EasyEnglish Bible 2018
John 3:8
8When someone is born by God's Spirit, it is like the wind that blows. The wind blows wherever it chooses to blow. You can hear it. But you do not know where it came from or where it is going.’
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
6People give birth to what is human. But God's Spirit gives birth to spirit. 7I said to you, “You must be born from above.” What I said should not surprise you. When someone is born by God's Spirit, it is like the wind that blows. The wind blows wherever it chooses to blow. You can hear it. But you do not know where it came from or where it is going.’ 9Nicodemus asked, ‘How can this happen?’ 10Jesus replied, ‘You are an important teacher of people in Israel. You ought to 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
Words taken from the KJV.
- ·ὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
- The windπνεῦμαpneuma · spirit/breath: breathG4151
- blowethπνέωpneō · to blowG4154
- whereὅπουhopou · where(-ever)G3699
- it listethθέλωthelō ethelō · to will/desireG2309
- andκαίkai · andG2532
- thou hearestἀκούωakouō · to hearG191
- the soundφωνήphōnē · voice/sound: noiseG5456
- thereofαὐτόςautos · it/s/heG846
- butἀλλάalla · butG235
- canstεἴδωeidō · to perceive: understandG1492
- notοὐou · noG3756
- whenceπόθενpothen · whenceG4159
- it comethἔρχομαιerchomai · to come/goG2064
- whitherποῦpou · where?G4226
- it goethὑπάγωhupagō · to goG5217
- soοὕτωςhoutō · thus(-ly)G3779
- isεἰμίeimi · to beG1510
- everyπᾶςpas · allG3956
- one that is bornγεννάωgennaō · to begetG1080
- ofἐκek ex · out fromG1537
Cross-references for John 3:8
- Job 37:10The cold wind is like God's breath. He causes ice to cover the rivers and the lakes.
- Psalms 107:25He would command a storm to come, so that the wind caused big waves to rise up.
- Ecclesiastes 11:4A farmer who waits for the right wind will never plant any seeds. If he is always looking at the clouds, he will never bring in his crops.
- Ezekiel 37:9Then the Lord said to me, ‘Prophesy to the wind, son of man. Speak my message to the wind. Say, “This is what the Almighty Lord says: Blow from all directions and put breath into these dead bodies! Cause them to become alive again.” ’
- Acts 2:2Suddenly, as they were sitting together, they heard a noise. The noise came from the sky and it filled the whole house. It was like the sound of a strong wind.
- Acts 4:31The believers finished praying. The house where they were meeting together shook. God filled them all with his Holy Spirit. That made them very brave and they spoke God's message clearly to people.
- 1 Corinthians 2:11Only a person's own spirit can know everything that is in his thoughts. And it is the same with God. Only God's Spirit knows everything that is in God's thoughts.
- 1 Corinthians 12:11There is only one Holy Spirit. The same Spirit helps people to do all these different things. He decides which gifts he will give to each person.
- John 1:13They did not become God's children in the usual human way. They were not born because some people wanted to have children. They were not born because of what any man decided. No! They were born from God.
- Isaiah 55:9The sky is far higher than the earth. In the same way, I do things in a much better way than you do. Also, my thoughts are much higher than your thoughts.
- Mark 4:26Then Jesus said, ‘I will tell you a story about the kingdom of God. It is like this: A man throws seeds in his field.
- Luke 6:43Jesus said, ‘Good trees only make good fruit. Bad trees only make bad fruit.
- 1 John 2:29You know that Christ only does what is right. So you should know this: Everyone who continues to do what is right has become a child of God.
- 1 John 3:8People who continue to do wrong things show that they belong to the Devil. The Devil has always been doing wrong things from the beginning. This is why the Son of God came to the world. He came to destroy everything that the Devil has done.
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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