119 “Day and Night” and the Sabbath Controversy of John 9 in healing the blind man in this particular way (and not in some other way). Jesus basically instructed the blind man to violate the Sabbath in as visible and controversial a way as possible. It makes good narrative sense, therefore, that his explanation for healing the blind man “while it is day” should state up front the desirability of making that healing as visible as possible. (As far as I am aware, mine is the only exegesis of Jn 9,3-7 in which Jesus’ comments on “day” and “night” correlate with the issues at the center of the ensuing Sabbath controversy.) This understanding of Jn 9,3-5 therefore strengthens the cohesiveness of John 9, thereby cha- llenging the frequent claim that part of Jn 9,1-7 derives from a separate source and has only secondarily been placed into its current context16. On my reading, every verse in John 9 contributes directly to the chapter’s main episode. Conclusion The repunctuation of Jn 9,3-4 that I proposed in 1996 makes better sense not only of the verses in question, but also of the succeeding na- rrative. This has not been noticed, perhaps, because the direct referent of “day” and “night” has seldom (if ever) been correctly understood. Jesus’ reference to an approaching nightfall, when no one can work, is simply a reversal of the way in which the Jewish authorities thought of the Sabba- th. For them, daytime was the time when no one can work, and nightfall represented the moment when work may resume. The pointedness of Jesus’ remarks is illustrated in the way he chooses to heal the blind man. He does so in a way that directly calls the Sabbath laws into question, by picking as public and central a symbol of Sabbath violation as possible — drawing water from the pool of Siloam during Sukkoth or Hanukkah — thereby giving added significance to Jesus’ reference to making the works of God “manifest”. John C. POIRIER 4408 Graydon Drive Middletown, Ohio 45042 (USA) E.g., E. Haenchen, John (Hermeneia; Philadelphia 1984) 2.41 (vv. 4-5 are from the 16 evangelist’s hand); J. Painter, The Quest for the Messiah: The History, Literature and Theology of the Johannine Community (Edinburgh 1991) 262 (same as Haenchen). See the chart of scholars’ redaction schemes in T. L. Brodie, The Quest for the Origin of John’s Gospel: A Source-Oriented Approach (New York 1993) 48.