God & Savior

John 3:2

He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs You are doing if God were not with him.”
John 3:2
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Study notes

Nicodemus comes to Jesus at night and says that Jesus' signs show He is a teacher from God.

Explanation

Nicodemus speaks respectfully: he calls Jesus "Rabbi" and says "we know" that He has come from God. His reason is the signs Jesus has been doing (2:23).

John notes that he came at night. Later in the chapter Jesus speaks about light and darkness (3:19-21), and John often uses night and darkness as pictures of not yet understanding (compare 9:4; 13:30). The text itself does not say why Nicodemus came at night.

Original language
  • νυκτὸς (nuktos): night
    Greek · Noun, genitive, singular, feminine · Strong's G3571 · text: NA28 (as recorded in TAGNT)

    By night: John records the time of the visit.

    Source: STEP Bible (Tyndale House, Cambridge), TAGNT: Translators Amalgamated Greek New Testament, STEPBible-Data commit ed476a8, John 3:2, word 5

  • ῥαββί (rhabbi): Rabbi
    Greek · Noun, vocative, singular, masculine · Strong's G4461 · text: NA28 (as recorded in TAGNT)

    Rabbi: a respectful title meaning teacher.

    Source: STEP Bible (Tyndale House, Cambridge), TAGNT: Translators Amalgamated Greek New Testament, STEPBible-Data commit ed476a8, John 3:2, word 9

  • σημεῖα (sēmeia): sign
    Greek · Noun, accusative, plural, neuter · Strong's G4592 · text: NA28 (as recorded in TAGNT)

    Signs: John's word for Jesus' miracles, which point to who He is.

    Source: STEP Bible (Tyndale House, Cambridge), TAGNT: Translators Amalgamated Greek New Testament, STEPBible-Data commit ed476a8, John 3:2, word 21

Places
  • Jerusalem
    From the surrounding passage · Location: unknown

    Setting inferred from John 2:23-3:2; exact location unknown.

Cross-references
  • John 2:23 · Surrounding passage

    Many in Jerusalem believed because of the signs Jesus was doing.

  • John 3:19-21 · Surrounding passage

    Jesus speaks about coming to the light.

  • John 20:30-31 · Same theme

    John says the signs are written so that readers may believe.

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)

οὗτος ἦλθεν πρὸς αὐτὸν νυκτὸς καὶ εἶπεν αὐτῷ· ῥαββί, οἴδαμεν ὅτι ἀπὸ θεοῦ ἐλήλυθας διδάσκαλος· οὐδεὶς γὰρ δύναται ταῦτα τὰ σημεῖα ποιεῖν ἃ σὺ ποιεῖς, ἐὰν μὴ ᾖ ὁ θεὸς μετ᾽ αὐτοῦ.

  1. οὗτοςhoutos“He”
    Demonstrative pronoun, nominative, singular, masculine · “this/he/she/it” · Strong's G3778
  2. ἦλθενēlthen“came”
    Verb, 2nd aorist, active, indicative, 3rd person singular · from ἔρχομαι · “to come/go” · Strong's G2064
  3. πρὸςpros“to”
    Preposition · from πρός · “to/with” · Strong's G4314
  4. αὐτὸνauton“Him”
    Personal pronoun, accusative, singular, masculine · from αὐτός · “he/she/it/self” · Strong's G0846
  5. νυκτὸςnuktos“by night”
    Noun, genitive, singular, feminine · from νύξ · “night” · Strong's G3571
  6. καὶkai“and”
    Conjunction · from καί · “and” · Strong's G2532
  7. εἶπενeipen“said”
    Verb, 2nd aorist, active, indicative, 3rd person singular · from ἔπω, ἐρῶ, εἶπον · “to say” · Strong's G2036
  8. αὐτῷ·autō“to Him;”
    Personal pronoun, dative, singular, masculine · from αὐτός · “he/she/it/self” · Strong's G0846
  9. ῥαββί,rhabbi“Rabbi,”
    Noun, vocative, singular, masculine · from ῥαββί · “Rabbi” · Strong's G4461
  10. οἴδαμενoidamen“we know”
    Verb, perfect, active, indicative, 1st person plural · from εἴδω · “to perceive” · Strong's G6063
  11. ὅτιhoti“that”
    Conjunction · “that/since” · Strong's G3754G
  12. ἀπὸapo“from”
    Preposition · from ἀπό · “away from” · Strong's G0575
  13. θεοῦtheou“God”
    Noun, genitive, singular, masculine · from θεός · “God” · Strong's G2316
  14. ἐλήλυθαςelēluthas“You have come”
    Verb, 2nd perfect, active, indicative, 2nd person singular · from ἔρχομαι · “to come/go” · Strong's G2064
  15. διδάσκαλος·didaskalos“a teacher;”
    Noun, nominative, singular, masculine · from διδάσκαλος · “teacher” · Strong's G1320
  16. οὐδεὶςoudeis“no [one]”
    Adjective, nominative, singular, masculine · from οὐδείς · “none” · Strong's G3762
  17. γὰρgar“for”
    Conjunction · from γάρ · “for” · Strong's G1063
  18. δύναταιdunatai“is able”
    Verb, present, middle or passive (deponent), indicative, 3rd person singular · from δύναμαι · “be able” · Strong's G1410
  19. ταῦταtauta“these”
    Demonstrative pronoun, accusative, plural, neuter · from οὗτος · “this/he/she/it” · Strong's G3778
  20. τὰta“<the>”
    Article, accusative, plural, neuter · from ὁ · “the/this/who” · Strong's G3588
  21. σημεῖαsēmeia“signs”
    Noun, accusative, plural, neuter · from σημεῖον · “sign” · Strong's G4592
  22. ποιεῖνpoiein“to do”
    Verb, present, active, infinitive · from ποιέω · “to do/make” · Strong's G4160G
  23. ἃha“that”
    Relative pronoun, accusative, plural, neuter · from ὅς, ἥ · “which” · Strong's G3739
  24. σὺsu“You yourself”
    Personal pronoun, 2nd person, nominative, singular · from σύ · “you” · Strong's G4771
  25. ποιεῖς,poieis“do,”
    Verb, present, active, indicative, 2nd person singular · from ποιέω · “to do/make” · Strong's G4160G
  26. ἐὰνean“only”
    Conditional · from ἐάν · “if” · Strong's G1437
  27. μὴmē“unless”
    Particle, negative · from μή · “not” · Strong's G3361
  28. ᾖē“shall be”
    Verb, present, active, subjunctive, 3rd person singular · from εἰμί · “to be” · Strong's G1510
  29. ὁho“<the>”
    Article, nominative, singular, masculine · “the/this/who” · Strong's G3588
  30. θεὸςtheos“God”
    Noun, nominative, singular, masculine · from θεός · “God” · Strong's G2316
  31. μετ᾽met᾽“with”
    Preposition · from μετά · “with/after” · Strong's G3326
  32. αὐτοῦ.autou“him.”
    Personal pronoun, genitive, singular, masculine · from αὐτός · “he/she/it/self” · Strong's G0846
  • 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)