New International Version
John 3:6
6Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.
John 3:6 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
- English Standard Version (ESV)That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
- New King James Version (NKJV)That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
- New Living Translation (NLT)Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life.
Context of John 3:6
4“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!” 5Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. 7You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ 8The 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.”
Read all of John 3John 3:6 word by word
Τὸ γεγεννημένον ἐκ τῆς σαρκὸς σάρξ ἐστιν, καὶ τὸ γεγεννημένον ἐκ τοῦ πνεύματος πνεῦμά ἐστιν.Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for John 3:6
- Genesis 5:3When Adam had lived 130 years, he had a son in his own likeness, in his own image; and he named him Seth.
- Genesis 6:5The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time.
- Job 14:4Who can bring what is pure from the impure? No one!
- Job 15:14“What are mortals, that they could be pure, or those born of woman, that they could be righteous?
- Job 25:4How then can a mortal be righteous before God? How can one born of woman be pure?
- Psalms 51:10Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
- Romans 7:5For when we were in the realm of the flesh, the sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in us, so that we bore fruit for death.
- Romans 8:1Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,
- 1 Corinthians 15:47The first man was of the dust of the earth; the second man is of heaven.
- 2 Corinthians 5:17Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!
- Galatians 5:16So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.
- Ephesians 2:3All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath.
- Colossians 2:11In him you were also circumcised with a circumcision not performed by human hands. Your whole self ruled by the flesh was put off when you were circumcised by Christ,
- Ezekiel 11:19I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh.
- Ezekiel 36:26I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.
- Romans 8:5Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.
Commentaries on John 3:6
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 6That which is born of the flesh is flesh - This is the answer to the objection made by Nicodemus in John 3:4. Can a man enter the second time into his mother's womb and be born? Our Lord here intimates that, were even this possible, it would not answer the end; for the plant will ever be of the nature of the seed that produces it - like will beget its like. The kingdom of God is spiritual and holy; and that which is born of the Spirit resembles the…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 6That which is born of the flesh - To show the necessity of this change, the Saviour directs the attention of Nicodemus to the natural condition of man. By “that which is born of the flesh” he evidently intends man as he is by nature, in the circumstances of his natural birth. Perhaps, also, he alludes to the question asked by Nicodemus, whether a man could be born when he was old? Jesus tells him that if this could be, it would not answer any valuable…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 3:6
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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