Expositor's Greek Testament (Nicoll)
John 3 - Introduction
CHAPTER 3.
A specimen is given of the kind of belief produced in the Jews of Jerusalem and of the manner in which Jesus dealt with it. ἦν δὲ ἄνθρωπος, the Syriac adds “there,” i.e., at Jerusalem. ἄνθρωπος is simply equivalent to τις, and does not point back to the ἄνθρωπος of the preceding verse. He is described as ἐκ τῶν φαρισαίων that we may the better understand what follows. He belonged to that party which with all its bigotry contained a salt of true patriotism and could rear such cultured and high-toned men as Gamaliel and Paul. It is a mistake to suppose that all who belong to a mischievous party in a Church are themselves mischievous: it is also a mistake to ascribe without inquiry the goodness of individuals to the influence of their party. Νικόδημος ὄνομα αὐτῷ. Many Jews had now Greek names. Lightfoot quotes from the Talmud passages which show that a certain Bonai surnamed Nicodemus was a disciple of Jesus, and that he lived through the destruction of Jerusalem, but lost in it all his wealth. He is, however, very doubtful whether this is the Nicodemus of this passage. He is further described as ἄρχων τῶν Ἰουδαίων, a member of the Sanhedrim. See John 7:50, where he appears in the Sanhedrim. Luke 14:1 speaks of one τῶν ἀρχόντων τῶν φαρισαίων. See also Luke 18:18; Luke 8:41; Matthew 9:18.