John 3 - NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible
3:1 Nicodemus. Ancient Jewish sources report a wealthy Naqdimon (Nicodemus) from this period (e.g., Sipre Dt 305.2.1).
3:3 born again. As “heaven” was a surrogate title for God, occasionally Jewish sources used “above” in the same way. “Born from above” (the likeliest literal sense here) can mean “born from God.” Plays on words were common in antiquity and are also present in many places in John’s Gospel (cf. v. 8).
3:4 How can . . . ? Wise sages in both Greece and the Middle East sometimes spoke in riddles hard for others to understand. Throughout John’s Gospel, outsiders misunderstand Jesus’ riddles and fail to perceive his plays on words. Ancient writers sometimes highlighted the wisdom of a protagonist by providing foils who misunderstand.
3:5 born of water and the Spirit. Some Jewish teachers allowed that Gentiles could be “reborn” into Judaism through conversion, which included immersion in water. Some understand the Greek construction here as a hendiadys, which is a two-idea expression designed to more thoroughly describe one idea, hence “born of water, i.e., the Spirit” (cf. 7:39). In the time of restoration, God would use water to purify his people from the impurity of idolatry (Eze 36:25), give them a new spirit (Eze 36:26) and put his Spirit in them (Eze 36:27).
3:6 Spirit gives birth to spirit. God would put a new spirit in his people (Eze 36:26) when he put his Spirit in them; then they would obey his laws (Eze 36:27). Ancients accepted the principle that living things produced things that reflected characteristics consistent with their progenitors (e.g., Ge 1:11).
3:8 wind . . . sound. John is fond of wordplays (v. 3). Both in Hebrew and in Greek, the “sound” of the “wind” can also mean the “voice” of the “Spirit.” In the chapter immediately following Eze 36 (see notes on Jn 3:5, 6), God’s Spirit comes like a wind to revive and restore his people (Eze 37:1–14).
3:12 Nicodemus should be able to recognize Jesus’ point, which draws on a familiar principle. Some Jewish people already recognized that humans, with limited knowledge even of earthly things, could not understand the heavens (noted in the widely circulated Wisdom of Solomon 9:16)—at least not without the Spirit sent from above (Wisdom of Solomon 9:17). In John, “earthly” analogies for “heavenly things” here might refer to “above” (see NIV text note on v. 3), “water” (v. 5) and “wind” (v. 8).
3:13 gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven. Although some Jewish tradition spoke of Moses ascending to heaven or even mystics reaching God’s throne, the description of Jesus here resembles Jewish texts about divine Wisdom that came down from heaven.
3:16 God so loved the world. Lit., “in this way God loved the world.” Jewish teachers emphasized God’s extraordinary love for Israel; self-sacrificing love for the world, however, exceeds that love. God’s loving character here fits the OT (e.g., Ex 34:6–7; Hos 11:8).
3:17–18 not . . . to condemn . . . but to save . . . Whoever believes in him is not condemned. Jewish people anticipated salvation, eternal life, and condemnation in the day of judgment at the end of the age; in Jesus, the future promises have begun to be fulfilled. (This new life begins with the spiritual birth noted in vv. 3, 5.)
3:19–21 Light . . . darkness . . . light. This passage’s language would have been understandable to John’s readers; the Dead Sea Scrolls contrast the people of light (Israel’s chosen remnant) with the people of darkness (everyone else).
3:22 baptized. Jewish teachers viewed Jewish groups that had special baptisms for other Jews as movements distinct from the mainstream.
3:23 Aenon. The location is debated, but scholars’ best guess so far places it in the vicinity of Samaria (cf. 4:4).
3:24 before John was put in prison. Josephus notes that Herod Antipas imprisoned John in his fortress Machaerus in Perea, which was on the other side of the Jordan (cf. John’s ministry there in v. 26; 1:28; 10:40; see note on Mk 6:17). The verse here might echo Jer 37:4.
3:25 the matter of ceremonial washing. Jewish groups differed on opinions about ceremonial washing. For ritual purity, see note on 2:6.
3:26 everyone is going to him. Ancient teachers often competed for disciples; on occasion teachers could be friends, yet their students still wished to be rivals.
3:29 When ancient Jewish sources pictured joy, they often pictured weddings. The friend who attends the bridegroom. This friend would offer a congratulatory speech and in various other ways support the groom. He would be best honored for honoring the groom, not for seeking his own honor.
3:33 certified. “Sealed”; among the various uses of wax seals in antiquity, one was when witnesses would attest to the truth or content of something. They would seal a document shut with a wad of hot wax, into which they would impress their distinctive signet (often on a ring); the mark would remain when the wax dried, and remained intact until the document or container was opened (see the article “Sealing Documents and Revelation 5”).
3:35 placed everything in his hands. Jewish teachers reserved such language for divine Wisdom.
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