6. Haec cum dixisset, exspuit 6. When he had said these in terram, et fecit lutum ex things, he spat on the ground, sputo, et linivit lutum super and made clay of the spittle, oculos eius. and spread the clay upon his eyes. 6. *He spat on the ground.* Of course such ceremonies as that here recorded were wholly unnecessary to Christ for effecting the cure. Why He sometimes used them it is hard to say; perhaps to help to excite the faith of those who were being cured. “Those who impiously jeer at the use of ceremonies, and material elements in connection with spiritual effects, which they symbolize, have a clear refutation in this action, and several similar actions on the part of our Divine Redeemer for similar effects (Mark vii. 33; viii. 23).” (McEvilly). 7. Et dixit ei: Vade, lava in 7. And said to him: Go, wash natatoria Siloe (quod in the pool of Siloe, which is interpretatur Missus). Abiit interpreted, Sent. He went ergo, et lavit, et venit therefore, and washed, and he videns. came seeing. 7. St. John interprets for his readers the Hebrew name (שׂלוח) of the pool. Some have regarded the interpretation as the gloss of a copyist or interpreter; but there is practically no authority for doubting that it was written by St. John. Doubtless the pool bore this name for some mystic reason; by the natural salubrity of its waters, or by a supernatural virtue, like Bethesda (v. 2), it may have typified _Him who was sent_ from God to heal men. The pool which still retains its old name _Birket Silwan_, is one of the few undisputed sites at Jerusalem. St. Jerome speaks of the spring which supplied it as situated at the foot of Mount Sion, and mentions also the intermittent character of the spring. See Isaiah viii. 6. In another place St. Jerome speaks of Siloe as situated at “the foot of Mount Moria,” so that there is no reason for doubting that the pool was situated in the valley called Tyropaeon, which separated Mount Sion from Mount Moria, just where _Birket Silwan_ is still to be seen. See also Josephus, _Bella Jud._, v. 4. 1. The blind man journeying towards the pool, with clay upon his eyes, must have attracted the attention of many, and thus helped to make the miracle more public. That one born blind, and accustomed to move about Jerusalem, would be able to find his way to the pool, there is no reason to doubt; in any case there need be no difficulty raised on this point, as he could probably have readily found some one willing to guide him.