John 3:9

New Living Translation

"How are these things possible?" Nicodemus asked.

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
“How can these things be?” asked Nicodemus.

King James Version (1611)
Nicodemus answered, and said vnto him, How can these things be?

King James Version
Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be?

English Standard Version
Nicodemus said to him, "How can these things be?"

New American Standard Bible
Nicodemus responded and said to Him, "How can these things be?"

New Century Version
Nicodemus asked, "How can this happen?"

Amplified Bible
Nicodemus said to Him, "How can these things be possible?"

New American Standard Bible (1995)
Nicodemus said to Him, "How can these things be?"

Legacy Standard Bible
Nicodemus answered and said to Him, "How can these things be?"

Berean Standard Bible
"How can this be?" Nicodemus asked.

Contemporary English Version
"How can this be?" Nicodemus asked.

Complete Jewish Bible
Nakdimon replied, "How can this happen?"

Darby Translation
Nicodemus answered and said to him, How can these things be?

Easy-to-Read Version
Nicodemus asked, "How is all this possible?"

Geneva Bible (1587)
Nicodemus answered, and said vnto him, Howe can these things be?

George Lamsa Translation
Nicodemus answered and said to him, How can these things be?

Good News Translation
"How can this be?" asked Nicodemus.

Lexham English Bible
Nicodemus answered and said to him, "How can these things be?"

Literal Translation
Nicodemus answered and said to Him, How are these things able to occur?

American Standard Version
Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be?

Bible in Basic English
And Nicodemus said to him, How is it possible for these things to be?

Hebrew Names Version
Nakdimon answered him, "How can these things be?"

International Standard Version
Nicodemus said to him, "How can that be?"John 6:52,60;">[xr]

Etheridge Translation
Nikodimos answered and said to him, How can these things be?

Murdock Translation
Nicodemus answered, and said to him: How can these things be?

Bishop's Bible (1568)
Nicodemus aunswered, and sayde vnto hym: howe can these thynges be?

English Revised Version
Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be?

World English Bible
Nicodemus answered him, "How can these things be?"

Wesley's New Testament (1755)
Nicodemus answered and said to him, How can these things be?

Weymouth's New Testament
"How is all this possible?" asked Nicodemus.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Nychodeme answeride, and seide to hym, Hou moun these thingis be don?

Update Bible Version
Nicodemus answered and said to him, How can these things be?

Webster's Bible Translation
Nicodemus answered and said to him, How can these things be?

New English Translation
Nicodemus replied, "How can these things be?"

New King James Version
Nicodemus answered and said to Him, "How can these things be?"

New Life Bible
Nicodemus said to Him, "How can this be?"

New Revised Standard
Nicodemus said to him, "How can these things be?"

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Nicodemus answered, and said unto him - How, can these things, come about?

Douay-Rheims Bible
Nicodemus answered and said to him: How can these things be done?

Revised Standard Version
Nicode'mus said to him, "How can this be?"

Tyndale New Testament (1525)
And Nicodemus answered and sayde vnto him: how can these thinges be?

Young's Literal Translation
Nicodemus answered and said to him, `How are these things able to happen?'

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Nicodemus answered, and sayde vnto him: How maye these be?

Mace New Testament (1729)
Nicodemus answered, how can that be?

THE MESSAGE
Nicodemus asked, "What do you mean by this? How does this happen?"

Simplified Cowboy Version
"How can this happen though?" Nick asked.

Contextual Overview

¹ There was a man named Nicodemus, a Jewish religious leader who was a Pharisee. ² After dark one evening, he came to speak with Jesus. "Rabbi," he said, "we all know that God has sent you to teach us. Your miraculous signs are evidence that God is with you." ³ Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God." ⁴ "What do you mean?" exclaimed Nicodemus. "How can an old man go back into his mother's womb and be born again?" ⁵ Jesus replied, "I assure you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit. ⁶ Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life. ⁷ So don't be surprised when I say, ‘You must be born again.' ⁸ The wind blows wherever it wants. Just as you can hear the wind but can't tell where it comes from or where it is going, so you can't explain how people are born of the Spirit." ⁹ "How are these things possible?" Nicodemus asked. ¹⁰ Jesus replied, "You are a respected Jewish teacher, and yet you don't understand these things?

