Verse (Click for Chapter) New International Version I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? New Living Translation But if you don’t believe me when I tell you about earthly things, how can you possibly believe if I tell you about heavenly things? English Standard Version If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? Berean Standard Bible If I have told you about earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? Berean Literal Bible If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? King James Bible If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things? New King James Version If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? New American Standard Bible If I told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? NASB 1995 “If I told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? NASB 1977 “If I told you earthly things and you do not believe, how shall you believe if I tell you heavenly things? Legacy Standard Bible If I told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? Amplified Bible If I told you earthly things [that is, things that happen right here on earth] and you do not believe, how will you believe and trust Me if I tell you heavenly things? Christian Standard Bible If I have told you about earthly things and you don’t believe, how will you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? Holman Christian Standard Bible If I have told you about things that happen on earth and you don’t believe, how will you believe if I tell you about things of heaven? American Standard Version If I told you earthly things and ye believe not, how shall ye believe if I tell you heavenly things? Contemporary English Version If you don't believe when I talk to you about things on earth, how can you possibly believe if I talk to you about things in heaven? English Revised Version If I told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you heavenly things? GOD'S WORD® Translation If you don't believe me when I tell you about things on earth, how will you believe me when I tell you about things in heaven? Good News Translation You do not believe me when I tell you about the things of this world; how will you ever believe me, then, when I tell you about the things of heaven? International Standard Version If I have told you people about earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? Majority Standard Bible If I have told you about earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? NET Bible If I have told you people about earthly things and you don't believe, how will you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? New Heart English Bible If I told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? Webster's Bible Translation If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how will ye believe if I tell you heavenly things? Weymouth New Testament If I have told you earthly things and none of you believe me, how will you believe me if I tell you of things in Heaven? World English Bible If I told you earthly things and you don’t believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? Literal Translations Literal Standard Versionif I spoke to you of the earthly things, and you do not believe, how, if I will speak to you of the heavenly things, will you believe? Berean Literal Bible If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? Young's Literal Translation if the earthly things I said to you, and ye do not believe, how, if I shall say to you the heavenly things, will ye believe? Smith's Literal Translation If I spake to you earthly things, and ye believe not, how, if I speak to you heavenly things, will ye believe. Catholic Translations Douay-Rheims BibleIf I have spoken to you earthly things, and you believe not; how will you believe, if I shall speak to you heavenly things? Catholic Public Domain Version If I have spoken to you about earthly things, and you have not believed, then how will you believe, if I will speak to you about heavenly things? New American Bible If I tell you about earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? New Revised Standard Version If I have told you about earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? Translations from Aramaic Lamsa BibleIf I have told you about earthly things and you do not believe, how then will you believe me, if I tell you about heavenly things? Aramaic Bible in Plain English If I have told all of you that which is in the earth and you are not believing, how shall you believe me if I tell you that which is in Heaven? NT Translations Anderson New TestamentIf I have told you of earthly things, and you believe not, how will you believe, if I tell you of heavenly things? Godbey New Testament Haweis New Testament If I have told you of earthly things, and ye believe not, how will you believe, if I tell you of heavenly things? Mace New Testament if you don't believe when I tell you what is plain, how should you believe, if I tell you of things more sublime? Weymouth New Testament If I have told you earthly things and none of you believe me, how will you believe me if I tell you of things in Heaven? Worrell New Testament Worsley New Testament Additional Translations ... Audio Bible Context Jesus and Nicodemus…11Truly, truly, I tell you, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, and yet you people do not accept our testimony. 12If I have told you about earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? 13No one has ascended into heaven except the One who descended from heaven—the Son of Man.… Cross References John 1:10-11 He was in the world, and though the world was made through Him, the world did not recognize Him. / He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. 1 Corinthians 2:14 The natural man does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God. For they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. John 8:23 Then He told them, “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. 1 John 4:5-6 They are of the world. That is why they speak from the world’s perspective, and the world listens to them. / We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. That is how we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of deception. John 5:46-47 If you had believed Moses, you would believe Me, because he wrote about Me. / But since you do not believe what he wrote, how will you believe what I say?” John 6:63 The Spirit gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life. 1 Corinthians 15:47 The first man was of the dust of the earth, the second man from heaven. John 12:37-38 Although Jesus had performed so many signs in their presence, they still did not believe in Him. / This was to fulfill the word of Isaiah the prophet: “Lord, who has believed our message? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?” Hebrews 3:12 See to it, brothers, that none of you has a wicked heart of unbelief that turns away from the living God. Isaiah 53:1 Who has believed our message? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? Matthew 11:27 All things have been entrusted to Me by My Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him. Romans 8:5-6 Those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh; but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. / The mind of the flesh is death, but the mind of the Spirit is life and peace, Ezekiel 12:2 “Son of man, you are living in a rebellious house. They have eyes to see but do not see, and ears to hear but do not hear, for they are a rebellious house. Jeremiah 5:21 “Hear this, O foolish and senseless people, who have eyes but do not see, who have ears but do not hear. Matthew 13:13-15 This is why I speak to them in parables: ‘Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand.’ / In them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled: ‘You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving. / For this people’s heart has grown callous; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn, and I would heal them.’ Treasury of Scripture If I have told you earthly things, and you believe not, how shall you believe, if I tell you of heavenly things? earthly. John 3:3,5,8 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God… 1 Corinthians 3:1,2 And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ… Hebrews 5:11 Of whom we have many things to say, and hard to be uttered, seeing ye are dull of hearing. heavenly. John 3:13-17,31-36 And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven… John 1:1-14 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God… 1 Corinthians 2:7-9 But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory: … Jump to Previous Belief Believe Earth Earthly Heaven Heavenly Speak WordsJump to Next Belief Believe Earth Earthly Heaven Heavenly Speak WordsJohn 3 1. Jesus teaches Nicodemus the necessity of being born again,14. of faith in his death, 16. the great love of God toward the world, 18. and the condemnation for unbelief. 22. Jesus baptizes in Judea. 23. The baptism, witness, and doctrine of John concerning Jesus. If I have told you This phrase indicates a conditional statement, suggesting a teaching moment. The Greek word for "told" is "eipon," which implies a declaration or a revelation. Jesus is emphasizing His role as a teacher and revealer of truth. In the context of His conversation with Nicodemus, Jesus is establishing His authority to speak on both earthly and heavenly matters, underscoring His divine insight and wisdom. about earthly things and you do not believe how will you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? Heavenly things, in the same way, are things which have the sphere of their action in heaven, the full development of the spiritual life, of which the birth only is on earth; the divine counsels of redemption; the Messianic mysteries, of which this ruler of Israel does not understand even the initiation. Comp. the question in the Wisdom of Solomon, "What man is he that can know the counsel of God? or who can think what the will of the Lord is? . . . And hardly do we guess aright at things that are upon earth, and with labour do we find the things that are before us: but the things that are in heaven who hath searched out?" (John 9:13; John 9:16). The earthly things are the elements of spiritual knowledge, having their test in the moral sense and in their fitness to supply the spiritual wants of man. When these elements are learnt, the mind is then, and then only, fitted to receive heavenly things. The teaching can only proceed step by step from the known to the unknown; but if the will refuses or the intellect neglects to know the knowable, the man cuts himself off from the power to receive truth. The message from the spirit-world has come, and others read it; but he has not learnt the alphabet. (Comp. Note on John 16:12.) Verse 12. - If I told you earthly things and ye believe not, how will ye believe if I tell you of heavenly things? Our Lord here drops the plural form of address, and returns to the singular. He is about to refer to matters in which the testimony of disciples was not available. It has sometimes been said that the "earthly" and "heavenly" things refer to the wind parable and its interpretation. But, on the supposition that there is a parable or metaphor in ver. 8, which we have seen reason to doubt, there would be no perplexity about the reception of the earthly illustration; none could in that day have made a moment's question touching the invisibility and incomprehensibility of the motion of the wind. The birth from water has been supposed by others to be the (ἐπίγειον) "earthly" thing of which he had spoken, as contrasted with the heavenly thing, the birth anew from the Spirit. But this also is improbable, for of all the things of which Jesus spoke, that was the least likely to have been rejected by the Pharisaic party. The "earthly things" are the subject matter of the discourse as a whole, in apprehending which Nicodemus manifested such obtuseness. The change, renovation of human nature, the new beginning "from the Spirit" of each human life, was indeed operated on the ground of an earthly experience, and came fairly within the compass of common appreciation. Though produced by the Spirit, these things were enacted on earth. When Nicodemus asks the question "how?" he launches the inquiry into another region. There is wide difference between the question "what?" and the question "how?" The one in physical science refers to the whole range of phenomena, and the answer states the facts as they present themselves to the senses; the other question inquires into what Bacon called the latens processus - into verae causae, into the movements and method of the creative hand. So the answer to the question "what?" may be an "earthly thing," the answer to the question "how?" a "heavenly thing." If Christ answer the "how" of his listener, he raises his mind to the "heavenly" and transcendental realities which Nicodemus and we too will have to receive on an authority which entirely outsoars that of daily experience or temporal phenomena. Truly he does proceed to do so, but the difficulty of acceptance is indefinitely augmented. The answer of Christ to the matters of personal experience, verifiable by conscience and affirmed by Scripture, was difficult to the master of Israel. The answer of Jesus to the question "how?" may prove far more formidable. It involves the revelation of "the Son of man," and the redemption by the cross, and the ascension of the Son of man into heaven, and the love of God to the world, and the gift of eternal life to faith.Parallel Commentaries ... Greek IfΕἰ (Ei) Conjunction Strong's 1487: If. A primary particle of conditionality; if, whether, that, etc. I have told εἶπον (eipon) Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 1st Person Singular Strong's 2036: Answer, bid, bring word, command. A primary verb; to speak or say. you {about} ὑμῖν (hymin) Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Dative 2nd Person Plural Strong's 4771: You. The person pronoun of the second person singular; thou. earthly ἐπίγεια (epigeia) Adjective - Accusative Neuter Plural Strong's 1919: From epi and ge; worldly. things τὰ (ta) Article - Accusative Neuter Plural Strong's 3588: The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the. and καὶ (kai) Conjunction Strong's 2532: And, even, also, namely. you do not believe, πιστεύετε (pisteuete) Verb - Present Indicative Active - 2nd Person Plural Strong's 4100: From pistis; to have faith, i.e. Credit; by implication, to entrust. how πῶς (pōs) Adverb Strong's 4459: Adverb from the base of pou; an interrogative particle of manner; in what way?; also as exclamation, how much! will you believe πιστεύσετε (pisteusete) Verb - Future Indicative Active - 2nd Person Plural Strong's 4100: From pistis; to have faith, i.e. Credit; by implication, to entrust. if ἐὰν (ean) Conjunction Strong's 1437: If. From ei and an; a conditional particle; in case that, provided, etc. I tell εἴπω (eipō) Verb - Aorist Subjunctive Active - 1st Person Singular Strong's 2036: Answer, bid, bring word, command. A primary verb; to speak or say. you {about} ὑμῖν (hymin) Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Dative 2nd Person Plural Strong's 4771: You. The person pronoun of the second person singular; thou. heavenly ἐπουράνια (epourania) Adjective - Accusative Neuter Plural Strong's 2032: From epi and ouranos; above the sky. things? τὰ (ta) Article - Accusative Neuter Plural Strong's 3588: The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the. Links John 3:12 NIVJohn 3:12 NLT John 3:12 ESV John 3:12 NASB John 3:12 KJV John 3:12 BibleApps.com John 3:12 Biblia Paralela John 3:12 Chinese Bible John 3:12 French Bible John 3:12 Catholic Bible NT Gospels: John 3:12 If I told you earthly things (Jhn Jo Jn) |
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