Jn
9,3-4, associating “the works of Him who sent me†with what follows rather
than what precedes. Rather than being allusions to his departure from this
world, Jesus’ references to working “while it is day†and not working “when
night comes†refer to a literal nightfall, formulated in a way that undermines
the pharisaic halakha of Sabbath observance (for which nightfall frees one to
resume working). This interpretation is supported by the fact that Jesus has
the blind man break the Sabbath as visibly as possible.
J. Duncan M. Derrett’s recent FilologÃa Neotestamentaria article on
Jn 9,3-4 is, in part, a response to two earlier studies, the first an arti-
cle published in this journal in 1989 by Francisco A. GarcÃa Romero,
and the second an article that I published (elsewhere) in 19961. GarcÃa
Romero’s point was a common (and undoubtedly correct) one —viz. that
the disciples’ question in Jn 9,2 (“Master, who sinned, this man or his
parents, that he was born blind?â€) was based on the OT principle that
one’s children and grandchildren would bear the punishment for one’s
sins (Exod 20,5). The argument of my earlier article was that this passage
has been wrongly punctuated: the comma now found in the middle of v.
3 should be exchanged for a full stop, while the full stop at the end of that
verse should be exchanged for a comma. (The text originally lacked both
punctuation and word divisions.) My reading of the passage associates
the phrase “that the works should be made manifest†with the thought of
doing works while it is day, rather than with Jesus’ dismissal of the usual
explanations for the man’s blindness2.
J. Duncan M. Derrett, “The True Meaning of Jn 9,3-4â€, FilNeot 16 (2003) 103-106.
1
See Francisco A. GarcÃa Romero, “Breve comentario a Jn 9,1-3. Objeciones al supuesto
cristianismo de Trifiodoroâ€, FN 2 (1989) 95-97; John C. Poirier, “‘Day and Night’ and the
Punctuation of John 9,3â€, NTS 42 (1996) 288-94.
To wit: instead of “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but [he is blind] so that
2
the works of God might be made manifest. . .â€, I proposed reading “Neither this man nor
his parents sinned. But so that the works of God might be made visible, we must work the
works of him who sent me while it is day†(οὔτε οὗτος ἥμαÏτεν οὔτε οἱ γονεῖς αá½Ï„οῦ. ‘Αλλ’
ἵνα φανεÏωθῇ Ï„á½° á¼”Ïγα τοῦ θεοῦ á¼Î½ αá½Ï„á¿·, ἡμᾶς δεῖ á¼Ïγάζεσθαι Ï„á½° á¼”Ïγα τοῦ πέμψαντός
με ἕως ἡμέÏα á¼ÏƒÏ„ίν).
FilologÃa Neotestamentaria - Vol. XIX - 2006, pp. 113-120
Facultad de FilosofÃa y Letras - Universidad de Córdoba (España)