Go
The command "Go" is a directive from Jesus, emphasizing immediate action and obedience. In the Greek, the word used is "ὕπαγε" (hypage), which conveys a sense of urgency and purpose. This command reflects the authority of Jesus and the necessity for the blind man to trust and act upon Jesus' words. It is a call to faith, as the man must leave his current state and move towards healing, symbolizing the Christian journey of stepping out in faith at Christ's command.

He told him
This phrase underscores the personal nature of Jesus' interaction with the blind man. Jesus speaks directly to him, indicating a personal relationship and concern. The Greek verb "εἶπεν" (eipen) is used here, which is a simple past tense, showing that this was a definitive moment in the man's life. It highlights the importance of listening to Jesus' words and the transformative power they hold.

wash in the Pool of Siloam
The instruction to "wash in the Pool of Siloam" is rich with historical and theological significance. The Pool of Siloam, located in Jerusalem, was a significant site for Jewish purification rituals. The name "Siloam" means "Sent," which is a direct reference to Jesus as the One sent by God. The act of washing symbolizes spiritual cleansing and renewal, pointing to the sacrament of baptism in Christian theology. This directive also requires the man to act in faith, as the pool itself holds no healing power apart from Jesus' command.

(which means Sent)
The parenthetical explanation "(which means Sent)" provides insight into the symbolic meaning of the Pool of Siloam. The Greek word "ἀπεσταλμένος" (apestalmenos) is used here, which is the perfect passive participle of "ἀποστέλλω" (apostellō), meaning "to send." This highlights Jesus as the sent one from God, fulfilling His mission on earth. It also serves as a reminder of the believer's mission to be sent into the world to share the Gospel.

So the man went and washed
This phrase captures the man's obedience and faith. Despite being blind, he follows Jesus' instructions without hesitation. The Greek verbs "ἀπῆλθεν" (apēlthen) and "ἐνίψατο" (enipsato) indicate completed actions, showing that the man fully complied with Jesus' command. His actions demonstrate the principle that faith requires obedience, and through obedience, one experiences the blessings of God.

and came back seeing
The result of the man's obedience is miraculous healing, as he "came back seeing." The Greek verb "ἦλθεν" (ēlthen) is used here, indicating a return to his previous location, but now with restored sight. This transformation is both physical and spiritual, symbolizing the enlightenment that comes from encountering Christ. It serves as a powerful testimony to the transformative power of Jesus and the fulfillment of His promise to bring light to those in darkness. This miracle not only changes the man's life but also serves as a sign to others of Jesus' divine authority and mission.

(7) Go, wash in the pool of Siloam.--Comp. Notes on John 5:2 ("Bethesda"), and on Luke 13:4 ("the tower in Siloam"). The locality is almost without doubt that now known by the Arabic form of the same name, the Birket Silwan, which is in the lower Tyropaeon valley, between the Temple mountain and Mount Zion. It is about a quarter of a mile from the present city wall, but in the time of our Lord the wall extended up to it (Jos. Wars, v. 4, ? 1; so the Antonine Itinerary in the fourth century). The place is frequently mentioned by Josephus, and there is every reason to believe that in the present pool we have the Siloah of Nehemiah 3:15, the Shiloah of Isaiah 8:6, and the Siloam of the present passage. The form of the word here used by St. John is that found in the Greek translation of both the Old Testament passages.

The words "wash in" mean literally, wash into, that is, "wash so that the clay from the eyes will pass into the tank."

The attempt to show that in the waters of Siloam, too, we have an ordinary remedial agent, must be abandoned, at least as far as regards blindness. The command recalls that to Naaman the Syrian (2Kings 5:10), and not improbably recalled it to the mind of the blind man. In any case, it is a further stage in his spiritual education. It is a demand on the faith which realises the presence of the Power to heal. The place is chosen, perhaps, as a well-known spot, or as one at some little distance, so as to afford time for reflection and a test for obedience. It may be, however, that there is another reason for the choice. The pool of Siloam was bound up with all the religious feelings of the Feast of Tabernacles. A solemn procession went each morning to it, and carried water from it to the Temple. That water had already led to the teaching of the gift of the Spirit to every man who should receive the Messiah (see Notes on John 7:37 et seq.), uttered, perhaps, on this very day (comp. John 9:1). There would be attached, then, to the pool of Siloam a sacred significance that would be in itself a help to faith. . . .

