Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Word Etymology - "Born Again"

by Bonnie Calhoun

Today, lets study the etymology of a phrase used by Jesus..."born again".

Although some people regard the phrase as modern lingo denoting enthusiastic Christians, Jesus Himself used the expression to describe those who have experienced genuine salvation. However, the idiom didn't originate at His John 3 encounter with Nicodemus.

To the first century Jew, "born again" was a commonly understood term for certain rites of passage in a man's life—six different events were so labeled in Rabbinic Judaism.

First was the bar mitzvah (literally, "son of the commandment"), a confirmation ritual whereby 13-year-old boys entered manhood and shared the moral and religious responsibilities of the adult community. A man was said to be "born again" a second time when he married, and the expression was also used if he was ordained as a rabbi. Becoming the head of a rabbinic academy—a position open only to rabbis who were married—was a fourth time the term applied. The final two usages of "born again" were a Gentile's conversion to Judaism and a man being crowned king.

In light of this, the encounter between Jesus and Nicodemus in John 3:1-21 becomes more understandable. As a member of the Jewish ruling council known as the Sanhedrin, Nicodemus is identified as a "ruler of the Jews" and "the teacher of Israel." (vv. 1, 10) As such, he was obviously considered "born again" in the first four ways; namely, he was bar mitzvahed, married, ordained, and a rabbi in leadership.

So when Jesus said to him, "Unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God" (v. 3), Nicodemus was naturally confused—he had already been "born again" in all of the four ways available to him. Notice his response: "How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born, can he? (v. 4) He was thinking that the only way to go through any of those rites of passage would be to start physical life over as a baby.

The Lord met Nicodemus where he was and then broadened his understanding to include the spiritual: ",,,Unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit" (vv. 5-6).

Though his comprehension was incomplete that night, Nicodemus later showed evidence that he understood another way to be born again (John 7:50; 19:39)

5 comments:

Mrs. Stoltenow said...

could you please site where you got this information from. I haven't heard of this before. thanks you.

Bonnie S. Calhoun said...

Sure I'd be glad to...which part had you never heard before? Give me something to reply about. :-)

Sam Hartwich said...

Would you be able to provide the references for the 6 types of usage for 'born-again' in the Jewish usage? E.g. the bar-mitzvah? That would be really helpful!

Bonnie S. Calhoun said...

Yes Sam! Those would be:

When a Gentile converts to Judaism.
When an individual is crowned king
At age 13 when a Jewish boy chooses to embrace God's covenant and be numbered with the believers.
When an individual gets married.
When an individual becomes a rabbi.
When an individual becomes the head of a rabbinical school.

Kublai7777 said...

I think Stoltenow and Hartwich are looking for references to sources.

Maybe I can help out a little here:

"When a Gentile converts to Judaism": Talmud, Yevamot 47b.

Association with a Mikveh in general: Kaplan, A (1995). The Aryeh Kaplan Anthology Vol 2 (Waters of Eden). Brooklyn NY. Mesorah Publications. Pages 320-323.

The careful student would need to check for evidence that these associations were in use in First Century Judaism.