John 3:9

9 Nicodemus answered and said to him, `How are these things able to happen?'

John 3:9 Meaning and Commentary

John 3:9

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?"

John 3:9 In-Context

7 `Thou mayest not wonder that I said to thee, It behoveth you to be born from above;

8 the Spirit where he willeth doth blow, and his voice thou dost hear, but thou hast not known whence he cometh, and whither he goeth; thus is every one who hath been born of the Spirit.'

9 Nicodemus answered and said to him, `How are these things able to happen?'

10 Jesus answered and said to him, `Thou art the teacher of Israel -- and these things thou dost not know!

11 `Verily, verily, I say to thee -- What we have known we speak, and what we have seen we testify, and our testimony ye do not receive;