Verse 7. - And, having done this, he said to him, Go - depart, haste, there is something for thee to do - wash into the pool of Siloam. Σιλωάμ: this is the Greek form of the Hebrew word שִׁילוחַ, (שִׁלֹחַ with the article הַשִּׁלהַ, the shortened Pihel form שָׁלַחֹ, to send forth, with the omission of the dagesh) adopted in Isaiah 8:6 by the LXX., and also by Josephus ('Bell. Jud.,' 5:04.1). The only other place in the Old Testament where the pool of Siloam is referred to is Nehemiah 3:15. There the Hebrew word is הַשֶּׁלַת, and rendered by the LXX. τῶν κωδίων - i.e. of sheep-skins; that is, the pool that was used to wash sheep before shearing them, or even the tan-pit (so Schleusner and Hesych.) - but it is rendered by Siloe in the Vulgate. Isaiah is contrasting the waters of the Shiloah, which flow softly, with the turbulent streams of the Tigris, which represented the pomp and power of this world. The sweet waters from the pool of Siloam still flow from their apparent source through what once were the king's gardens, into the Kedron near the junction of the Valley of Jehoshaphat with that which used to be called the Valley of the Son of Hinnom. Silwan is the Arabic name of the fountain and pool of Siloam, and also of the village on the opposite side of the valley. Nehemiah is referring, in all probability, to the same pool, the walls of which were in part the walls of the city itself on the lower spur of Mount Ophel, which is now finally determined to be the Zion of Scripture and the city of David. A "tower of Siloam" is also spoken of (Luke 13:4). It is not necessary here to review the arguments in favor of this position, with its accompanying conclusion that the Tyropaeon, the valley of the cheesemongers, which separated Ophel and the temple-mount from the upper city, was the Valley of the Son of Hinnom (see 'Survey of Western Palestine,' pt. it. pp. 345-371; Professor Sayce on "Pre-Exilic Jerusalem" in Quarterly Statement of Palest. Explor. Fund' (1883), pp. 215; and 'Fresh Light from Ancient Monuments,' p. 98, etc.). The position of the fountain and pool of Siloam is one of the best-authenticated sites in Palestine (see Robinson's 'Biblical Researches,' 1:493-507). Sayce gives strong reasons for believing that it was made in the days of Solomon, and that the proceeding of Hezekiah, referred to in 2 Chronicles 32:30, when he diverted the water from Gihon, and brought it to the west side of the city of David, was not on account (as Edersheim, Canon Birch, and others) of the formation of the zigzag tunnel from the Fountain of the Virgin, but referred to the formation of Colonel Warren's tunnel, by which the waters of the same fountain were made available within the city by drawing them further to the north-west, and reaching them by a flight of stairs that go down from the city of David (2 Kings 20:20). He thinks that 2 Chronicles 32:30 is interpreted of the lower pool of Siloam. The contemporary references of Isaiah (Isaiah 7:3; Isaiah 8:6; Isaiah 22:9) apply only to the Siloam tunnel, the Siloam pool, and that lower pool, which was repaired by Hezekiah. The upper pool, and therefore the tunnel which supplied it, were known in the time of Ahaz. Josephus makes frequent reference to the fountain of Siloam, and expressly says that it was situated at the mouth of the Tyro-paeon. The 'Itin. Hier.' and Jerome both say that it was at the foot of Mount Zion (see especially Jerome's 'Comm. in Esa. 8:6'). Antoninus Martyr (in the seventh century), William of Tyre, Benjamin of Tudela (1165), and Phoeas (1185), all refer to it. This remarkable connection with the Fountain of Mary was known to Quaresmius in the seventeenth century, but not fairly discovered till Robinson entered it at both ends, and found that there was a direct subterranean communication between the so-called Fountain of the Virgin and the Fountain of Siloam. In 1881 the accidental discovery of an inscription in pure Hebrew, of uncertain date, describes the process of the excavation, and accounts for the false starts made by the two parties of excavators, who eventually met and discovered the different levels at which they had been working. Whenever made, whether by Solomon, Uzziah, Ahaz, or Hezekiah, it was obviously intended to bring fresh water within the walls of the city. The intermittent character of the flow of water in the Fountain of the Virgin, by which sometimes twice or thrice a day, and at other seasons twice or thrice a week, the water suddenly rises and disappears with gurgling sounds into the conduits made for its removal, was referred to by Jerome, as an eye and ear witness of the occurrence. We leave the question of the identification of the Fountain of the Virgin with any of the fountains mentioned in the Old Testament. The point of singular interest is that the waters of Siloam were in direct communication with the upper spring, which itself may be yet proved to be in relation to some more abundant supply of water in the temple-rock. Into the further intricacies of this problem it is unnecessary to enter. The pools of Siloam are still to be seen near the mouth of the Tyropaeon valley. The print of connection with the Fountain of the Virgin cannot be doubted, nor can the fact be disputed that from Siloam, during the Feast of Tabernacles, the sacred waters were brought in solemn procession and with sacred rite (see John 7.). Our Lord sent the blind man, thus startled into some receptivity of grace, to that which was the symbolic source of the water of life. He did this on the sabbath day, claiming cooperation with Jehovah in his truly sabbatic deed: "My Father worketh hitherto, and I work." Siloam had been already the type of that which Jesus was in reality, when he had cried and said, "If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink." Consequently, there is striking appositeness in the language of St. John here parenthetically introduced (which is, being interpreted, Sent); שִׁלוחַ equivalent to missio, from שָׁלַח, equivalent to mittit or missus, which may be synonymous with שָׁלוּחַ, viz. the strengthened participle Kal with passive signification. John is correct in his etymology. Siloam probably derived its name from the fact that its waters were sent from the higher sources, through known channels, with special significance as God's gift for the preservation of the life of the people, and the age-long memorial of his goodness. The old poet Nonnus, Euthymius, and Meyer see here a reference to the man who was "sent" thus to wash and be healed; but a host of commentators, from Theophylact, Calvin, Cornelius a Lapide, down to Luthardt, Godet, and Westcott, rightly urge that "Siloam," as meaning "Sent," was in John's thought emblematic of him who had so often spoken of himself as the Sent of God. The point of the parenthesis is that the very name of this healing and symbolic fountain is a type of Messiah, who thus identifies himself with the Heaven-sent gifts of the Divine hand. He then (therefore) departed, and washed. The blind man needed no guide to Siloam, and if he had clone so there would have been a score of helpers or curious on-lookers anxious to test the meaning of the Lord's command. And he came away from Siloam, seeing; in all the strange and wonderful excitement of a man who, with his first possession of this imperial sense, was moving indeed in a new world. The miracle, of course, provokes the critical school either into repudiating the supernatural element, or doubting the historical fact. Theme dreams through a world of parallels with the healing and apostleship of St. Paul.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Then
καὶ (kai)
Conjunction
Strong's 2532: And, even, also, namely.

