JESUS INSTRUCTING NICODEMUS

JESUS INSTRUCTING THE SCHOLAR NICODEMUS 4.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?" legei proV auton [o] nikodhmoV pwV dunatai anqrwpoV gennhqhnai gerwn wn mh dunatai eiV thn koilian thV mhtroV autou deuteron eiselqein kai gennhqhnai 5.Jesus answered, "Most assuredly I tell you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he can`t enter into the kingdom of God! apekriqh [o] ihsouV amhn amhn legw soi ean mh tiV gennhqh ex udatoV kai pneumatoV ou dunatai eiselqein eiV thn basileian tou qeou 6.That which is born of the flesh is flesh. That which is born of the Spirit is spirit. to gegennhmenon ek thV sarkoV sarx estin kai to gegennhmenon ek tou pneumatoV pneuma estin 7.Don`t marvel that I said to you, `You must be born anew.` mh qaumashV oti eipon soi dei umaV gennhqhnai anwqen 8.The wind blows where it wants to, and you hear its sound, but don`t know where it comes from and where it is going. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit." to pneuma opou qelei pnei kai thn fwnhn autou akoueiV all ouk oidaV poqen ercetai kai pou upagei outwV estin paV o gegennhmenoV ek tou pneumatoV 9.Nicodemus answered him, "How can these things be?" apekriqh nikodhmoV kai eipen autw pwV dunatai tauta genesqai 10.Jesus answered him, "Are you the teacher of Israel, and don`t understand these things? apekriqh ihsouV kai eipen autw su ei o didaskaloV tou israhl kai tauta ou ginwskeiV 11.Most assuredly I tell you, we speak that which we know, and testify of that which we have seen, and you don`t receive our witness. amhn amhn legw soi oti o oidamen laloumen kai o ewrakamen marturoumen kai thn marturian hmwn ou lambanete 12.If I told you earthly things and you don`t believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? ei ta epigeia eipon umin kai ou pisteuete pwV ean eipw umin ta epourania pisteusete Rabbi (Rabbei). See on Luke 1:38. Technically Jesus was not an acknowledged Rabbi of the schools, but Nicodemus does recognize him as such and calls him "My Master" just as Andrew and John did (Luke 1:38).  It was a long step for Nicodemus as a Pharisee to take, for the Pharisees had closely scrutinized the credentials of the Baptist in Luke 1:19-24 (Milligan and Moulton's Comm.). We know (oidamen).  Second perfect indicative first person plural. He seems to speak for others of his class as the blind man does in Luke 9:31. Westcott thinks that Nicodemus has been influenced partly by the report of the commission sent to the Baptist (Luke 1:19-27). Thou art a teacher come from God (apo qeou elhluqaß didaskaloß). "Thou hast come from God as a teacher." Second perfect active indicative of ercomai and predicative nominative didaskaloß. Th is is the explanation of Nicodemus for coming to Jesus, obscure Galilean peasant as he seemed, evidence that satisfied one of the leaders in Pharisaism. Can do (dunatai poiein). "Can go on doing" (present active infinitive of poiew and so linear). These signs that thou doest (tauta ta shmeia a su poieiß). Those mentioned in Luke 2:23 that convinced so many in the crowd and that now appeal to the scholar. Note su (thou) as quite out of the ordinary. The scorn of Jesus by the rulers held many back to the end (John 12:42), but Nicodemus dares to feel his way. Except God be with him (ean mh h o qeoß met autou). Condition of the third class, presented as a probability, not as a definite fact. He wanted to know more of the teaching accredited thus by God. Jesus went about doing good because God was with him, Peter says ( Acts 10:38).

Verse 3 Except a man be born anew  (ean mh tiß gennhqh anwqen). Another condition of the third class, undetermined but with prospect of determination. First aorist passive subjunctive of gennaw. Anwqen. Originally "from above" (Mark 15:38), then "from heaven" (John 3:31), then "from the first" (Luke 1:3), and then "again" (palin anwqen, Galatians 4:9). Which is the meaning here? The puzzle of Nicodemus shows (deuteron, verse 3:4) that he took it as "again," a second birth from the womb. The Vulgate translates it by renatus fuerit denuo. But the misapprehension of Nicodemus does not prove the meaning of Jesus. In the other passages in John ( 3:31; 19:11,23) the meaning is "from above" (desuper) and usually so in the Synoptics.  It is a second birth, to be sure, regeneration, but a birth from above by the Spirit. He cannot see the kingdom of God (ou dunatai idein thn basileian tou qeou). To participate in it as in Luke 9:27. For this use of idein (second aorist active infinitive of oraw) see John 8:51; Revelation 18:7.