Second Sunday in Lent, 5th March 2023

St John 3: 1-17

1 Ἦν δὲ ἄνθρωπος ἐκ τῶν Φαρισαίων, Νικόδημος ὄνομα αὐτῷ, ἄρχων τῶν ᾿Ιουδαίων.

2 Οὗτος ἦλθε πρὸς αὐτὸν νυκτὸς καὶ εἶπεν αὐτῷ· ῥαββί, οἴδαμεν ὅτι ἀπὸ Θεοῦ ἐλήλυθας διδάσκαλος· οὐδεὶς γὰρ ταῦτα τὰ σημεῖα δύναται ποιεῖν ἃ σὺ ποιεῖς, ἐὰν μὴ ᾖ ὁ Θεὸς μετ’ αὐτοῦ.

3 Ἀπεκρίθη Ἰησοῦς καὶ εἶπεν αὐτῷ· ἀμὴν ἀμὴν λέγω σοι, ἐὰν μή τις γεννηθῇ ἄνωθεν, οὐ δύναται ἰδεῖν τὴν βασιλείαν τοῦ Θεοῦ.

4 Λέγει πρὸς αὐτὸν ὁ Νικόδημος· πῶς δύναται ἄνθρωπος γεννηθῆναι γέρων ὤν; Μὴ δύναται εἰς τὴν κοιλίαν τῆς μητρὸς αὐτοῦ δεύτερον εἰσελθεῖν καὶ γεννηθῆναι;

5 Ἀπεκρίθη Ἰησοῦς· ἀμὴν ἀμὴν λέγω σοι, ἐὰν μή τις γεννηθῇ ἐξ ὕδατος καὶ Πνεύματος, οὐ δύναται εἰσελθεῖν εἰς τὴν βασιλείαν τοῦ Θεοῦ.

6 Τὸ γεγεννημένον ἐκ τῆς σαρκὸς σάρξ ἐστι, καὶ τὸ γεγεννημένον ἐκ τοῦ Πνεύματος πνεῦμά ἐστι.

7 Μὴ θαυμάσῃς ὅτι εἶπόν σοι, δεῖ ὑμᾶς γεννηθῆναι ἄνωθεν.

8 Τὸ πνεῦμα ὅπου θέλει πνεῖ, καὶ τὴν φωνὴν αὐτοῦ ἀκούεις, ἀλλ’ οὐκ οἶδας πόθεν ἔρχεται καὶ ποῦ ὑπάγει· οὕτως ἐστὶ πᾶς ὁ γεγεννημένος ἐκ τοῦ Πνεύματος.

9 Ἀπεκρίθη Νικόδημος καὶ εἶπεν αὐτῷ· πῶς δύναται ταῦτα γενέσθαι;

10 Ἀπεκρίθη Ἰησοῦς καὶ εἶπεν αὐτῷ· σὺ εἶ ὁ διδάσκαλος τοῦ Ἰσραὴλ καὶ ταῦτα οὐ γινώσκεις;

11 Ἀμὴν ἀμὴν λέγω σοι ὅτι ὃ οἴδαμεν λαλοῦμεν καὶ ὃ ἑωράκαμεν μαρτυροῦμεν, καὶ τὴν μαρτυρίαν ἡμῶν οὐ λαμβάνετε.

12 Εἰ τὰ ἐπίγεια εἶπον ὑμῖν καὶ οὐ πιστεύετε, πῶς ἐὰν εἴπω ὑμῖν τὰ ἐπουράνια πιστεύσετε;

13 Καὶ οὐδεὶς ἀναβέβηκεν εἰς τὸν οὐρανὸν εἰ μὴ ὁ ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ καταβάς, ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ὁ ὢν ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ.

14 Καὶ καθὼς Μωυσῆς ὕψωσε τὸν ὄφιν ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ, οὕτως ὑψωθῆναι δεῖ τὸν υἱὸν τοῦ ἀνθρώπου,

15 ἵνα πᾶς ὁ πιστεύων εἰς αὐτὸν μὴ ἀπόληται, ἀλλ’ ἔχῃ ζωὴν αἰώνιον.

