John 3:4

4 "How can I be born when I am old?" Nicodemus asked. "I can't go back inside my mother! I can't be born a second time!"

John 3:4 Meaning and Commentary

John 3:4

Nicodemus saith unto him
Understanding him of a natural birth, to be repeated:

how can a man be born when he is old?
as it seems by this, he himself now was:

can he enter the second time into his mothers womb, and be born?
the Ethiopic version adds, "again"; and the Arabic version, "and then be born"; this he urges, as absurd, impracticable, and impossible; and which shows him to have been as yet a natural man, who could not receive nor discern spiritual things.

John 3:4 In-Context

2 He came to Jesus at night and said, "Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God. We know that God is with you. If he weren't, you couldn't do the miraculous signs you are doing."

3 Jesus replied, "What I'm about to tell you is true. No one can see God's kingdom without being born again."

4 "How can I be born when I am old?" Nicodemus asked. "I can't go back inside my mother! I can't be born a second time!"

5 Jesus answered, "What I'm about to tell you is true. No one can enter God's kingdom without being born through water and the Holy Spirit.

6 People give birth to people. But the Spirit gives birth to spirit.