From above; by analogy, from the first; by implication, anew
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Anothen is an adverb that can mean from above, from the beginning, again, or from the top, depending on context. John 3 is the most famous setting because Jesus tells Nicodemus that no one can see the kingdom unless he is born anothen.
Reader summary
Full entry for ἄνωθεν (G509) · Open the biblical lexicon
Anothen is an adverb that can mean from above, from the beginning, again, or from the top, depending on context. John 3 is the most famous setting because Jesus tells Nicodemus that no one can see the kingdom unless he is born anothen.
The BSB source-word alignment has 13 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include from above (5), again (2), top (2), all over (1), for a long time (1).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 27:51. Its strongest book concentrations include John (5), James (3), Acts (1), Galatians (1).
Anothen is an adverb that can mean from above, from the beginning, again, or from the top, depending on context. John 3 is the most famous setting because Jesus tells Nicodemus that no one can see the kingdom unless he is born anothen. The wording carries the tension between again and from above, and John's Gospel develops the heavenly-source meaning through the One who comes from above.
James uses the word for gifts and wisdom that come from above, contrasting God's pure giving with earthly, unspiritual wisdom. John 19 uses it for authority given from above, while the torn veil passages use it spatially, from top to bottom. Anothen therefore helps readers ask about source, origin, repetition, and direction, without forcing one English gloss into every passage.
Anothen can point to above, again, from the beginning, or from the top. Its major New Testament uses concern new birth, heavenly origin, gifts and wisdom from God, delegated authority, and spatial top-to-bottom movement.
Jesus replied, “Truly, truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.”
Jesus tells Nicodemus that seeing the kingdom requires birth anothen, a phrase that pushes beyond mere human repetition to divine origin.
The One who comes from above is above all. The one who is from the earth belongs to the earth and speaks as one from the earth. The One who comes from heaven is above all.
The One who comes from above is above all, clarifying the heavenly source contrast in John's Gospel.
Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, with whom there is no change or shifting shadow.
Every good and perfect gift comes from above, grounding God's generosity in His unchanging character.
But the wisdom from above is first of all pure, then peace-loving, gentle, accommodating, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial, and sincere.
Wisdom from above is pure and peaceable, contrasting sharply with earthly and demonic wisdom.
Jesus answered, “You would have no authority over Me if it were not given to you from above. Therefore the one who handed Me over to you is guilty of greater sin.”
Jesus tells Pilate that authority over Him would not exist unless given from above.
At that moment the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth quaked, and the rocks were split.
The veil tears from top to bottom, using the word spatially rather than as new-birth or source language.
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders ItA compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
Greek word. Spatial origin (heavenly realm) versus temporal origin (beginning), with theological force in rebirth language.
Textus Receptus witness, full corpus Greek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
13 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
from above, from the beginning, again
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Read verseFull New Testament corpus: 260 chapters, 7,957 verses, 140,628 tokens. Data source: honza/textus-receptus (data only), with authority check against byztxt/greektext-textus-receptus.
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
This word appears as a noun across 1 case and number pattern. The form changes show how the word functions in a sentence; they do not change the basic lexical meaning by themselves.
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Showing 7 selected witnesses from 13 lexical occurrence verses.
ἄνωθεν is built from this root:
Affirms God's ultimate control. James 3:13–18
Emphasizes divine origin of regeneration. John 19:1–16
Affirms Christ's heavenly origin. John 3:1-21
Affirms divine sovereignty over human authority. James 3:13–18
Defines the divine origin of spiritual rebirth. Mounce and Wuest both clarify why the term points to heavenly origin, not merely a second attempt at religion.
Identifies divine origin of true wisdom.
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
Anothen teaches that origin matters. Nicodemus hears Jesus speak of birth anothen and struggles because human birth cannot produce kingdom sight. John 3:31 clarifies the larger Gospel theme: the One from above stands above all earthly witness. James uses the same source language for good gifts and wisdom that come from the Father rather than from earthly ambition.
John 19 places Pilate's authority under heaven's permission, so political power is real but not ultimate. Matthew 27 uses the word spatially for the veil torn from top to bottom, a different use that should not be forced into the new-birth discussion. The word therefore trains readers to ask whether the passage is speaking about source, renewal, authority, wisdom, or direction.
John.3.3
Anothen has a contextual range: from above, again, from the beginning, or from the top. John 3 intentionally presses the reader beyond a merely repeated birth toward birth whose source is God.
Scripture repeatedly contrasts human source with divine source: life from God, wisdom from God, authority under God, and access opened by God's action. Anothen serves that contrast in several New Testament passages while retaining ordinary spatial uses where context requires them.
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