John 9:28

Contemporary English Version

The leaders insulted the man and said, "You are his follower! We are followers of Moses.

Parallel Translations

Easy-to-Read Version
At this they shouted insults at him and said, "You are his follower, not us! We are followers of Moses.

Tyndale New Testament (1525)
Then rated they him and sayde: Thou arte his disciple. We be Moses disciples.

Hebrew Names Version
They became abusive towards him and said, "You are his talmid, but we are talmidim of Moshe.

International Standard Version
At this, they turned on him furiously and said, "You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses!

New American Standard Bible
They spoke abusively to him and said, "You are His disciple, but we are disciples of Moses.

New Century Version
Then they insulted him and said, "You are his follower, but we are followers of Moses.

Update Bible Version
And they reviled him, and said, You are his disciple; but we are disciples of Moses.

Webster's Bible Translation
Then they reviled him, and said, Thou art his disciple; but we are the disciples of Moses.

English Standard Version
And they reviled him, saying, "You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses.

World English Bible
They became abusive towards him and said, "You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses.

Wesley's New Testament (1755)
Are ye also willing to be his disciples? Then they reviled him and said, Thou art a disciple of that fellow; but we are disciples of Moses.

Weymouth's New Testament
Then they railed at him, and said, "You are that man's disciple, but we are disciples of Moses.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Therfor thei cursiden hym, and seiden, Be thou his disciple; we ben disciplis of Moises.

English Revised Version
And they reviled him, and said, Thou art his disciple; but we are disciples of Moses.

Berean Standard Bible
Then they heaped insults on him and said, "You are His disciple; we are disciples of Moses.

Amplified Bible
And [at that remark] they stormed at him and jeered, "You are His disciple, but we are disciples of Moses!

American Standard Version
And they reviled him, and said, Thou art his disciple; but we are disciples of Moses.

Bible in Basic English
And they were angry with him and said, You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses.

Complete Jewish Bible
Then they railed at him. "You may be his talmid," they said, "but we are talmidim of Moshe!

Darby Translation
They railed at him, and said, Thou art his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses.

Etheridge Translation
But they reviled him, and said to him, Thou art the disciple of him; but we are the disciples of Musha.

Murdock Translation
But they reproached him, and said to him: Thou art his disciple, but we are the disciples of Moses.

King James Version (1611)
Then they reuiled him, and said, Thou art his disciple, but we are Moses disciples.

New Living Translation
Then they cursed him and said, "You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses!

New Life Bible
The proud religious law-keepers became angry at him and said, "You are a follower of Jesus. We are followers of Moses.

New Revised Standard
Then they reviled him, saying, "You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses.

Geneva Bible (1587)
Then reuiled they him, and sayd, Be thou his disciple: we be Moses disciples.

George Lamsa Translation
Then they cursed him, and said to him, You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And they reviled him, and said - Thou, art, the disciple, of that man; but, we, are, Moses', disciples: -

Douay-Rheims Bible
They reviled him therefore and said: Be thou his disciple; but we are the disciples of Moses.

Revised Standard Version
And they reviled him, saying, "You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
Then rayted they hym, and sayde, Be thou his disciple: We are Moyses disciples.

Good News Translation
They insulted him and said, "You are that fellow's disciple; but we are Moses' disciples.

Christian Standard Bible®
They ridiculed him: “You’re that man’s disciple, but we’re Moses’s disciples.

King James Version
Then they reviled him, and said, Thou art his disciple; but we are Moses' disciples.

Lexham English Bible
They reviled him and said, "You are his disciple! But we are disciples of Moses!

Literal Translation
Then they reviled him and said, You are a disciple of that One, but we are disciples of Moses.

Young's Literal Translation
They reviled him, therefore, and said, `Thou art his disciple, and we are Moses' disciples;

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Then rayted they him, and sayde: Thou art his disciple.

Mace New Testament (1729)
then they reviled him, and said, thou art his disciple; but we are Moses disciples.

THE MESSAGE
With that they jumped all over him. "You might be a disciple of that man, but we're disciples of Moses. We know for sure that God spoke to Moses, but we have no idea where this man even comes from."

New English Translation
They heaped insults on him, saying, "You are his disciple! We are disciples of Moses!

New King James Version
Then they reviled him and said, "You are His disciple, but we are Moses' disciples.

Simplified Cowboy Version
Then all hell broke loose at the meeting. They yelled at him, "You ride for him! We only follow Moses!

New American Standard Bible (1995)
They reviled him and said, "You are His disciple, but we are disciples of Moses.

Legacy Standard Bible
And they reviled him and said, "You are His disciple, but we are disciples of Moses.

