God & Savior

John 3:5

Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit.
John 3:5
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Study notes

Jesus explains that entering God's kingdom requires being born of water and the Spirit.

Explanation

Jesus repeats His statement from verse 3, now speaking of being "born of water and the Spirit". The rest of the passage puts the weight on the Spirit (3:6, 8).

The Old Testament joins water and God's Spirit in the promise of a new heart: God says He will wash His people and put His Spirit within them (Ezekiel 36:25-27).

Theology

New birth is God's work by His Spirit. It brings a person into God's kingdom.

Original language
  • ὕδατος (hudatos): water
    Greek · Noun, genitive, singular, neuter · Strong's G5204 · text: NA28 (as recorded in TAGNT)

    Water.

    Source: STEP Bible (Tyndale House, Cambridge), TAGNT: Translators Amalgamated Greek New Testament, STEPBible-Data commit ed476a8, John 3:5, word 12

  • πνεύματος (pneumatos): spirit/breath
    Greek · Noun, genitive, singular, neuter · Strong's G4151G · text: NA28 (as recorded in TAGNT)

    Spirit; the same word can also mean wind or breath (see verse 8).

    Source: STEP Bible (Tyndale House, Cambridge), TAGNT: Translators Amalgamated Greek New Testament, STEPBible-Data commit ed476a8, John 3:5, word 14

  • εἰσελθεῖν (eiselthein): to enter
    Greek · Verb, 2nd aorist, active, infinitive · Strong's G1525 · text: NA28 (as recorded in TAGNT)

    To enter.

    Source: STEP Bible (Tyndale House, Cambridge), TAGNT: Translators Amalgamated Greek New Testament, STEPBible-Data commit ed476a8, John 3:5, word 17

Cross-references
  • Ezekiel 36:25-27 · Background

    God promises to cleanse His people with water and put His Spirit in them.

  • John 7:37-39 · Same theme

    Jesus speaks of living water and John explains it as the Spirit.

  • Titus 3:5 · Same theme

    Washing of new birth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.

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· ἀμὴν ἀμὴν λέγω σοι, ἐὰν μή τις γεννηθῇ ἐξ ὕδατος καὶ πνεύματος, οὐ δύναται εἰσελθεῖν εἰς τὴν βασιλείαν τοῦ θεοῦ.

  1. ἈπεκρίθηApekrithē“Answered”
    Verb, aorist, middle (deponent), indicative, 3rd person singular · from ἀποκρίνω · “to answer” · Strong's G0611
  2. Ἰησοῦς·Iēsous“Jesus;”
    Noun, nominative, singular, masculine · from Ἰησοῦς · “Jesus/Joshua” · Strong's G2424G
  3. ἀμὴνamēn“Amen”
    Interjection · from ἀμήν · “amen” · Strong's G0281
  4. ἀμὴνamēn“Amen”
    Interjection · from ἀμήν · “amen” · Strong's G0281
  5. λέγωlegō“I say”
    Verb, present, active, indicative, 1st person singular · “to speak” · Strong's G3004G
  6. σοι,soi“to you,”
    Personal pronoun, 2nd person, dative, singular · from σύ · “you” · Strong's G4771
  7. ἐὰνean“only”
    Conditional · from ἐάν · “if” · Strong's G1437
  8. μήmē“unless”
    Particle, negative · “not” · Strong's G3361
  9. τιςtis“someone”
    Indefinite pronoun, nominative, singular, masculine · “one” · Strong's G5100
  10. γεννηθῇgennēthēa“shall be born”
    Verb, aorist, passive, subjunctive, 3rd person singular · from γεννάω · “to beget” · Strong's G1080
  11. ἐξex“of”
    Preposition · from ἐκ · “out from” · Strong's G1537
  12. ὕδατοςhudatos“water”
    Noun, genitive, singular, neuter · from ὕδωρ, ὕδατος · “water” · Strong's G5204
  13. καὶkai“and”
    Conjunction · from καί · “and” · Strong's G2532
  14. πνεύματος,pneumatos“of [the] Spirit,”
    Noun, genitive, singular, neuter · from πνεῦμα · “spirit/breath” · Strong's G4151G
  15. οὐou“not”
    Particle, negative · “no” · Strong's G3756
  16. δύναταιdunatai“he is able”
    Verb, present, middle or passive (deponent), indicative, 3rd person singular · from δύναμαι · “be able” · Strong's G1410
  17. εἰσελθεῖνeiselthein“to enter”
    Verb, 2nd aorist, active, infinitive · from εἰσέρχομαι · “to enter” · Strong's G1525
  18. εἰςeis“into”
    Preposition · “toward” · Strong's G1519
  19. τὴνtēn“the”
    Article, accusative, singular, feminine · from ὁ · “the/this/who” · Strong's G3588
  20. βασιλείανbasileian“kingdom”
    Noun, accusative, singular, feminine · from βασιλεία · “kingdom” · Strong's G0932
  21. τοῦtou“<the>”
    Article, genitive, singular, masculine · from ὁ · “the/this/who” · Strong's G3588
  22. θεοῦ.theou“of God.”
    Noun, genitive, singular, masculine · from θεός · “God” · Strong's G2316
  • 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)