A word behind the word
Born Again, or Born From Above
In Jesus' night conversation with Nicodemus in John 3, he says a person must be born anothen. This Greek word can mean again or from above, and the double meaning is not a problem to solve but the very point of the exchange.
“Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”John 3:3
What the word actually means
What the word actually means. Anothen genuinely carries two senses in Greek: it can mean again, a second time, or it can mean from above, from the top, from heaven. Both meanings are real and well attested. In John 3:3 Jesus says, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God, and the same word appears in John 3:7, Ye must be born again. John uses anothen elsewhere in the clearly spatial sense of from above; in John 3:31 he that cometh from above is above all, and in John 19:23 Jesus' coat was woven from the top throughout. So the word itself supports both readings. Jesus is speaking of a new birth that is at once a second, fresh beginning and a birth that comes from heaven, from God, by the Spirit, as John 3:5-6 explains: Except a man be born of water and of 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. The new birth is not natural but supernatural, a work of God from above.
The myth to clear up
The myth to clear up. The mistake is to treat the two meanings as rivals and to insist only one is correct, either that anothen strictly means again and nothing more, or that it means from above and again is a mistranslation. Both flatten a deliberate ambiguity. John, who loves double meanings, almost certainly intends both senses at once, and the drama of the passage depends on it. Nicodemus hears only again and stumbles into a literal question in John 3:4, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born? He takes the earthly, physical meaning, while Jesus means a birth from above, by the Spirit. The misunderstanding is the whole point: Nicodemus catches one sense and misses the higher one. The sober correction: do not force a single translation. Anothen means both a new birth and a heavenly birth, and Jesus is teaching that entering God's kingdom requires being born of God.
How the word opens onto Christ
How the word opens onto Christ. The new birth from above is possible only because of the One speaking to Nicodemus. Just after this, in John 3:14-15, Jesus points to himself: As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life, leading into the most famous verse in the Bible, John 3:16. The birth from above comes to those who look to the lifted-up Son. Jesus is the one who descended from heaven, from above, and he is uniquely able to bring a birth from above, for John 3:13 says no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven. To be born again is to receive new life from God through faith in Christ crucified and risen; it is his own resurrection life given to us, so that 1 Peter 1:3 blesses God who hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.
Questions people ask
Does anothen mean again or from above?
It means both, and John intends both at once. The word can mean a second time or from heaven, and Jesus is describing a new birth that is fresh and heavenly, a work of God's Spirit.
Why did Nicodemus misunderstand Jesus?
Nicodemus heard only the meaning again and asked how a grown man could re-enter the womb. He missed the higher sense, from above, which is the birth by the Spirit that Jesus meant. The misunderstanding highlights the double meaning.