anōthen

ἄνωθεν

GreekG0509“from above, from the top, ...”

Appears 13 times · tap a cell to see the verses

Mat 27:51Mrk 15:38Luk 1:3Jhn 3:3Jhn 3:7Jhn 3:31Jhn 19:11Jhn 19:23Act 26:5Gal 4:9Jas 1:17Jas 3:15Jas 3:17

Root family

antiἀντίfor22G473
- anōἄνωabove10G507
  - anōthenἄνωθενfrom above/again13G509
  - anōterosἀνώτεροςhigher2G511
    - anōterikosἀνωτερικόςinterior1G510
- antikruἀντικρύopposite1G481

Word studyResearch-gradeAH-no-thenadv

What anōthen means

from above: from a higher place, and so from heaven or from God

TranslatabilityPartialCertaintySettled

This is the word's literal core. It is built from the ordinary word for "up" plus an ending that means "from," so it points to a source that is higher up. Sometimes that source is simply a physical one, like the top of the temple curtain or the top edge of a woven robe. More often in the New Testament the higher place is heaven, and the word becomes a reverent way of saying "from God" without naming him directly.

The spatial and the heavenly uses are not two separate ideas but one idea at two heights. When James says every good gift comes down from above, or when Jesus tells Pilate that his authority was given from above, the picture of something coming down from a height is exactly what carries the sense of a divine origin. The reader who pictures the literal direction has already grasped the theology.

Nuances

1afrom the top, from the highest point downward (plain physical height)

Mat 27:51Mrk 15:38Jhn 19:23

1bfrom heaven, from God: a reverent way of naming a divine source

Jhn 3:3Jhn 3:7Jhn 3:31Jhn 19:11Jas 1:17Jas 3:15Jas 3:17

from the beginning: from far back in time, from the start of a matter

TranslatabilityApproximateCertaintyStrong

The same word that points upward in space can also point backward in time, the way English "from the top" can mean either high up or back at the start. Here it describes how far back someone's knowledge or experience reaches. Luke says he has traced the events he reports from their earliest point; Paul, on trial, says the Jews have known his manner of life from way back.

The only real question in these cases is how far "back" stretches: from the very beginning of the events, or simply for a long time past. Either way the sense is plainly about time, not height, because the surrounding words anchor it there.

Luk 1:3Act 26:5

again: over again, starting afresh from the top

TranslatabilityApproximateCertaintyStrong

A third use grows out of the same root picture: to go back to the top and start over is to do a thing again. This sense is real but was the rarest of the word's meanings in the wider Greek of the period, which is why it matters so much in the famous conversation with Nicodemus, where he hears exactly this meaning.

Paul uses it plainly when he warns the Galatians against sliding back into bondage all over again, pairing it with the ordinary word for "again" to drive the point home: they would be starting their old slavery from scratch.

