God & Savior

John 3:13

No one has ascended into heaven except the One who descended from heaven—the Son of Man.
John 3:13
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Study notes

Only the Son of Man, who came down from heaven, can speak with first-hand knowledge of heaven.

Explanation

Jesus explains why His testimony can be trusted. No one has gone up to heaven to bring back knowledge of God, but He came down from heaven.

"Son of Man" is the title Jesus most often uses for Himself. It recalls the figure in Daniel 7:13-14 who comes with the clouds of heaven and receives authority from God.

Original language
  • ἀναβέβηκεν (anabebēken): to ascend
    Greek · Verb, perfect, active, indicative, 3rd person singular · Strong's G0305 · text: NA28 (as recorded in TAGNT)

    Has gone up or ascended.

    Source: STEP Bible (Tyndale House, Cambridge), TAGNT: Translators Amalgamated Greek New Testament, STEPBible-Data commit ed476a8, John 3:13, word 3

  • καταβάς (katabas): to come/go down
    Greek · Verb, 2nd aorist, active, participle, nominative, singular, masculine · Strong's G2597 · text: NA28 (as recorded in TAGNT)

    Having come down or descended.

    Source: STEP Bible (Tyndale House, Cambridge), TAGNT: Translators Amalgamated Greek New Testament, STEPBible-Data commit ed476a8, John 3:13, word 13

  • υἱὸς (huios): son
    Greek · Noun, nominative, singular, masculine · Strong's G5207 · text: NA28 (as recorded in TAGNT)

    Son.

    Source: STEP Bible (Tyndale House, Cambridge), TAGNT: Translators Amalgamated Greek New Testament, STEPBible-Data commit ed476a8, John 3:13, word 15

  • ἀνθρώπου (anthrōpou): a human
    Greek · Noun, genitive, singular, masculine · Strong's G0444 · text: NA28 (as recorded in TAGNT)

    Of Man: with "Son", the title Jesus uses for Himself.

    Source: STEP Bible (Tyndale House, Cambridge), TAGNT: Translators Amalgamated Greek New Testament, STEPBible-Data commit ed476a8, John 3:13, word 17

Cross-references
  • Daniel 7:13-14 · Background

    One like a son of man comes with the clouds of heaven.

  • John 1:51 · Related verse

    Angels ascending and descending on the Son of Man.

  • John 6:38 · Same theme

    I have come down from heaven.

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)

καὶ οὐδεὶς ἀναβέβηκεν εἰς τὸν οὐρανὸν εἰ μὴ ὁ ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ καταβάς, ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου

  1. καὶkai“And”
    Conjunction · from καί · “and” · Strong's G2532
  2. οὐδεὶςoudeis“no [one]”
    Adjective, nominative, singular, masculine · from οὐδείς · “none” · Strong's G3762
  3. ἀναβέβηκενanabebēken“has gone up”
    Verb, perfect, active, indicative, 3rd person singular · from ἀναβαίνω · “to ascend” · Strong's G0305
  4. εἰςeis“into”
    Preposition · “toward” · Strong's G1519
  5. τὸνton“<the>”
    Article, accusative, singular, masculine · from ὁ · “the/this/who” · Strong's G3588
  6. οὐρανὸνouranon“heaven”
    Noun, accusative, singular, masculine · from οὐρανός · “heaven” · Strong's G3772
  7. εἰei“only”
    Conditional · “if” · Strong's G1487H
  8. μὴmē“except”
    Particle, negative · from μή · “not” · Strong's G3361
  9. ὁho“the [One]”
    Article, nominative, singular, masculine · “the/this/who” · Strong's G3588
  10. ἐκek“out of”
    Preposition · “out from” · Strong's G1537
  11. τοῦtou“<the>”
    Article, genitive, singular, masculine · from ὁ · “the/this/who” · Strong's G3588
  12. οὐρανοῦouranou“heaven”
    Noun, genitive, singular, masculine · from οὐρανός · “heaven” · Strong's G3772
  13. καταβάς,katabas“having come down,”
    Verb, 2nd aorist, active, participle, nominative, singular, masculine · from καταβαίνω · “to come/go down” · Strong's G2597
  14. ὁho“the”
    Article, nominative, singular, masculine · “the/this/who” · Strong's G3588
  15. υἱὸςhuios“Son”
    Noun, nominative, singular, masculine · from υἱός · “son” · Strong's G5207
  16. τοῦtou“<the>”
    Article, genitive, singular, masculine · from ὁ · “the/this/who” · Strong's G3588
  17. ἀνθρώπουanthrōpou“of Man”
    Noun, genitive, singular, masculine · from ἄνθρωπος · “a human” · Strong's G0444
  • 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)