Restoring the Hebrew Voice: John 3 in The F.O.G Study Bible

In the landscape of Biblical translation, accuracy and readability often seem to be competing forces. Today, I’m excited to share a groundbreaking approach that bridges this divide while restoring something vital: the authentic Jewish voice of Scripture. Through this new translation of John 3 (or as it was originally known, Yochanan), we encounter familiar truths through their original Hebraic lens. From Nakdimon’s nighttime visit to Yeshua’s profound teachings about the kingdom of Elohim, this translation pulls back the veil of Western interpretation to reveal the deeply Jewish context of our faith’s foundational texts.”

The Night Visit of Nakdimon

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¹ Now there was a man from the P’rushim*, Nakdimon by name, a ruler of the Yehudim. ² This one was coming to Him by night and said to Him, “Rabbi, we have known that You have come from Elohim as a teacher, for no one is able to be doing these signs which You are doing unless Elohim is being with him.” ³ Yeshua answered and said to him, “Amein, amein*, I say to you, unless someone is being born from above, he is not able to see the kingdom of Elohim!”

⁴ Nakdimon says to Him, “How is a man able to be born being old? He is not able to enter into the womb of his mother a second time and to be born, is he?” ⁵ Yeshua answered, “Amein, amein, I say to you, unless someone is being born of water and Spirit*, he is not able to enter into the kingdom of Elohim! ⁶ The thing having been born from the flesh is being flesh, and the thing having been born from the Spirit is being spirit.”

The Moving of the Spirit

⁷ “You should not be marvelling that I said to you, ‘It is necessary for you to be born from above!’ ⁸ The wind* is blowing where it is willing, and you are hearing its sound, but you have not known from where it is coming and where it is going. Thus is being everyone having been born from the Spirit.”

⁹ Nakdimon answered and said to Him, “How are these things able to be happening?” ¹⁰ Yeshua answered and said to him, “You are being the teacher of Yisrael and these things you are not knowing? ¹¹ Amein, amein, I say to you that what we have known we are speaking, and what we have seen we are testifying, and our testimony you are not receiving!”

The Son of Man Must Be Lifted Up

¹² If the earthly things I have told to you and you are not believing, how will you believe if I should tell you the heavenly things? ¹³ And no one has ascended into heaven except the One having descended from heaven*—the Son of Man. ¹⁴ And just as Moshe lifted up the serpent in the wilderness*, thus it is necessary for the Son of Man to be lifted up, ¹⁵ so that everyone believing in Him should be having eternal life.

The Great Love of Elohim

¹⁶ For thus Elohim loved the world*, so that He gave the Son, the only-begotten, so that everyone believing in Him should not be perishing but should be having life eternal. ¹⁷ For Elohim did not send the Son into the world that He should judge the world, but that the world should be saved through Him. ¹⁸ The one believing in Him is not being judged, but the one not believing already has been judged*, because he has not believed in the name of the only-begotten Son of Elohim.

¹⁹ And this is being the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their works were being evil. ²⁰ For everyone practising evil things is hating the Light and is not coming to the Light, so that his works should not be exposed. ²¹ But the one doing the truth is coming to the Light, so that his works might be manifested as having been worked in Elohim.

The Friend of the Bridegroom

²² After these things, Yeshua and His disciples came into the Judean land, and there He was tarrying with them and was immersing*. ²³ And Yochanan also was immersing in Aenon near Salim, because many waters were being there, and they were coming and were being immersed. ²⁴ For Yochanan was not yet having been cast into the prison.

²⁵ Therefore a discussion arose from the disciples of Yochanan with a Yehudi about purification*. ²⁶ And they came to Yochanan and said to him, “Rabbi, He who was being with you beyond the Yarden, to whom you have testified, behold, this One is immersing, and all are coming to Him!”

²⁷ Yochanan answered and said, “A man is not able to receive anything unless it has been given to him from heaven. ²⁸ You yourselves are testifying to me that I said, ‘I am not being the Mashiach,’ but, ‘I have been sent before Him.’ ²⁹ The one having the bride is being the bridegroom*. But the friend of the bridegroom, the one having stood and hearing him, rejoices with joy because of the voice of the bridegroom. Therefore, this joy of mine has been fulfilled. ³⁰ It is necessary for Him to increase, but for me to decrease.”

³¹ The One coming from above is being above all; the one being from the earth is being from the earth and is speaking from the earth. The One coming from heaven is being above all. ³² What He has seen and heard, this He is testifying, and His testimony no one is receiving. ³³ The one having received His testimony has sealed that Elohim is being true. ³⁴ For He whom Elohim has sent speaks the words of Elohim, for He gives not the Spirit by measure*. ³⁵ The Father loves the Son and has given all things into His hand. ³⁶ The one believing in the Son has eternal life, but the one disobeying the Son will not see life, but the wrath of Elohim remains on him.

*3:1 – P’rushim were the most influential Jewish sect, known for strict Torah interpretation
*3:3 – “Amein” appears doubled in John’s Gospel, emphasizing divine authority
*3:5 – References both mikvah (ritual immersion) and spiritual regeneration
*3:8 – Greek “pneuma” means both wind and spirit, creating profound wordplay
*3:13 – Affirms Yeshua’s pre-existence and divine nature
*3:14 – References the bronze serpent incident in Numbers 21:9
*3:16 – “Kosmos” here means humanity, not the physical universe
*3:18 – Present tense indicating judgment is current reality, not future event
*3:22 – Jewish ritual immersion (mikvah) practiced for spiritual cleansing
*3:25 – Debate likely concerned competing baptismal practices
*3:29 – Alludes to ancient Jewish wedding customs and Messianic imagery
*3:34 – Unlike prophets who received Spirit partially, Mashiach has fullness​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

What emerges from this literal rendering of John 3 is far more than an academic exercise in translation. By preserving Hebrew names like Yeshua, Nakdimon, and Yochanan, maintaining divine titles like Elohim and Mashiach, and carefully rendering the present-tense Greek verbs, this translation creates a startling immediacy. We’re no longer reading a Western interpretation of an ancient text – we’re hearing the voices of first-century Jewish believers speaking directly to us about their encounters with the divine. As we continue exploring this translation, we’ll discover how its commitment to both literal accuracy and Jewish context doesn’t just inform our understanding – it transforms it.