Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary John 9:22

"These things said his parents, because they feared the Jews: for the Jews had agreed already, that if any man should confess him [to be] Christ, he should be put out of the synagogue." — John 9:22 (ASV)

The evidence was still insufficient to remove the objections of “the Jews” (a phrase here synonymous with “the Pharisees”). They proceeded to query whether the man really had been born blind; for if he had not been blind from birth, the miracle could be disputed. They also interrogated his parents, who, fearing excommunication from the synagogue, evaded the issue by stating that their son was an adult capable of answering for himself.