John Gill Commentary John 3:8

"The wind bloweth where it will, and thou hearest the voice thereof, but knowest not whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit." — John 3:8 (ASV)

The wind blows where it lists;
For ought any mortal can say, or do to the contrary: and so the Spirit of God is a free agent in regeneration; he works how, and where, and when he pleases; he acts freely in the first operation of his grace on the heart, and in all after influences of it; as well as in the donation of his gifts to men, for different purposes; see (1 Corinthians 12:11).

And this grace of the Spirit in regeneration, like the wind, is powerful and irresistible; it carries all before it; there is no withstanding it; it throws down Satan's strong holds, demolishes the fortifications of sin; the whole posse of hell, and the corruptions of a man's heart, are not a match for it; when the Spirit works, who can let?

and you hear the sound thereof, but cannot tell from where it
comes, nor where it goes ;
as the wind, though its sound is heard, and its force felt, it cannot be seen; nor is it known certainly, from where it comes, and where are the treasures of it; from where it begins, and where it ends; so is the grace of the Spirit of God in regeneration to a natural man; it is imperceptible, indiscernible, and unaccountable by him, (1 Corinthians 2:14).

So is every one that is born of the Spirit ;
And since so ordinary a thing as the blowing of the wind is of such a nature, and so little to be accounted for; regeneration by the Spirit of God, who is comparable to the wind, and whose name so signifies, need not be thought so marvellous and astonishing, though the natural man does not discern it, and cannot account for it.

The beauty and propriety of this simile will more appear by observing, that the same Hebrew word, (xwr) , is used both for the wind, and for the Spirit of God; it is used for the "wind", in (Genesis 3:8) (8:1) (1 Kings 19:11) (Ecclesiastes 1:6) ; and in other places, and for the Spirit of God, in (Genesis 1:2) (6:3) (Job 33:4) , and elsewhere: and so likewise the Greek word (pneuma) , is used for them both, for the wind in this place, and often for the Holy Ghost: and it may be observed, that the Holy Spirit, because of his powerful, comfortable, and quickening influences, is compared to the wind, especially to the south wind, in some passages of the Old Testament, which Christ might have in view, (Song of Solomon 4:16) (Zechariah 9:14).

What our Lord here says, concerning the wind, is confirmed by all experience, and philosophical observations; the rise of winds, from where they come, and where they go, cannot be ascertained; the treasures of them are only with God, and known to him; see (Ecclesiastes 11:5).