Blindness

Various stories about blindness are found in the Bible. There are also laws for the protection of blind people, as in Leviticus 19:14. But blindness was also seen as a deficiency, and blind people were not permitted to become priests (Leviticus 21:18).

Blind people are often mentioned in the same breath as other groups that need protection, such as orphans and widows. In Psalm 146:8 the blind are mentioned among people that God will take care of.

Blindness is sometimes seen as a punishment. In John 9:1-2 the disciples ask Jesus why a man has been blind from his birth: did the man sin, or his parents?According to Jesus the man is not blind as the result of sin. He is blind so that he can be healed by Jesus. This is a way in which God’s work can be made visible.

Blindness is also used as a metaphor for people who do not keep God’s Laws and do not know how to live in a way that pleases God, for instance in Isaiah 29:9.

In the New Testament there are many healing stories about blind people.