Berean Standard Bible
John 3:8
8The wind blows where it wishes. You hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”
John 3:8 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.
- New International Version (NIV)The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”
- English Standard Version (ESV)The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit."
- New King James Version (NKJV)The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
Context of John 3:8
6Flesh is born of flesh, but spirit is born of the Spirit. 7Do not be amazed that I said, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes. You hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.” 9“How can this be?” Nicodemus asked. 10“You are Israel’s teacher,” said Jesus, “and you do not understand these things?
Read all of John 3John 3:8 word by word
τὸ πνεῦμα ὅπου θέλει πνεῖ, καὶ τὴν φωνὴν αὐτοῦ ἀκούεις ἀλλ᾽ οὐκ οἶδας πόθεν ἔρχεται καὶ ποῦ ὑπάγει· οὕτως ἐστὶν πᾶς ὁ γεγεννημένος ἐκ τοῦ πνεύματος.¶Read the interlinear
- Theὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
- windπνεῦμαpneuma · spirit/breath: breathG4151
- blowsπνέωpneō · to blowG4154
- whereὅπουhopou · where(-ever)G3699
- it wishesθέλωthelō ethelō · to will/desireG2309
- ·καίkai · andG2532
- You hearἀκούωakouō · to hearG191
- itsαὐτόςautos · it/s/heG846
- soundφωνήphōnē · voice/sound: noiseG5456
- butἀλλάalla · butG235
- you do not knowοὐou · noG3756
- you do not knowεἴδωeidō · to perceive: understandG1492
- whereπόθενpothen · whenceG4159
- it comes fromἔρχομαιerchomai · to come/goG2064
- whereποῦpou · where?G4226
- it is goingὑπάγωhupagō · to goG5217
- Soοὕτωςhoutō · thus(-ly)G3779
- it isεἰμίeimi · to beG1510
- with everyoneπᾶςpas · allG3956
- bornγεννάωgennaō · to begetG1080
- ofἐκek ex · out fromG1537
Cross-references for John 3:8
- Job 37:10By the breath of God the ice is formed and the watery expanses are frozen.
- Psalms 107:25For He spoke and raised a tempest that lifted the waves of the sea.
- Ecclesiastes 11:4He who watches the wind will fail to sow, and he who observes the clouds will fail to reap.
- Ezekiel 37:9Then He said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and tell the breath that this is what the Lord GOD says: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe into these slain, so that they may live!”
- Acts 2:2Suddenly a sound like a mighty rushing wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting.
- Acts 4:31After they had prayed, their meeting place was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.
- 1 Corinthians 2:11For who among men knows the thoughts of man except his own spirit within him? So too, no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.
- 1 Corinthians 12:11All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, who apportions them to each one as He determines.
- John 1:13children born not of blood, nor of the desire or will of man, but born of God.
- Isaiah 55:9“For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so My ways are higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.
- Mark 4:26Jesus also said, “The kingdom of God is like a man who scatters seed on the ground.
- Luke 6:43No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit.
- 1 John 2:29If you know that He is righteous, you also know that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of Him.
- 1 John 3:8The one who practices sin is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the very start. This is why the Son of God was revealed, to destroy the works of the devil.
Commentaries on John 3:8
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 8The wind bloweth - Though the manner in which this new birth is effected by the Divine Spirit, be incomprehensible to us, yet we must not, on this ground, suppose it to be impossible. The wind blows in a variety of directions - we hear its sound, perceive its operation in the motion of the trees, etc., and feel it on ourselves - but we cannot discern the air itself; we only know that it exists by the effects which it produces: so is every one who is born…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 8The wind bloweth - Nicodemus had objected to the doctrine because he did not understand how it could be. Jesus shows him that he ought not to reject it on that account, for he constantly believed things quite as difficult. It might appear incomprehensible, but it was to be judged of by its effects. As in this case of the wind, the effects were seen, the sound was heard, important changes were produced by it, trees and clouds were moved, yet the wind is…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 8In Greek, the word for wind is the same as for spirit (Greek pneuma). The wind is an appropriate image for the Spirit, who is sent from heaven and cannot be contained or controlled.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 6-86-8. That which is born, &c.--A great universal proposition; "That which is begotten carries within itself the nature of that which begat it" [Olshausen]. flesh--Not the mere material body, but all that comes into the world by birth, the entire man; yet not humanity simply, but in its corrupted, depraved condition, in complete subjection to the law of the fall (Ro 8:1-9). So that though a man "could enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born,"…Read the comment
Topics related to John 3:8
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on John 3
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Catena Aurea
- Illustrated New Testament
- Burkitt’s Expository Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Family Bible Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- John Lightfoot Commentary
- Luther’s Commentary on Selected Bible Passages
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- The People’s New Testament
- Robertson’s Word Pictures
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- The Fourfold Gospel and Commentary on Acts
- Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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