God & Savior

John 3:9

“How can this be?” Nicodemus asked.
John 3:9
Read chapter

Study notes

Nicodemus asks how these things can be.

Explanation

Nicodemus' question shows he is still puzzled. This is the last thing he says in the conversation. From here on Jesus speaks, and the passage widens into teaching about God's love and judgment.

Original language
  • πῶς (pōs): how?!
    Greek · Particle, interrogative · Strong's G4459 · text: NA28 (as recorded in TAGNT)

    How?

    Source: STEP Bible (Tyndale House, Cambridge), TAGNT: Translators Amalgamated Greek New Testament, STEPBible-Data commit ed476a8, John 3:9, word 6

Cross-references
  • Luke 1:34 · Related verse

    Mary also asks "How can this be?" when told of something only God can do.

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 Νικόδημος καὶ εἶπεν αὐτῷ· πῶς δύναται ταῦτα γενέσθαι;

  1. ἈπεκρίθηApekrithē“Answered”
    Verb, aorist, middle (deponent), indicative, 3rd person singular · from ἀποκρίνω · “to answer” · Strong's G0611
  2. ΝικόδημοςNikodēmos“Nicodemus”
    Noun, nominative, singular, masculine · “Nicodemus” · Strong's G3530
  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. πῶςpōs“How”
    Particle, interrogative · from πως · “how?!” · Strong's G4459
  7. δύναταιdunatai“are able”
    Verb, present, middle or passive (deponent), indicative, 3rd person singular · from δύναμαι · “be able” · Strong's G1410
  8. ταῦταtauta“these things”
    Demonstrative pronoun, nominative, plural, neuter · from οὗτος · “this/he/she/it” · Strong's G3778
  9. γενέσθαι;genesthai“to be?”
    Verb, 2nd aorist, middle (deponent), infinitive · from γίνομαι · “to be” · Strong's G1096
  • 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)