21. Respondit Iesus, et dixit eis: Unum opus feci, et omnes miramini.21. Jesus answered and said to them: One work I have done; and you all wonder:
22. Propterea Moyses dedit vobis circumcisionem: (non quia ex Moyse est, sed ex patribus) et in sabbato circumciditis hominem.22. Therefore Moses gave you circumcision (not because it is of Moses, but of the fathers); and on the sabbath-day you circumcise a man.
23. Si circumcisionem accipit homo in sabbato, ut non solvatur lex Moysi: mihi indignamini quia totum hominem sanum feci in sabbato?23. If a man receive circumcision on the sabbath-day, that the law of Moses may not be broken; are you angry at me because I have healed the whole man on the sabbath-day?

21-23. He proceeds to show by sober reasoning, that they ought not to blame Him for having healed the man on the Sabbath.

The one work of verse 21 is the healing of the man on the Sabbath day (v. 9, 16). Some prefer to connect “propterea” with verse 21: “and you all wonder on account of it.” But it is better to connect it, as in the Vulgate, with what follows. The sense is: it was on this account Moses gave you circumcision; namely, because it had been handed down from the Patriarchs (Gen. xvii. 10), not because it was properly a part of the law. If then a man may receive circumcision on the Sabbath, and yet the law regarding the observance of the Sabbath is not violated thereby, are you angry with Me because, doing the will of God, I made a man whole, both body and soul, on the Sabbath? In this explanation, “ut” (ἵνα) is ecbatic, denoting a consequence. See Gen. xxii. 14; John [x. 17]; Apoc. xiii. [pg 141] 13. Others, however, give the particle its ordinary telic force, and explain thus: If then a man may receive circumcision on the Sabbath, in order that the law commanding circumcision to be performed on the eighth day be not violated, are you angry, &c.? Both explanations are probable, and leave the argument unchanged.

24. Nolite iudicare secundum faciem, sed iustum iudicium iudicate.24. Judge not according to the appearance, but judge just judgment.

24. According to the appearance; i.e., take no account of persons, but judge according to the merits of the case.

25. Dicebant ergo quidam ex Ierosolymis: Nonne hic est quem quaerunt interficere?25. Some therefore of Jerusalem said: Is not this he whom they seek to kill?
26. Et ecce palam loquitur, et nihil ei dicunt. Numquid vere cognoverunt principes quia hic est Christus?26. And behold he speaketh openly, and they say nothing to him. Have the rulers known for a truth that this is the Christ?

25, 26. Some of the people of Jerusalem (the correct reading is Ἱεροσολυμιτῶν) said: can it be that they have discovered that He is really Christ?

27. Sed hunc scimus unde sit: Christus autem cum venerit, nemo scit unde scit.27. But we know this man whence he is: but when the Christ cometh, no man knoweth whence he is.

27. And yet this cannot be, for we know this man whence he is; but when the Christ cometh no man knoweth whence He is. This erroneous opinion of theirs may have arisen from Micheas, v. 2: “His going forth is from the beginning from the days of eternity;” and Mal. iii. 2: “And who shall be able to think of the day of His coming?”

28. Clamabat ergo Iesus in templo docens, et dicens: Et me scitis, et unde sim scitis: et a meipso non veni, sed est verus qui misit me, quem vos nescitis.28. Jesus therefore cried out in the temple, teaching and saying: You both know me, and you know whence I am, and I am not come of myself; but he that sent me is true, whom you know not.