Charles Ellicott Commentary John 3:10

"Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou the teacher of Israel, and understandest not these things?" — John 3:10 (ASV)

Are you a master of Israel?—Better, Are you the teacher of Israel? The article is emphatic and points to the position of Nicodemus as a teacher of repute—“the well-known teacher;” or possibly it is to be understood of the Sanhedrin as represented by him—“Is this the teaching of Israel?”

There is something of just indignation here, as everywhere when the words of Jesus Christ are addressed to the hypocrisy of the Pharisees.

“You who teach others, do you need to learn the very first lessons of true religion? You who claim to loose and bind men, and place heavy burdens on them which they cannot bear, are you without the simplest real knowledge of what God is, or of what man is? Do teachers of Israel not know these things when they underlie every page of the Old Testament Scriptures?”