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 Filología 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. García Romero, and the second an article that I published (elsewhere) in 19961. García 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?”) 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 9,3-4”, FilNeot 16 (2003) 103-106. 1 See Francisco A. García Romero, “Breve comentario a Jn 9,1-3. Objeciones al supuesto cristianismo de Trifiodoro”, FN 2 (1989) 95-97; John C. Poirier, “‘Day and Night’ and the Punctuation of John 9,3”, 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. . .”, 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 ἥμαρτεν οὔτε οἱ γονεῖς αὐτοῦ. ‘Αλλ’ ἵνα φανερωθῇ τὰ ἔργα τοῦ θεοῦ ἐν αὐτῷ, ἡμᾶς δεῖ ἐργάζεσθαι τὰ ἔργα τοῦ πέμψαντός με ἕως ἡμέρα ἐστίν). Filología Neotestamentaria - Vol. XIX - 2006, pp. 113-120 Facultad de Filosofía y Letras - Universidad de Córdoba (España)