John 3:4

John 3:4 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born?
• New International Version (NIV)“How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!”
• English Standard Version (ESV)Nicodemus said to him, "How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?"
• New King James Version (NKJV)Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?”

Context of John 3:4

2He came to Jesus one night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that God has sent you as a teacher. No one can perform the miracles you perform unless God is with him.” 3Jesus replied to Nicodemus, “I can guarantee this truth: No one can see God’s kingdom without being born from above.” Nicodemus asked him, “How can anyone be born when he’s an old man? He can’t go back inside his mother a second time to be born, can he?” 5Jesus answered Nicodemus, “I can guarantee this truth: No one can enter God’s kingdom without being born of water and the Spirit. 6Flesh and blood give birth to flesh and blood, but the Spirit gives birth to things that are spiritual.

John 3:4 word by word

Λέγει πρὸς αὐτὸν ὁ Νικόδημος· πῶς δύναται ἄνθρωπος γεννηθῆναι γέρων ὤν; μὴ δύναται εἰς τὴν κοιλίαν τῆς μητρὸς αὐτοῦ δεύτερον εἰσελθεῖν καὶ γεννηθῆναι;¶Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Nicodemusὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• NicodemusΝικόδημοςNikodēmos · NicodemusG3530
• saithλέγωlegō · to sayG3004
• untoπρόςpros · to/withG4314
• himαὐτόςautos · it/s/heG846
• Howπῶςpōs · how?!G4459
• canδύναμαιdunamai · be ableG1410
• a manἄνθρωποςanthrōpos · a humanG444
• be bornγεννάωgennaō · to begetG1080
• when he isεἰμίeimi · to beG1510
• oldγέρωνgerōn · an old manG1088
• ·μήmē · notG3361
• enterεἰσέρχομαιeiserchomai · to enterG1525
• the second timeδεύτεροςdeuteros · secondlyG1208
• intoεἰςeis · towardG1519
• mother’sμήτηρmētēr · motherG3384
• wombκοιλίαkoilia · belly/womb/stomachG2836
• andκαίkai · andG2532

Cross-references for John 3:4

• John 3:3Jesus replied to Nicodemus, “I can guarantee this truth: No one can see God’s kingdom without being born from above.”
• John 4:11The woman said to him, “Sir, you don’t have anything to use to get water, and the well is deep. So where are you going to get this living water?
• John 6:53Jesus told them, “I can guarantee this truth: If you don’t eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you don’t have the source of life in you.
• 1 Corinthians 1:18The message about the cross is nonsense to those who are being destroyed, but it is God’s power to us who are being saved.
• 1 Corinthians 2:14A person who isn’t spiritual doesn’t accept the teachings of God’s Spirit. He thinks they’re nonsense. He can’t understand them because a person must be spiritual to evaluate them.

Commentaries on John 3:4

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 4How can a man be born when he is old? - It is probable that Nicodemus was pretty far advanced in age at this time; and from his answer we may plainly perceive that, like the rest of the Jews, and like multitudes of Christians, he rested in the letter, without paying proper attention to the spirit: the shadow, without the thing signified, had hitherto satisfied him. Our Lord knew him to be in this state, and this was the cause of his pointed address to him.Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 4How can a man … - It may seem remarkable that Nicodemus understood the Saviour literally, when the expression “to be born again” was in common use among the Jews to denote a change from “Gentilism” to “Judaism” by becoming a proselyte by baptism. The word with them meant a change from the state of a pagan to that of a Jew. But they never used it as applicable to a Jew, because they supposed that by his birth every Jew was entitled to all the privileges of…Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 44. How, &c.--The figure of the new birth, if it had been meant only of Gentile proselytes to the Jewish religion, would have been intelligible enough to Nicodemus, being quite in keeping with the language of that day; but that Jews themselves should need a new birth was to him incomprehensible.Read the comment

Topics related to John 3:4

• Blindness
• Jesus, the Christ
• Life
• Man
• Nicodemus
• Regeneration
• Salvation

In the dictionaries

• Birth
• Born
• Condemn
• Condemnation
• Darkness
• Decrease
• Increase
• Love
• Nicodemus
• Testify

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