Texts in Conversation
John 3 compares the Spirit to wind and stresses its unseen movement beyond human control. Sirach also speaks of God as a hidden storm beyond human understanding, using wind imagery and the link between wind and spirit to show the mystery of divine work.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Sirach 16:21
Ben Sira, Ecclesiasticus
Deuterocanon
19 The mountains and the foundations of the earth together are shaken with trembling when he looks at them. 20 No heart will think about these things. Who could comprehend his ways? 21 Like a tempest which no man can see, so, the majority of his works are hidden. 22 Who will declare his works of righteousness? Who will wait for them? For his covenant is afar off. 23 He who is lacking in understanding thinks about these things. An unwise and erring man thinks foolishly. 24 My son, listen to me, learn knowledge, and heed my words with your heart. 25 I will impart instruction with precision, and declare knowledge exactly.
Date: 195–180 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
John 3:8
New Testament
5 Jesus answered, “I tell you the solemn truth, unless a person is born of water and spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must all be born from above.’ 8 The wind blows wherever it will, and you hear the sound it makes, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” 9 Nicodemus replied, “How can these things be?” 10 Jesus answered, “Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you don’t understand these things? 11 I tell you the solemn truth, we speak about what we know and testify about what we have seen, but you people do not accept our testimony.
Date: 90–110 CE (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... Jesus explains this necessity in terms of wind and Spirit—the Greek word for both is pneuma. The Spirit, like the wind, is mysterious and cannot be controlled by human beings (Ecclesiastes 11:5; Sirach 16:21), since it does not originate from them. Nicodemus’s puzzled question is met with a rebuke from Jesus (verses 9-12). Nicodemus represents the best of a religious tradition, but he does not have a deep understanding of the “earthly things,” which were part of his own tradition, so Jesus questions whether he can comprehend the “heavenly things” that he will reveal ..."
Daniel Durken, ed., The New Collegeville Bible Commentary: In One Volume (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2017), 2047.
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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