God & Savior

John 3:10

“You are Israel’s teacher,” said Jesus, “and you do not understand these things?
John 3:10
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Study notes

Jesus expresses surprise that Israel's teacher does not understand these things.

Explanation

Jesus calls Nicodemus "Israel's teacher" (literally "the teacher of Israel"). As someone who taught the Scriptures, he should have recognised God's promises of a new heart and a new spirit (for example Ezekiel 36:25-27).

Original language
  • διδάσκαλος (didaskalos): teacher
    Greek · Noun, nominative, singular, masculine · Strong's G1320 · text: NA28 (as recorded in TAGNT)

    Teacher.

    Source: STEP Bible (Tyndale House, Cambridge), TAGNT: Translators Amalgamated Greek New Testament, STEPBible-Data commit ed476a8, John 3:10, word 9

  • Ἰσραὴλ (Israēl): Israel
    Greek · Noun, genitive, singular, masculine · Strong's G2474 · text: NA28 (as recorded in TAGNT)

    Israel.

    Source: STEP Bible (Tyndale House, Cambridge), TAGNT: Translators Amalgamated Greek New Testament, STEPBible-Data commit ed476a8, John 3:10, word 11

Cross-references
  • Ezekiel 36:26-27 · Background

    God promises a new heart and His Spirit within His people.

  • Jeremiah 31:33 · Background

    God promises to write His law on His people's hearts.

Connected events
  • Nicodemus visits Jesus at night
    This verse is part of it · jerusalem

    This verse is part of the conversation.

    John 3:1-21

Sources

Original language and places

Reference data from open datasets, shown as published by their sources. Word-by-word English is a literal guide, not a translation.

Original language (Greek)

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

  1. ἈπεκρίθηApekrithē“Answered”
    Verb, aorist, middle (deponent), indicative, 3rd person singular · from ἀποκρίνω · “to answer” · Strong's G0611
  2. ἸησοῦςIēsous“Jesus”
    Noun, nominative, singular, masculine · “Jesus/Joshua” · Strong's G2424G
  3. καὶkai“and”
    Conjunction · from καί · “and” · Strong's G2532
  4. εἶπενeipen“said”
    Verb, 2nd aorist, active, indicative, 3rd person singular · from ἔπω, ἐρῶ, εἶπον · “to say” · Strong's G2036
  5. αὐτῷ·autō“to him;”
    Personal pronoun, dative, singular, masculine · from αὐτός · “he/she/it/self” · Strong's G0846
  6. σὺsu“You yourself”
    Personal pronoun, 2nd person, nominative, singular · from σύ · “you” · Strong's G4771
  7. εἶei“are”
    Verb, present, active, indicative, 2nd person singular · from εἰμί · “to be” · Strong's G1510
  8. ὁho“the”
    Article, nominative, singular, masculine · “the/this/who” · Strong's G3588
  9. διδάσκαλοςdidaskalos“teacher”
    Noun, nominative, singular, masculine · “teacher” · Strong's G1320
  10. τοῦtou“<the>”
    Article, genitive, singular, masculine · from ὁ · “the/this/who” · Strong's G3588
  11. ἸσραὴλIsraēl“of Israel”
    Noun, genitive, singular, masculine · from Ἰσραήλ · “Israel” · Strong's G2474
  12. καὶkai“and”
    Conjunction · from καί · “and” · Strong's G2532
  13. ταῦταtauta“these things”
    Demonstrative pronoun, accusative, plural, neuter · from οὗτος · “this/he/she/it” · Strong's G3778
  14. οὐou“not”
    Particle, negative · “no” · Strong's G3756
  15. γινώσκεις;ginōskeis“know?”
    Verb, present, active, indicative, 2nd person singular · from γινώσκω · “to know” · Strong's G1097
  • Prepared by the God & Savior team. Not yet reviewed by an editor.
  • Greek words: STEP Bible (STEPBible.org), based on work at Tyndale House, Cambridge. CC BY 4.0. Source (version ed476a8)