John 3:1 BSB — MannaFest

John 3:1

Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews.

BSB

Parallel translations (2) ▾

ASV

Now there was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews:

KJV

There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews:

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Commentary

2 voices

John Gill

1697–1771

Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748)

There was a man of the Pharisees,.... The Syriac version adds, "there"; that is, at Jerusalem; and who was among those that believed in the name of Christ, upon seeing the miracles he did at the feast of the passover, in that place.

The record, by era

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

Albert Barnes

1798–1870

Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)

A man of the Pharisees - A Pharisee. See the notes at Mat 3:7. Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews - One of the “Sanhedrin,” or great council of the nation. He is twice mentioned after this as being friendly to our Saviour; in the first instance as advocating his cause, and defending him against the unjust suspicion of the Jews Joh 7:50, and in the second instance as one who came to aid in embalming his body, Joh 19:

Voices on this verse

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Hebraic traditional view

Nicodemus, and why “born again” baffled a teacher of Israel

Nicodemus is “a man of the Pharisees... a ruler of the Jews”: a member of the Sanhedrin, the seventy-one-member high council that governed Jewish religious life from Jerusalem. His night visit is respectful and searching, and he is the standing proof that the Pharisaic movement contained honest seekers; John follows his arc from this conversation to his protest on Jesus' behalf (John 7:50-52) and finally to the seventy-five pounds of burial spices (John 19:39).

Why does “ye must be born again” baffle “the teacher of Israel”? The tradition had rebirth language of its own, but for GENTILES: a convert to Judaism “has the legal status of a newborn child,” as the Talmud words the principle (Yevamot 22a). Rebirth was intelligible for an outsider entering Israel. Jesus applies it to a son of Abraham, a Pharisee, a member of the council: even Israel's teacher must be born of water and the Spirit, words that stand on Ezekiel 36:25-27's promise of clean water and a new spirit. The tradition's convert-rebirth is reception history; what Jesus claims from it is the verse's own Christian confession, new birth from above for everyone.

Sources: Yevamot 22a (Babylonian Talmud: the convert as a newborn)

Original language & word study

12 tagged words

Original	Transliteration	Meaning	Word study
Ἦν	Ēn	There was	G1510 →
δὲ	de	now	G1161 →
ἄνθρωπος	anthrōpos	a man	G444 →
ἐκ	ek	of	G1537 →
τῶν	tōn	the	G3588 →
Φαρισαίων,	Pharisaiōn	Pharisees,	G5330 →
Νικόδημος	Nikodēmos	Nicodemus	G3530 →
ὄνομα	onoma	name	G3686 →
αὐτῷ,	autō	to him,	G846 →
ἄρχων	archōn	a ruler	G758 →
τῶν	tōn	of the	G3588 →
Ἰουδαίων.	Ioudaiōn	Jews.	G2453 →

Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread: the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.

The walk

The walk8

Where the connections lead

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 3:10
“You are Israel’s teacher,” said Jesus, “and you do not understand these things?
leads to
- Matthew 22:29
  Jesus answered, “You are mistaken because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God.
- Jeremiah 8:8–9
  How can you say, ‘We are wise, and the Law of the LORD is with us,’ when in fact the lying pen of the scribes has produced a deception?
- Ezekiel 11:19
  And I will give them singleness of heart and put a new spirit within them; I will remove their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh,
- Matthew 15:14
  Disregard them! They are blind guides. If a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit.”
- Psalms 51:6
  Surely You desire truth in the inmost being; You teach me wisdom in the inmost place.
Through
John 19:39
Nicodemus, who had previously come to Jesus at night, also brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds.
leads to
- John 7:50–52
  Nicodemus, who had gone to Jesus earlier and who himself was one of them, asked,
- John 3:1–21
  Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews.
- Song of Solomon 4:14
  with nard and saffron, with calamus and cinnamon, with every kind of frankincense tree, with myrrh and aloes, with all the finest spices.

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