on the man’s eyes

The Greek in John 9:6 that is translated as “on the man’s eyes” in English is translated in Elhomwe idiomatically as “on top of the man’s eyes” to avoid misunderstanding that Jesus put it in the man’s eyes. (Source: project-specific translation notes in Paratext)

complete verse (John 9:6)

Following are a number of back-translations of John 9:6:

  • Uma: “After speaking like that, he spit on the ground, he mixed it with a little ground/dirt so that it was muddy, he smeared it on the eyes of that blind person,” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “When Isa had finished saying this, he spat on the ground and he mixed his spittle with the dirt making mud. Then he smeared the mud on the eyes of the person.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And when Jesus had said this, he spit upon the ground and he got mud which was made there by his spit, and he rubbed it on the eyes of the blind person.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Upon Jesus’ saying that, he spit-on the soil and made-it into mud. Then he applied/rubbed it on the eyes of the blind-one” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “When Jesus had said that, he spat on the ground. He made into mud that which he spat, and then he applied it to the eyes of that blind man.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “After saying this, Jesus spit onto the ground. He made mud with the spit. He rubbed it on the eyes of the blind man.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

Honorary "rare" construct denoting God (“make”)

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Like a number of other East Asian languages, Japanese uses a complex system of honorifics, i.e. a system where a number of different levels of politeness are expressed in language via words, word forms or grammatical constructs. These can range from addressing someone or referring to someone with contempt (very informal) to expressing the highest level of reference (as used in addressing or referring to God) or any number of levels in-between.

One way Japanese shows different degree of politeness is through the usage of an honorific construction where the morpheme rare (られ) is affixed on the verb as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. This is particularly done with verbs that have God as the agent to show a deep sense of reverence. Here, tsuku-rare-ru (作られる) or “make” is used.

(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

Translation commentary on John 9:6

The connection between this verse and the preceding one is evident. Having stated that he is the light for the world, Jesus now illustrates what that means by healing the man’s blindness.

The expression made some mud with the spittle may require a more specific indication of how the mud was made, for example, “mixed the dirt with the spittle” or “by means of his fingers mixed the dirt with the spittle to make mud.”

In place of the verb rubbed … on (New English Bible “spread on”; Moffatt, New American Bible “smeared on”; Revised Standard Version “anointed”), one ancient Greek manuscript reads “put on.” This reading may be the basis for Jerusalem Bible “put this over” and Phillips “applied to.” In verse 15 the verb put … on is used when the man describes what Jesus did to him. It is probably the basis for the reading “put on” in verse 6 of one Greek manuscript.

In rendering he rubbed the mud on the man’s eyes it is important to avoid the suggestion that he “rubbed the mud into the man’s eyes.” What apparently happened was that Jesus smeared the mud over the man’s eyelids. This fact must be made clear in some languages, to avoid the impression that the mud was rubbed on the eyeballs.

Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on the Gospel of John. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1980. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .