Do not be surprised was an expression frequently used in everyday Jewish life and by the rabbis. In John it expresses a negative attitude, indicating lack of insight by the person addressed.

The first you in this verse is singular, while the second you is plural; for this reason Good News Translation translates the second as you … all (note also Phillips, New English Bible, Moffatt). In Greek the clause is in direct discourse (I tell you, “You…”), but the 4th edition Good News Translation has shifted to indirect.

Again is the same word used in verse 3, and it may also have the meaning of “from above,” as the alternative rendering in Good News Translation suggests. For the reasons mentioned earlier (see verse 4), it seems better to translate again in the text and to use “from above” as an alternative rendering. It may be advisable to include a note here, indicating the ambiguity of meaning or explaining what may be thought of as a “play on the meaning.” The similarity of problems in meaning may be mentioned in relation to both verses 4 and 7.

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 .