Jhn 3:3Jhn 3:7Gal 4:9

What scholars say about anōthen

ἄνωθεν (ἄνω + -θεν, "from above") carries four interlocking senses in Koine: spatial "from above," temporal "from the beginning/of old," durative "for a long time," and iterative "again, anew." The major lexica sort the data this way: BDAG (3rd ed., 92) lists John 3:3, 7 under both the spatial and iterative senses, calling the usage "designedly ambiguous"; LSJ keeps spatial, temporal, and iterative divisions, restricting iterative citations to post-classical sources (Josephus AJ 1.263; Artemidorus Onir. 1.13; the NT itself); Louw-Nida distributes it across domains 84.13, 67.25, and 67.55. The iterative sense is absent from classical authors, the Septuagint, and Philo, surfacing only in the Hellenistic-imperial period (Josephus, Artemidorus' birth parallel, BGU II.595, IG 7.2712.58); Thayer judges it "somewhat rare, but wrongly denied by many." Outside the disputed John 3 verses the NT usage is largely settled: spatial in Matt 27:51 / Mark 15:38 (ἀπ' ἄνωθεν ἕως κάτω), John 3:31 (glossed by ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ), John 19:11, 23, and James 1:17; 3:15, 17; temporal in Luke 1:3 and Acts 26:5 (with v. 4"s ἐκ νεότητος... ἀπ" ἀρχῆς); iterative in Gal 4:9 (πάλιν ἄνωθεν, a stock Hellenistic doublet, cf. Wis 19:6). On John 3:3, 7 scholarship runs the full spectrum: "from above" only (Schnackenburg, Bultmann, Hoskyns, Buchsel in TDNT 1:378, who calls the double sense "superfluous and unprovable"); deliberate double entendre with "from above" theologically primary (the modern majority: Brown AB 29, Barrett, Carson PNTC, Morris NICNT, Keener, Beasley-Murray, Thompson, Lincoln, Ridderbos, Michaels, Kostenberger, Bruner, and BDAG); and "again" primary (a minority: Witherington, Schneiders, Coloe, Belleville). A linked historical question is whether an Aramaic-speaking Jesus could have produced the pun: the natural Semitic equivalents (min le'ela for "from above," tub or men derish for "again") do not cleanly bear both senses, so Brown, Ehrman, Schnackenburg, and Lincoln treat the wordplay as a Greek literary feature of the Evangelist while regarding the substance (heavenly-given spiritual rebirth) as authentic.

Where scholars disagree about anōthen

Whether ἄνωθεν in John 3:3, 7 (γεννηθῇ ἄνωθεν) means "from above," "again," or both at once. Nicodemus's reply about re-entering the womb (δεύτερον, 3:4) shows he heard "again," while the surrounding discourse (3:5-8, 13, 31) points to "from above."

majorityDeliberate double meaning: John exploits the word's genuine ambiguity, with "from above" theologically primary and "again" the surface reading that exposes Nicodemus's misunderstanding. The modern majority among Johannine specialists.; Raymond E. Brown, The Gospel According to John I-XII, AB 29 (Doubleday, 1966), 130; D. A. Carson, The Gospel According to John, PNTC (Eerdmans, 1991), 189; BDAG, 3rd ed., s.v. ἄνωθεν, 92 ("designedly ambiguous")
minority"From above" only: the spatial-theological sense is decisive, parallel to birth of God in John 1:13, and Nicodemus's misreading is the Evangelist's literary device, not a real second sense in Jesus' words.; Rudolf Schnackenburg, The Gospel According to St John, HTCNT vol. 1 (Crossroad, 1968), 366-72; Friedrich Büchsel, "ἄνωθεν," TDNT 1:378 (the double sense is "superfluous and unprovable")
minority"Again" primary: Nicodemus's literal reply only makes sense if he heard "again," so the word's plain force is iterative while the heavenly content is carried by the surrounding discourse.; Sandra M. Schneiders, Written That You May Believe (Crossroad, 1999); Linda Belleville, "'Born of Water and Spirit': John 3:5," Trinity Journal 1 (1980): 125-41

In-depth research

This is a research paper, so it may be hard to read without scholarly background. It is useful if you want to dig even deeper into this word.

Sources

BDAG (Bauer-Danker-Arndt-Gingrich), A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, 3rd ed., s.v. ἄνωθεν, 92lexicon
LSJ (Liddell-Scott-Jones), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., s.v. ἄνωθενlexicon
Friedrich Büchsel, "ἄνωθεν," TDNT 1:378theological-dictionary
Louw-Nida, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament Based on Semantic Domains, §§84.13, 67.25, 67.55lexicon
Raymond E. Brown, The Gospel According to John I-XII, AB 29 (Doubleday, 1966), 130commentary
C. K. Barrett, The Gospel According to St. John, 2nd ed. (SPCK/Westminster, 1978), 208commentary
D. A. Carson, The Gospel According to John, PNTC (Eerdmans, 1991), 189commentary
Leon Morris, The Gospel According to John, NICNT, rev. ed. (Eerdmans, 1995), 190commentary
Rudolf Schnackenburg, The Gospel According to St John, HTCNT vol. 1 (Crossroad, 1968), 366-72commentary
Rudolf Bultmann, The Gospel of John, ET (Westminster, 1971), 135-37commentary