• John 3:8
    The Kingdom Interlinear Translation of the Greek Scriptures

    • 8 τὸ The πνεῦμα spirit ὅπου where θέλει it is willing πνεῖ, is blowing, καὶ and τὴν the φωνὴν sound αὐτοῦ of it ἀκούεις, you are hearing, ἀλλ’ but οὐκ not οἶδας you have known πόθεν wherefrom ἔρχεται it is coming καὶ and ποῦ where ὑπάγει· it is going under; οὕτως thus ἐστὶν is πᾶς everyone ὁ the γεγεννημένος having been generated ἐκ out of τοῦ the πνεύματος. spirit.

  • John 3:8
    The Bible in Living English

    • 8 The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it but do not know where it comes from and where it is going. Anyone who is born from the spirit is like that.”

  • John 3:8
    American Standard Version

    • 8 The wind bloweth where it will, and thou hearest the voice thereof, but knowest not whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.

  • John 3:8
    The Emphasized Bible

    • 8 The spirit where it pleaseth doth breathe, And the sound thereof thou hearest; But knowest not whence it cometh and whither it goeth: Thus is every one who hath been born of the spirit.

  • John 3:8
    King James Version

    • 8 The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.

  • John Study Notes—Chapter 3
    New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures (Study Edition)

    • 3:8

      wind . . . spirit: The Greek word pneuʹma, usually rendered “spirit,” occurs twice in this verse. The first occurrence is the only place in the Christian Greek Scriptures where it is rendered “wind,” though the corresponding Hebrew word ruʹach is rendered “wind” some 100 times. (Ge 8:1; Ex 10:13; 1Ki 18:45; Job 21:18; Zec 2:6; see Glossary, “Spirit.”) Both terms generally denote something invisible to the human eye, often giving evidence of force in motion. Jesus uses the expression to teach a deep spiritual truth. At the end of the verse, pneuʹma is used in the expression everyone who has been born from the spirit, that is, who has been begotten by God’s holy spirit, or active force. (See study note on Joh 3:5.) He tells Nicodemus that being “born from the spirit” can be illustrated with the blowing of the wind. Nicodemus could hear, feel, and see the effects of the wind, but he could not understand its source or its final destination. Similarly, those lacking spiritual insight would find it difficult to grasp how Jehovah, by means of his spirit, could cause a person to be born again; nor could they grasp the glorious future that lies ahead for such a person.