Jesus answered is literally “Jesus answered and said to him.” Again this phrasing represents the stylistic redundancy of Semitic Greek (see 1.50 and 2.18,19).

I am telling you the truth is the same expression discussed in 1.51.

In his reply to Nicodemus, Jesus picks up the same words Nicodemus has used: no one. However, in the Greek the wording of the two verses is not so close as in Good News Translation.

Good News Translation inverts the order of Jesus’ words. In the Greek the dependent clause (unless he is born again) precedes the independent clause (no one can see the Kingdom of God). This inversion is merely a matter of style; the same inversion occurs in New American Bible (“no one can see the reign of God unless he is begotten from above”).

In this verse as in the double negative conditional clause of verse 3.2, it may be necessary to modify the conditional expression, for example, “only if a person is born again can he see the Kingdom of God.”

The verb see in this passage has the meaning of “to experience” or “to share in,” as its parallel expression in verse 5 indicates (no one can enter the Kingdom of God). “To see” is used elsewhere in the Gospel of John with a similar meaning (see 3.36 and 8.51). In many languages it is not possible to use such a verb as “see” with the meaning of “to experience,” and therefore one must translate see the Kingdom of God “experience God’s rule” or “be a part of God’s Kingdom” or “have a share in God’s ruling.”

The Kingdom of God is mentioned only twice in the Gospel of John, here and in verse 5; but it is a familiar theme throughout the Synoptic Gospels. It has the significance of God’s rule in the lives of men, rather than of a territory over which God rules. The expression see the Kingdom of God is therefore often translated “experience God’s ruling over one” or “have God as one’s ruler” or “enjoying the ruling of God over one.”

The verb rendered by most translations born can refer to being born of a mother or to being begotten of a father. Most commentators and apparently most modern English translations prefer the meaning of “to be born.” However, the Johannine parallels (1.13; 1 John 3.9) refer to being begotten rather than being born.

The word translated again may also carry the meaning “from above,” as the alternative rendering of Good News Translation indicates. The use of a word with a possible double meaning is characteristic of John’s Gospel. It often serves as a means of transition in thought, on the basis of the misunderstanding of the person or persons with whom Jesus is speaking (see 3.4; 4.11; 8.22; 11.13; 13.36-38). Goodspeed attempts to incorporate both areas of meaning “born over again from above.” On the problem of such a translation see the comments on verse 4.

Expressions meaning “to be born” are often idiomatic, for example, “to see the light,” “to come into the light,” “to come from between,” or “to be dropped.” Because of the extraordinary implications involved in an expression meaning “to be born again,” it may be necessary to emphasize the meaning of “again,” for example, “to be born all over again” or even “to be born again, that is, twice.” Without such special emphasis, the implications of the statement may be missed.

Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on the Gospel of John. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1980. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .