John 1:13

S. John denies thrice most emphatically that human generation has anything to do with Divine regeneration. Man cannot become a child of God in right of human parentage: descent from Abraham confers no such -power." A bitter word to Jewish exclusiveness.

were born Literally, were begotten. Comp. 1Jn 5:1; 1 John 5:4; 1 John 5:18.

not of blood The blood was regarded as the seat of physical life. Genesis 9:4; Leviticus 17:11; Leviticus 17:14, &c.

nor of the will of the flesh Better, nor yet from will of flesh, i.e. from any fleshly impulse. A second denial of any physical process.

nor of the will of man Better, nor yet from will of man, i.e. from the volition of any earthly father: it is the Heavenly Father who wills it. A third denial of any physical process.

There is an interesting false reading here. Tertullian (c. a.d. 200) had - wasborn" for - wereborn," making it refer to Christ; and he accused the Valentinians of corrupting the text in reading - wereborn," which is undoubtedly right. This shews that as early as a.d. 200 there were corruptions in the text, the origin of which was already lost. Such things take some time to grow: by comparing them and tracing their roots and branches we arrive at a sure conclusion that this Gospel cannot have been written later than a.d. 85 100. See on John 1:18 and John 9:35.