João 3
James Montgomery Boice · Citado em PreceptAustin
João 3
Boice - I heard this explanation first during my years in college. It is based on the fact that physical birth is accompanied by the release of the embryonic fluid from the womb of the mother. If this were the proper explanation, Jesus would be saying that in order for a person to be saved he must first be born physically and then his physical birth must be followed by a spiritual birth. True as this may be, it does not seem to be the proper interpretation of the statement. For one thing, the word “water” is never used in this way elsewhere in Scripture. For another, a reference to the necessity of physical birth is so self-evident that the question arises whether Jesus would waste words in this fashion. The third and decisive problem with this view is that since Jesus was probably claiming that a person is born again by water as well as by the Spirit, if water refers to physical birth, this is simply not true. Physical birth is not part of the answer. ( Boice - The Gospel of John) (3) Water is to be understood as a symbol for the Holy Spirit. Thus the phrase could be translated “born of water, even the Spirit.” (Jn 7:37-39) Gangel - "The Greek word kai translated here (and commonly) as and can also mean “even.” Proponents of this view bring in passages like John 7:37–39 to link water with the Spirit." (Ibid) Steven
João 3
Boice adds that "Unique means being without a like or equal, single in kind or excellence, matchless. It is an important word, and it is particularly important at just this point in our study since it occurs twice in the space of five verses. In Greek the word is monogenes; the New International Version says “One and Only”; the French say unique. In each case, however, the same teaching is in view…We see at once, then, that Jesus is unique because there is no one quite like Him...He is unique in his person, birth, doctrine, works, miracles, death, resurrection, and future triumphs." Monogenēs is used of "the only child" in a family throughout antiquity, both in Greek and Jewish literature (see DNTT, 3, 1202).] Monogenēs conveys Christ, the God-man, stands apart from all other people – fully divine and authentically physical (human, cf. Jn 1:1-18; Phil 2:6,7). Christ emerged from eternity, coming into time through His incarnation. His birth therefore was absolutely unique – the only birth free from original sin and joining deity (Christ's eternal divine nature) to a flawless, human nature. Monogenēs is used of Christ's "unique descent" from heaven to earth declaring Him as "absolutely unique" (TDNT IV, 738). Monogenēs "is centered in the Personal existence of the Son, and not in the Generation of the Son" (B. F. Westcott, The Epistles of St John [1883] 1966, 170). Richard Longnecker, "The word monogenēs, with its variants mounogeneia (an early feminine poetic form) and mounogonos (a later masculine form), occurs first in extant Greek literature in the writings of the eighth-century bc poet Hesiod. . . . Literally monogenēs means 'sole descent' or 'the only child of one's parents.' It is a stronger term than the simple monos, for it denotes that the parents have never had more than this one child. This is one way it was used by Hesiod (Works and Days 376; Theogony 426), Plato (Critias 113d), Herodotus (History 7.221), and Antoninus Liberalis (Mythographi Graeci, ed. E. Martini, II [1896], 32.1). "The word, however, was also used by Hesiod (Works and Days 374; Theogony 448) and the writers of the Orphic Hymns (29:2; 32:1; 40:16) in the sense of 'peerless,' 'matchless,' 'unique,' 'of singular importance,' or 'the only one of its kind,' which ideas have more to do with quality than derivation or descent. The sixty-fifth century bc philosopher Parmenides spoke of Being as 'ungenerated [agenēton], imperishable, whole, unique [monogenēs], and without end' (Frag. 8.3-4), thereby ignoring – particularly in parallel with agenēton – any idea of generation in the word as might be found etymologically in genos. "The translation 'only begotten Son,' though venerable, fails to capture adequately John's point in his use of monogenēs huios (or monogenēs theos in Jn 1:18), . . . in Johannine usage monogenēs is an adjective connoting quality, which should be translated in a manner signaling primarily uniqueness, and that huios as a christological appellative in John's gospel and Letters connotes primarily divine nature. So, to be true to John's intent, monogenēs huios is best translated into current English as 'one and only Son'" (The NIV, BORROW The Making of a contemporary translation, 120-126, Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1986). Related Resources: The Meaning of Monogenes in the Gospel of John - 23 page paper - Don Caffese Baker Evangelical Dictionary One and Only, Only Begotten Holman Bible Dictionary Only Begotten Hastings' Dictionary of the NT Only Begotten International Standard Bible Encyclopedia Only Begotten What does it mean that Jesus is God's only begotten son? What is the doctrine of eternal Sonship and is it biblical? What is the Athanasian Creed? Believes (4100)(pisteuo - see discussion from pistis; pistos) means to consider something to be true and therefore worthy of one’s trust. To accept as true, genuine, or real. To have a firm conviction as to the goodness, efficacy, or ability of something or someone. To consider to be true. To accept the word or evidence of.
