Nicodemus saith unto them, (he that came to Jesus by night, being one of them,)
Nicodemus saith unto them (he that came to him before, being one of them),
Nicodemus saith unto them--he who came by night unto him--being one of them,
Nicodemus says to them (being one of themselves),
John — The Gospel of sevens and signs. Seven signs, seven 'I AM' sayings, a prologue and an epilogue — written 'that ye might believe' (20:31).
Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread — the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.
Voices3
One of the rulers is Nicodemus, and he is numbered among those who had authority, yet not wholly unbelieving nor altogether vying with their folly, but already pricked, not indeed having his love to Christ yet free, yet to some degree feeling shame at the convictions of his conscience.
Cyril of Alexandria· Commentary on the Gospel of John, Book 5, 444patristic
Nicodemus saith unto them,.... To the Jewish sanhedrim, who were running down Christ, and his followers, in great wrath and fury: he that came to Jesus by night; see Joh 3:1; being one of them; a member of the sanhedrim.
John Gill· Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748)reformed
Nicodemus - See Joh 3:1. One of them - That is, one of the great council or Sanhedrin. God often places one or more pious men in legislative assemblies to vindicate his honor and his law; and he often gives a man grace on such occasions boldly to defend his cause; to put men upon their proof, and to confound the proud and the domineering. We see in this case, also, that a man, at one time timid and fearful (compare Joh 3:1), may on other occasions be bold, and fearlessly defend the truth as it is in Jesus.
Albert Barnes· Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)evangelical
The walk5
Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first — the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.
Through
John 19:39Nicodemus, who had previously come to Jesus at night, also brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds.
leads to
Nicodemus, who had gone to Jesus earlier and who himself was one of them, asked,
Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews.
with nard and saffron, with calamus and cinnamon, with every kind of frankincense tree, with myrrh and aloes, with all the finest spices.
I have perfumed my bed with myrrh, with aloes, and with cinnamon.
But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first.
The whole web at once: see the Arc.
The verses this one reaches7
Nicodemus, who had previously come to Jesus at night, also brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds.
Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews.
You shall not follow the crowd in wrongdoing. When you testify in a lawsuit, do not pervert justice by siding with the crowd.
Who will rise up for me against the wicked? Who will stand for me against the workers of iniquity?
He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs You are doing if God were not with him.”
“Have any of the rulers or Pharisees believed in Him?
But a Pharisee named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law who was honored by all the people, stood up in the Sanhedrin and ordered that the men be put outside for a short time.
