Charles Ellicott Commentary John 3
Charles Ellicott Commentary
John 3
Charles Ellicott Commentary
John 3
"Now there was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews:" — John 3:1 (ASV)
The word πνεῦμα (pneuma) occurs some 370 times in the Greek New Testament, and of these, twenty-three times in this Gospel. It is nowhere rendered “wind” by our translators, except in this instance, and they have rendered the same word “Spirit” in the same verse, and twice besides in the same context (John 3:5–6). There is another word for “wind” (ἄνεμος), which occurs thirty-one times in the New Testament, and which John himself uses in John 6:18.
It is not contended that πνεῦμα may not mean “wind” or “the breath of wind,” but this is not its New Testament use, where the word is restricted to its special meaning. (It is plural in Hebrews 1:7; see Note there.) It is also admitted that the Hebrew or Chaldee word which πνεῦμα here translates has the two senses, but the sense in which it is used here is fixed by the translator.
"the same came unto him by night, and said to him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that thou doest, except God be with him." — John 3:2 (ASV)
The word for “blows,” “breathes,” is of the same root as πνεῦμα. It is used in the New Testament with “wind,” but naturally has the meaning of its cognate substantive. The Vulgate can exactly render it by Spiritus ubi vult spirat, but we have in English no verb cognate with “Spirit.”
"Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except one be born anew, he cannot see the kingdom of God." — John 3:3 (ASV)
It is perfectly natural to ascribe the power of willing to the Spirit, but it is not consistent with the simplicity of our Lord’s teaching thus to personify “wind,” especially in teaching on a subject where the simplest words are hard to fathom. The common rendering makes Him use the same word, in the same verse, of the third person in the Trinity, and of a natural phenomenon.
"Nicodemus saith unto 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?" — John 3:4 (ASV)
The proper meaning of the word rendered “sound” (φωνή) is articulate “voice.” It is used in fifteen passages in this Gospel only, and everywhere translated “voice” except here. Let the reader substitute the one meaning for the other in any of these passages, e.g.,John 1:23; John 3:29; John 5:25; John 5:28; John 10:3–5; John 10:16, and he will find that they are not interchangeable.
"Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except one be born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God!" — John 3:5 (ASV)
It is believed that the rendering adopted agrees with the whole context, and gives a fuller sense to the words of the great Teacher.
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