Contextual Overview

¹³The day when Jesus made the mud and healed the man was a Sabbath. So the people took the man to the Pharisees. ¹⁵ They asked him how he was able to see, and he answered, "Jesus made some mud and smeared it on my eyes. Then after I washed it off, I could see." ¹⁶ Some of the Pharisees said, "This man Jesus doesn't come from God. If he did, he would not break the law of the Sabbath." Others asked, "How could someone who is a sinner work such a miracle?" Since the Pharisees could not agree among themselves, ¹⁷ they asked the man, "What do you say about this one who healed your eyes?" "He is a prophet!" the man told them. ¹⁸ But the Jewish leaders would not believe that the man had once been blind. They sent for his parents ¹⁹ and asked them, "Is this the son that you said was born blind? How can he now see?" ²⁰ The man's parents answered, "We are certain that he is our son, and we know that he was born blind. ²¹ But we don't know how he got his sight or who gave it to him. Ask him! He is old enough to speak for himself." ²²The man's parents said this because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders. The leaders had already agreed that no one was to have anything to do with anyone who said Jesus was the Messiah. ²⁴ The leaders called the man back and said, "Swear by God to tell the truth! We know that Jesus is a sinner."

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

they: John 9:34, John 7:47-52, Isaiah 51:7, Matthew 5:11, Matthew 27:39, 1 Corinthians 4:12, 1 Corinthians 6:10, 1 Peter 2:23

but: John 5:45-47, John 7:19, Acts 6:11-14, Romans 2:17

Reciprocal: Isaiah 53:2 - he hath no Luke 6:47 - heareth Luke 18:9 - which Luke 22:67 - If John 10:20 - why Romans 2:23 - that makest 1 Corinthians 10:2 - General 1 Peter 4:14 - reproached

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Then they reviled him,.... Called him an impertinent, saucy, impudent fellow, for talking in this pert manner to them, the great sanhedrim of the nation; or, as the Vulgate Latin version reads, they cursed him; they thundered out their anathemas against him, and pronounced him an execrable and an accursed fellow:

and said, thou art his disciple; for they looked upon it a reproach and scandal to be called a disciple of Jesus of Nazareth; though there is nothing more honourable than to be a follower of him the Lamb whithersoever he goes: wherefore these Jews threw off what they thought a term of reproach from themselves to the blind man; and perhaps they might say this to ensnare him, hoping that he would own himself to be a disciple of Jesus, and profess him to be the Christ, that they might, according to their own act, excommunicate him. The Vulgate Latin, Persic, and Ethiopic versions read, "be thou his disciple"; if thou wilt, we despise the character; far be it from us that we should be followers of him:

but we are Moses's disciples. Thus they preferred Moses to Christ, and chose to be the disciples of Moses the servant, rather than of Christ the Son; though indeed they were not the genuine disciples of Moses; for if they had, they would have been the disciples of Christ, and believers in him, since Moses wrote and testified of him: they might indeed be so far the disciples of Moses, or of his law, since they sought for righteousness and justification by obedience to his law. This was a phrase in use among the Jews: so the Targumist i on Numbers 3:2 says,

"these are the names of they sons of Aaron the priests,

תלמידיא דמשה, "the disciples of Moses", the master of the Israelites;''

particularly the Pharisees, as here, claimed this title to themselves: for it is said k,

"all the seven days (before the day of atonement) they delivered to him (the high priest) two of the disciples of the wise men, to instruct him in the service (of that day), who were, מתלמידיו של משה, "of the disciples of Moses", in opposition to the Sadducees:''

from whence it appears, that these disciples of Moses were of the sect of the Pharisees, who assumed this character as peculiar to themselves; sometimes they call themselves the disciples of Abraham, though the description they give of such, by no means belongs to them; Numbers 3:2- :. They say l,

"whoever has three things in him, is מתלמידיו של אברהם, "of the disciples of Abraham" our father, and who has three other things is of the disciples of Balaam the wicked: he that has a good eye, (beneficence, or temperance, or contentment,) a lowly spirit, and an humble soul, he is of "the disciples of Abraham" our father; but he that has evil eye, and a proud spirit, and a large soul (lustful or covetous), is of the disciples of Balaam.''

This last character best agrees with those very persons, who would be thought to be the disciples of Abraham and of Moses.

i Jonathan ben Uzziel in ib. k T. Bab. Yoma, fol. 4. 1. l Pirke Abot, c. 5. sect. 19.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Thou art his disciple - This they cast at him as a reproach. His defense of Jesus they regarded as proof that he was his follower, and this they now attempted to show was inconsistent with being a friend of Moses and his law. Moses had given the law respecting the Sabbath; Jesus had healed a man contrary, in their view, to the law of Moses. They therefore held Jesus to be a violater and contemner of the law of Moses, and of course that his followers were also.

We are Moses’ disciples - We acknowledge the authority of the law of Moses, which they alleged Jesus has broken by healing on that day.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 28. Then they reviled him — ελοιδορησαν. Eustathius derives λοιδορια from λογος, a word, and δορυ, a spear:- they spoke cutting, piercing words. Solomon talks of some who spoke like the piercings of a sword, Proverbs 12:18. And the psalmist speaks of words that are like drawn swords, Psalms 55:21, words which show that the person who speaks them has his heart full of murderous intentions; and that, if he had the same power with a sword as he has with his tongue, he would destroy him whom he thus reproaches.

We are Moses' disciples. — By this they meant that they were genuine Pharisees; for they did not allow the Sadducees to be disciples of Moses.