Its cure is one of our Lord's most frequent miracles (Luke 7:21; Matthew 9:27; Mark 8:23; John 5:3; John 9:1), as had been foretold (Isaiah 29:18; Isaiah 35:5). In coincidence with this is the commonness of it in the E. In Ludd (Lydda) the saying is, every one is either blind or has but one eye. Jaffa has 500 blind out of 5,000 of a population. The dust and sand pulverized by the intense heat, the constant glare, and in the sandy districts the absence of the refreshing "green grass," (the presence of which Mark notices as noteworthy in the miracle of the feeding the multitudes,) the cold sea air on the coasts, the night dews affecting those sleeping on the roofs, all tend to produce blindness.
It is a constant image used of spiritual darkness, and Jesus' restoration of sight to the blind pointed to the analogous spiritual bestowal of sight on the soul. Paul, who had passed through both the physical and the spiritual transition from darkness to light (Acts 9:8-9), instinctively, by an obviously undesigned coincidence confirming authenticity, often uses the expressive image (Acts 26:18; 2 Corinthians 4:4; Ephesians 1:18; Ephesians 4:18; Colossians 1:13). Elymas was smitten with blindness at Paul's word (Acts 13:11, compare Genesis 19:11; 2 Kings 6:18). The blind were to be treated kindly (Leviticus 19:14; Deuteronomy 27:18). The pagan conquerors sometimes blinded captives (2 Kings 25:7; 1 Samuel 11:2).
From the co-author of the classic Jamieson, Fausset and Brown Commentary, Fausset's Bible Dictionary stands as one of the best single-volume Bible encyclopedias ever written for general use. The author's writing style is always clear and concise, and he tackles issues important to the average student of the Bible, not just the Biblical scholars. This makes Fausset an excellent tool for both everyday Bible study and in-depth lesson or sermon preparation.Wikipedia
Read More