“How can this be?” Nicodemus asked.
Parallel translations
- WEB Nicodemus answered him, “How can these things be?”
- KJV Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be?
- NKJV Nicodemus answered and said to Him, “How can these things be?”
- NASB Nicodemus responded and said to Him, “How can these things be?”
- NLT “How are these things possible?” Nicodemus asked.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Nicodemus, still perplexed, asks how these things can be. His question shows the limits of human wisdom before the mystery of regeneration.
Overview
Despite his learning, Nicodemus cannot make sense of the new birth on his own terms. His honest bewilderment moves the dialogue from 'what' to 'how,' opening the way for Jesus to speak of his own heavenly origin and saving mission. It models that understanding spiritual truth requires revelation, not merely intellect.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- Isa 42:16I will lead the blind by a way they did not know; I will guide them on unfamiliar paths. I will turn darkness into light before them and rough places into level ground. These things I will do for them, and I will not forsake them.
- John 6:60On hearing it, many of His disciples said, “This is a difficult teaching. Who can accept it?”
- John 6:52At this, the Jews began to argue among themselves, “How can this man give us His flesh to eat?”
- Luke 1:34“How can this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”
- John 3:4“How can a man be born when he is old?” Nicodemus asked. “Can he enter his mother’s womb a second time to be born?”
- Prov 4:18The path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, shining brighter and brighter until midday.
- Mark 8:24–25The man looked up and said, “I can see the people, but they look like trees walking around.”
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
John declares him plainly: the eternal Word made flesh, the Lamb of God, the great 'I AM' — bread, light, door, shepherd, way, truth, life, resurrection — that you may believe and have life in his name.
How John 3:9 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.