3:10a–b
“You are Israel’s teacher,” said Jesus, “and you do not understand these things?: The two clauses in 3:10a–b together form a rhetorical question that Jesus used as a rebuke. He was not asking whether Nicodemus was really a teacher. Nor was he asking whether Nicodemus understood his teaching.
He knew that Nicodemus was a teacher, and he knew that Nicodemus did not understand. He was saying that, because he was a teacher, Nicodemus should have understood. That was the rebuke. There are several ways to translate this rhetorical question:
• Use a rhetorical question. For example:
How can you be a teacher of Israel and not know these things? (Contemporary English Version)
• Use a statement of rebuke. For example:
As a teacher in Israel, you should understand these things.
• Use an exclamation. For example:
You a teacher of Israel and yet you do not know about such things!
Translate this rebuke in a way that is natural in your language.
you: This pronoun refers to Nicodemus and is singular both times it is used.
3:10a
“You are Israel’s teacher,” said Jesus: Jesus was assuming and stating that Nicodemus was a teacher of Israel. This is the ground of the rebuke that follows. It may therefore be natural to say:
because you are a teacher of Israel
-or-
as a teacher of Israel
Israel’s teacher: The Greek noun phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Israel’s teacher is more literally “the teacher of Israel.” This probably indicates that Nicodemus had influence as an important religious teacher of the people of Israel. He was a respected representative of the Jewish people, with authority to teach them the Torah. He was probably a member of the Sanhedrin. See the note on “a leader of the Jews” in 3:1b.
teacher: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as teacher was a polite title for a Jewish religious leader. It was a title of respect for a man who had authority to teach things about God. Do not use a term that can refer only to a school teacher.
3:10b
and you do not understand these things?: Jesus was rebuking Nicodemus for not understanding what he was talking about. The Hebrew Scriptures taught that God’s Spirit changed people and gave them new life. Nicodemus should have remembered that from passages such as Ezekiel 36:26–27 and Ezekiel 37:1–14.
these things: This phrase refers back to what Jesus had just talked about (3:3, 3:5–8). It refers to being born again, born of the Spirit. In some languages it is more natural to supply that idea here. For example:
How can you not understand what I mean when I talk about ⌊being born of the Spirit⌋ ?
General Comment on 3:10a–b
In some languages it may be natural to reverse the order of the comments in this verse. For example:
10b You (sing.) should understand these things 10a because you are a respected teacher of the people of Israel.
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