John 3:5-6

3:5 Jesus answered, “I tell you the solemn truth, ¹  unless a person is born of water and spirit, ²  he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 3:6 What is born of the flesh is flesh, ³  and what is born of the Spirit is spirit.

John 1:13

1:13 – children not born ⁴  by human parents ⁵  or by human desire ⁶  or a husband’s ⁷  decision, ⁸  but by God.

Galatians 6:15

6:15 For ⁹  neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for ¹⁰  anything; the only thing that matters is a new creation! ¹¹ 

Ephesians 2:1

New Life Individually

2:1 And although you were ¹²  dead ¹³  in your transgressions and sins,

Titus 3:5

3:5 he saved us not by works of righteousness that we have done but on the basis of his mercy, through the washing of the new birth and the renewing of the Holy Spirit,

James 1:18

1:18 By his sovereign plan he gave us birth ¹⁴  through the message of truth, that we would be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.

James 1:1

Salutation

1:1 From James, ¹⁵  a slave ¹⁶  of God and the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes dispersed abroad. ¹⁷  Greetings!

James 1:3

1:3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance.

James 1:23-25

1:23 For if someone merely listens to the message and does not live it out, he is like someone ¹⁸  who gazes at his own face ¹⁹  in a mirror. 1:24 For he gazes at himself and then goes out and immediately forgets ²⁰  what sort of person he was. 1:25 But the one who peers into the perfect law of liberty and fixes his attention there, ²¹  and does not become a forgetful listener but one who lives it out – he ²²  will be blessed in what he does. ²³ 

James 1:1

Salutation

1:1 From James, ²⁴  a slave ²⁵  of God and the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes dispersed abroad. ²⁶  Greetings!

James 2:1

Prejudice and the Law of Love

2:1 My brothers and sisters, ²⁷  do not show prejudice ²⁸  if you possess faith ²⁹  in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ. ³⁰ 

James 3:9

3:9 With it we bless the Lord ³¹  and Father, and with it we curse people ³²  made in God’s image.

James 5:1

Warning to the Rich

5:1 Come now, you rich! Weep and cry aloud ³³  over the miseries that are coming on you.

James 5:18

5:18 Then ³⁴  he prayed again, and the sky gave rain and the land sprouted with a harvest.

[3:5]  ¹ tn Grk “Truly, truly, I say to you.”

[3:5]  ² tn Or “born of water and wind” (the same Greek word, πνεύματος [pneumatos], may be translated either “spirit/Spirit” or “wind”).

[3:6]  ³ sn What is born of the flesh is flesh, i.e., what is born of physical heritage is physical. (It is interesting to compare this terminology with that of the dialogue in John 4, especially 4:23, 24.) For John the “flesh” (σάρξ, sarx) emphasizes merely the weakness and mortality of the creature – a neutral term, not necessarily sinful as in Paul. This is confirmed by the reference in John 1:14 to the Logos becoming “flesh.” The author avoids associating sinfulness with the incarnate Christ.

[1:13]  ⁴ tn The Greek term translated “born” here also involves conception.

[1:13]  ⁵ tn Grk “of blood(s).” The plural αἱμάτων (Jaimatwn) has seemed a problem to many interpreters. At least some sources in antiquity imply that blood was thought of as being important in the development of the fetus during its time in the womb: thus Wis 7:1: “in the womb of a mother I was molded into flesh, within the period of 10 months, compacted with blood, from the seed of a man and the pleasure of marriage.” In John 1:13, the plural αἱμάτων may imply the action of both parents. It may also refer to the “genetic” contribution of both parents, and so be equivalent to “human descent” (see BDAG 26 s.v. αἷμα 1.a). E. C. Hoskyns thinks John could not have used the singular here because Christians are in fact ‘begotten’ by the blood of Christ (The Fourth Gospel, 143), although the context would seem to make it clear that the blood in question is something other than the blood of Christ.

[1:13]  ⁶ tn Or “of the will of the flesh.” The phrase οὐδὲ ἐκ θελήματος σαρκός (oude ek qelhmato" sarko") is more clearly a reference to sexual desire, but it should be noted that σάρξ (sarx) in John does not convey the evil sense common in Pauline usage. For John it refers to the physical nature in its weakness rather than in its sinfulness. There is no clearer confirmation of this than the immediately following verse, where the λόγος (logos) became σάρξ.

[1:13]  ⁷ tn Or “man’s.”