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

How: John 3:4, John 6:52, John 6:60, Proverbs 4:18, Isaiah 42:16, Mark 8:24, Mark 8:25, Luke 1:34

Reciprocal: Joshua 7:26 - So the Lord John 7:36 - manner John 9:10 - General John 14:22 - how 1 Corinthians 15:35 - How 1 Timothy 1:7 - understanding

Cross-References

Genesis 3:12
The man replied, "It was the woman you gave me who gave me the fruit, and I ate it."

Genesis 3:13
Then the Lord God asked the woman, "What have you done?" "The serpent deceived me," she replied. "That's why I ate it."

Genesis 3:17
And to the man he said, "Since you listened to your wife and ate from the tree whose fruit I commanded you not to eat, the ground is cursed because of you. All your life you will struggle to scratch a living from it.

Genesis 3:19
By the sweat of your brow will you have food to eat until you return to the ground from which you were made. For you were made from dust, and to dust you will return."

Genesis 3:20
Then the man—Adam—named his wife Eve, because she would be the mother of all who live.

Genesis 3:21
And the Lord God made clothing from animal skins for Adam and his wife.

Genesis 4:9
Afterward the Lord asked Cain, "Where is your brother? Where is Abel?" "I don't know," Cain responded. "Am I my brother's guardian?"

Genesis 11:5
But the Lord came down to look at the city and the tower the people were building.

Genesis 16:8
The angel said to her, "Hagar, Sarai's servant, where have you come from, and where are you going?" "I'm running away from my mistress, Sarai," she replied.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Nicodemus answered and said unto him,.... Remaining still as ignorant as ever, though Christ had explained the phrase "born again", at which he stumbled, by a being "born of water and of the Spirit", or of the grace of the Spirit of God; and had illustrated this by the free, powerful, and invisible blowing of the wind:

how can these things be? The Arabic version reads, "how can this be?" referring either to the last thing said, that a man's being born of the Spirit, is like the blowing of the wind; or to the explanation of the first expression, that a man should be born of water, and of the Spirit; or to the first assertion itself, that a man should be born again; which notwithstanding the explanation and illustration, seemed as impossible, and as impracticable as ever; or rather to them all, and so the Persic version reads, "how can all these things be?"

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

How can these things be? - Nicodemus was still unwilling to admit the doctrine unless he understood it; and we have here an instance of a man of rank stumbling at one of the plainest doctrines of religion, and unwilling to admit a truth because he could not understand “how” it could be, when he daily admitted the truth of facts in other things which he could as little comprehend. And we may learn:

1.That people will often admit facts on other subjects, and be greatly perplexed by similar facts in religion.

2.That no small part of people’s difficulties are because they cannot understand how or why a thing is.

3.That people of rank and learning are as likely to be perplexed by these things as those in the obscurest and humblest walks of life.

4.That this is one reason why such men, particularly, so often reject the truths of the gospel.

5.That this is a very unwise treatment of truth, and a way which they do not apply to other things.

If the wind cools and refreshes me in summer if it prostrates the oak or lashes the sea into foam - if it destroys my house or my grain, it matters little how it does this; and so of the Spirit. If it renews my heart, humbles my pride, subdues my sin, and comforts my soul, it is a matter of little importance how it does all this. Sufficient for me is it to know that it is done, and to taste the blessings which flow from the renewing. and sanctifying grace of God.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse John 3:9. How can these things be? — Our Lord had very plainly told him how these things could be, and illustrated the new birth by one of the most proper similes that could be chosen; but so intent was this great man an making every thing submit to the testimony of his senses that he appears unwilling to believe any thing, unless he can comprehend it. This is the case with many-they profess to believe because they comprehend; but they are impostors who speak thus: there is not a man in the universe that can fully comprehend one operation, either of God or his instrument nature; and yet they must believe, and do believe, though they never did nor ever can fully comprehend, or account for, the objects of their faith.