Passage

John 3.8

Book: John · NASB95

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

"6. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born anew."

"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."

"9. Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be? 10. Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou the teacher of Israel, and understandest not these things?" (John 3:6-10, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"6. That which is born of the flesh is flesh. That which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7. Don’t marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born anew.’"

"8. The wind blows where it wants to, and you hear its sound, but don’t know where it comes from and where it is going. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”"

"9. Nicodemus answered him, “How can these things be?” 10. Jesus answered him, “Are you the teacher of Israel, and don’t understand these things?" (John 3:6-10, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"6. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. ^{again: or, from above}"

"8. The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit."

"9. Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be? 10. Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things?" (John 3:6-10, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"6. that which hath been born of the flesh is flesh, and that which hath been born of the Spirit is spirit. 7. 'Thou mayest not wonder that I said to thee, It behoveth you to be born from above;"

"8. the Spirit where he willeth doth blow, and his voice thou dost hear, but thou hast not known whence he cometh, and whither he goeth; thus is every one who hath been born of the Spirit.'"

"9. Nicodemus answered and said to him, 'How are these things able to happen?' 10. Jesus answered and said to him, 'Thou art the teacher of Israel, and these things thou dost not know!" (John 3:6-10, YLT)

Setting

Speaker: TBD
Audience: TBD
Location: TBD
Time period: TBD

Theological reading

Patristic / early-church-father exegesis, to be added.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

TBD
TBD
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Quoted in

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.