He told
εἶπεν (eipen)
Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 2036: Answer, bid, bring word, command. A primary verb; to speak or say.

him,
αὐτῷ (autō)
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Dative Masculine 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 846: He, she, it, they, them, same. From the particle au; the reflexive pronoun self, used of the third person, and of the other persons.

“Go,
Ὕπαγε (Hypage)
Verb - Present Imperative Active - 2nd Person Singular
Strong's 5217: To go away, depart, begone, die. From hupo and ago; to lead under, i.e. Withdraw or retire, literally or figuratively.

wash
νίψαι (nipsai)
Verb - Aorist Imperative Middle - 2nd Person Singular
Strong's 3538: To wash; mid. I wash my own (hands, etc.). To cleanse; ceremonially, to perform ablution.

in
εἰς (eis)
Preposition
Strong's 1519: A primary preposition; to or into, of place, time, or purpose; also in adverbial phrases.

the
τὴν (tēn)
Article - Accusative Feminine Singular
Strong's 3588: The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the.

pool
κολυμβήθραν (kolymbēthran)
Noun - Accusative Feminine Singular
Strong's 2861: (lit: a diving or swimming place), a pool. A diving-place, i.e. Pond for bathing.

of Siloam”
Σιλωάμ (Silōam)
Noun - Genitive Masculine Singular
Strong's 4611: Siloam, a spring within the walls, in the south-east corner of Jerusalem. Of Hebrew origin; Siloam, a pool of Jerusalem.

(which
ὃ (ho)
Personal / Relative Pronoun - Nominative Neuter Singular
Strong's 3739: Who, which, what, that.

means
ἑρμηνεύεται (hermēneuetai)
Verb - Present Indicative Middle or Passive - 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 2059: (a) I translate, explain, (b) I interpret the meaning of. From a presumed derivative of Hermes; to translate.

Sent).
Ἀπεσταλμένος (Apestalmenos)
Verb - Perfect Participle Middle or Passive - Nominative Masculine Singular
Strong's 649: From apo and stello; set apart, i.e. to send out literally or figuratively.

So
οὖν (oun)
Conjunction
Strong's 3767: Therefore, then. Apparently a primary word; certainly, or accordingly.

[the man] went
ἀπῆλθεν (apēlthen)
Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 565: From apo and erchomai; to go off, aside or behind, literally or figuratively.

and
καὶ (kai)
Conjunction
Strong's 2532: And, even, also, namely.

washed,
ἐνίψατο (enipsato)
Verb - Aorist Indicative Middle - 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 3538: To wash; mid. I wash my own (hands, etc.). To cleanse; ceremonially, to perform ablution.

and
καὶ (kai)
Conjunction
Strong's 2532: And, even, also, namely.

came [back]
ἦλθεν (ēlthen)
Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 2064: To come, go.

seeing.
βλέπων (blepōn)
Verb - Present Participle Active - Nominative Masculine Singular
Strong's 991: (primarily physical), I look, see, perceive, discern. A primary verb; to look at.


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NT Gospels: John 9:7 And said to him Go wash (Jhn Jo Jn)