16 Οὕτω γὰρ ἠγάπησεν ὁ Θεὸς τὸν κόσμον, ὥστε τὸν υἱὸν αὐτοῦ τὸν μονογενῆ ἔδωκεν, ἵνα πᾶς ὁ πιστεύων εἰς αὐτὸν μὴ ἀπόληται, ἀλλ’ ἔχῃ ζωὴν αἰώνιον.

17 Οὐ γὰρ ἀπέστειλεν ὁ Θεὸς τὸν υἱὸν αὐτοῦ εἰς τὸν κόσμον ἵνα κρίνῃ τὸν κόσμον, ἀλλ’ ἵνα σωθῇ ὁ κόσμος δι’ αὐτοῦ.

Comments

The pericope is pretty straightforward in terms of syntax, grammar, and vocabulary. One verb with its participles and infinitive stands out: γεννῶμαι (άομαι), the passive voice of γεννῶ (άω), ‘I beget’, usually referring to a father’s procreation.  See vv. 3-8.

[3] ἐὰν μή τις γεννηθῇ ἄνωθεν:  γεννηθῇ, 3^rd pers. sg., aor. passive subj. , ‘be born, begotten’. ἄνωθεν, an adv. of place, ‘from above’ (ἄνω) in cl. Greek. Already in LXX Greek it means ‘ fresh from the start, anew’ (Muraoka, p. 61, s.v.). The adverb is repeated by Christ in v. 7. Nicodemus’ reaction in v. 4 may suggest that he has construed ἄνωθεν in a temporal sense (= δεύτερον, ‘a second time’). Either sense is admissible in koine Greek. Jesus uses the adv. in the sense of ‘from heaven, from God‘ here and in v. 7: as Balz & Schneider, Exeg. Dict. of NT Greek, s.v. ἄνωθεν (i. 102) observe, ‘this is cryptic language and is misunderstood by Nicodemus in the sense of anew’.

[4] γεννηθῆναι: aor. infinitive, γεννῶμαι.  Τhe second instance of the infinitive in this verse occurs in the sentence Μὴ δύναται εἰς τὴν κοιλίαν τῆς μητρὸς αὐτοῦ δεύτερον εἰσελθεῖν καὶ γεννηθῆναι;  The expected answer is ‘No’ because the (rhetorical) question is introduced by μή  (‘One can’t enter his mother’s belly a second time, can one?’). Here γεννῶμαι refers to birth from a mother.

[12] Εἰ τὰ ἐπίγεια εἶπον ὑμῖν καὶ οὐ πιστεύετε, πῶς ἐὰν εἴπω ὑμῖν τὰ ἐπουράνια πιστεύσετε;: πιστεύω, ‘to put trust in’, ‘believe’ (LSJ, s.v.) is derived from πείθομαι, pass./ mid. voice, ‘I am persuaded, have put trust in, obey’ (Chantraine, s.v. πείθομαι). Cf. v. 15.

[13] ἀναβέβηκεν εἰς τὸν οὐρανὸν: ἀναβέβηκεν, 3^rd pers. sg. pf. < ἀναβαίνω, ‘go up’, freq. with preposition, as here. καταβάς, occurring in the same verse, means the opposite, ‘go or come down’.

[14] 14 Καὶ καθὼς Μωυσῆς ὕψωσε τὸν ὄφιν ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ, οὕτως ὑψωθῆναι δεῖ τὸν υἱὸν τοῦ ἀνθρώπου: ὕψωσε < ὑψῶ (όω), ‘Ι lift high’ (late Greek); cf. ὕψος, ‘height’. ὑψωθῆναι, aor. pass. infinitive. In LXX & NT Greek ὑψῶ and ὑψοῦμαι can be used figuratively (‘I exalt’, ‘I am exalted’).

[16] ἔδωκεν: 2^nd pers. sg., aor. δίδωμι, ‘Ι   give, give freely’ (LSJ, s.v.). 

In ancient Greek a mortal gives in offering to the gods just as they give or grant something, e.g. victory or misfortune, to mortals.