João 3
Boice puts it "Jesus first spoke of the source of the new birth. He now speaks of the means by which it occurs." Unless one is born of water and the Spirit - Note that Jesus is saying essentially the same thing He said in John 3:3 "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” In other words Jesus clearly parallels "born again" with "born of water and the Spirit." This is an important observation, because the phrase "born of water and the Spirit" has generate many interpretation regarding what Jesus meant by water. And because excellent expositors disagree with the interpretation of the meaning of water (see discussion below), it would be very easy to miss a crucial point that Jesus is clearly describing man's need for a supernatural birth. Let us not miss that crucial truth, probably the most significant truth in the entire New Testament, the truth that one must experience the new birth, be born again, be born by water and the Spirit! As they say don't miss the forest for the trees! With that caveat we can look at the assorted interpretations. Unless (ean me) is literally "if not" and is translated except, unless (e.g., in Mt 5:20+). This conditional conjunction is used 4x in John 3 (Jn. 3:2; Jn. 3:3; Jn. 3:5; Jn. 3:27) Unless is a critical conjunction. In English dictionaries "unless" means "except under the circumstances that; except on the condition that." Another says 'Unless is defined as except something else happens." In this case that "something else" that must happen is that Nicodemus must be born again. It is not optional! There is no "Plan B!" Born (1080) see preceding note on gennao. All uses by John - Jn. 1:13; Jn. 3:3; Jn. 3:4; Jn. 3:5; Jn. 3:6; Jn. 3:7; Jn. 3:8; Jn. 8:41; Jn. 9:2; Jn. 9:19; Jn. 9:20; Jn. 9:32; Jn. 9:34; Jn. 16:21; Jn. 18:37; 1 Jn. 2:29; 1 Jn. 3:9; 1 Jn. 4:7; 1 Jn. 5:1; 1 Jn. 5:4; 1 Jn. 5:18 What does born of water mean? The range of interpretations is wide and there is no clear consensus. (1) This interpretation says that in using the phrase born of water Jesus was referring to water baptism or Christian baptism as we practice it today. Gangel comments that "No less a scholar than Westcott argues for baptismal regeneration from a text like this. Borchert (NAC-Jn) and Luther do not, but they see the water as the act of baptism." Carson has an excellent argument against this interpretation writing that "If water = baptism is so important for entering the kingdom, it is surprising that the rest of the discussion never mentions it again: the entire focus is on the work of the Spirit (v. 8), the work of the Son (vv. 14–15), the work of God himself (vv. 16–17), and the place of faith (vv. 15–16)....The Spirit plays a powerful role in John 14–16; 20:22, but there is no hint of baptism.....The entire view seems to rest on an unarticulated prejudice that every mention of water evoked instant recognition, in the minds of first-century readers, that the real reference was to baptism, but it is very doubtful that this prejudice can be sustained by the sources. Even so, this conclusion does not preclude the possibility of a secondary allusion to baptism" Borrow The Gospel according to John)
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Boice - Unfortunately, this is not substantiated either by the text or by biblical theology. The text says nothing at all about baptism, and the Bible elsewhere teaches that no one is saved by any external rite of religion (1 Sam. 16:7; Rom. 2:28–29; Gal. 2:15, 16; 5:1–6). Baptism is a sign of what has already taken place, but it is not the agent by which it takes place.( Boice - The Gospel of John) Edwin Blum - This view contradicts other Bible verses that make it clear that salvation is by faith alone; e.g., John 3:16, 36; Eph. 2:8–9; Titus 3:5. (Bible Knowledge Commentary) Kenneth