[1:13]  ⁸ tn The third phrase, οὐδὲ ἐκ θελήματος ἀνδρός (oude ek qelhmato" andros), means much the same as the second one. The word here (ἀνηρ, anhr) is often used for a husband, resulting in the translation “or a husband’s decision,” or more generally, “or of any human volition whatsoever.” L. Morris may be right when he sees here an emphasis directed at the Jewish pride in race and patriarchal ancestry, although such a specific reference is difficult to prove (John [NICNT], 101).

[6:15]  ⁹ tc The phrase “in Christ Jesus” is found after “For” in some mss (א A C D F G 0278 1881 Ï lat bo), but lacking in Ì⁴⁶ B Ψ 33 1175 1505 1739* and several fathers. The longer reading probably represents a harmonization to Gal 5:6.

[6:15]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “is.”

[6:15]  ¹¹ tn Grk “but a new creation”; the words “the only thing that matters” have been supplied to reflect the implied contrast with the previous clause (see also Gal 5:6).

[2:1]  ¹² tn The adverbial participle “being” (ὄντας, ontas) is taken concessively.

[2:1]  ¹³ sn Chapter 2 starts off with a participle, although you were dead, that is left dangling. The syntax in Greek for vv. 1-3 constitutes one incomplete sentence, though it seems to have been done intentionally. The dangling participle leaves the readers in suspense while they wait for the solution (in v. 4) to their spiritual dilemma.

[1:18]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “Having willed, he gave us birth.”

[1:1]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “James.” The word “From” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.

[1:1]  ¹⁶ tn Traditionally, “servant” or “bondservant.” Though δοῦλος (doulos) is normally translated “servant,” the word does not bear the connotation of a free individual serving another. BDAG notes that “‘servant’ for ‘slave’ is largely confined to Biblical transl. and early American times…in normal usage at the present time the two words are carefully distinguished” (BDAG 260 s.v.). The most accurate translation is “bondservant” (sometimes found in the ASV for δοῦλος), in that it often indicates one who sells himself into slavery to another. But as this is archaic, few today understand its force.

[1:1]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “to the twelve tribes in the Diaspora.” The Greek term διασπορά (diaspora, “dispersion”) refers to Jews not living in Palestine but “dispersed” or scattered among the Gentiles.

[1:23]  ¹⁸ tn The word for “man” or “individual” is ἀνήρ (anhr), which often means “male” or “man (as opposed to woman).” However, as BDAG 79 s.v. 2 says, here it is “equivalent to τὶς someone, a person.”

[1:23]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “the face of his beginning [or origin].”

[1:24]  ²⁰ tn Grk “and he has gone out and immediately has forgotten.”

[1:25]  ²¹ tn Grk “continues.”

[1:25]  ²² tn Grk “this one.”

[1:25]  ²³ tn Grk “in his doing.”

[1:1]  ²⁴ tn Grk “James.” The word “From” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.

[1:1]  ²⁵ tn Traditionally, “servant” or “bondservant.” Though δοῦλος (doulos) is normally translated “servant,” the word does not bear the connotation of a free individual serving another. BDAG notes that “‘servant’ for ‘slave’ is largely confined to Biblical transl. and early American times…in normal usage at the present time the two words are carefully distinguished” (BDAG 260 s.v.). The most accurate translation is “bondservant” (sometimes found in the ASV for δοῦλος), in that it often indicates one who sells himself into slavery to another. But as this is archaic, few today understand its force.

[1:1]  ²⁶ tn Grk “to the twelve tribes in the Diaspora.” The Greek term διασπορά (diaspora, “dispersion”) refers to Jews not living in Palestine but “dispersed” or scattered among the Gentiles.

[2:1]  ²⁷ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:2.

[2:1]  ²⁸ tn Or “partiality.”

[2:1]  ²⁹ tn Grk “do not have faith with personal prejudice,” with emphasis on the last phrase.

[2:1]  ³⁰ tn Grk “our Lord Jesus Christ of glory.” Here δόξης (doxhs) has been translated as an attributive genitive.

[3:9]  ³¹ tc Most later mss (Ï), along with several versional witnesses, have θεόν (qeon, “God”) here instead of κύριον (kurion, “Lord”). Such is a predictable variant since nowhere else in the NT is God described as “Lord and Father,” but he is called “God and Father” on several occasions. Further, the reading κύριον is well supported by early and diversified witnesses (̲⁰ א A B C P Ψ 33 81 945 1241 1739), rendering it as the overwhelmingly preferred reading.

[3:9]  ³² tn Grk “men”; but here ἀνθρώπους (anqrwpous) has generic force, referring to both men and women.

[5:1]  ³³ tn Or “wail”; Grk “crying aloud.”

[5:18]  ³⁴ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events.