Bible Dictionary
AGAIN
Again ordinarily means back or once more, and sometimes serves as a connective meaning moreover. In expressions such as “born again,” it conveys renewal or new birth.
Definition
Again ordinarily means back, once more, or anew. It may also function as a connective meaning “moreover.” In expressions such as “born again,” it conveys renewal or new birth.
Biblical Usage
The New Testament generally uses the word for “back” or “once more,” though it can mean “moreover.” “Born again” is rendered “born anew” in the Revised Version.
Historical Background
The underlying particles may also carry the ideas “from above” and “up,” so the full force of “again” in the new-birth expression has been discussed.
Historical Bible Dictionaries
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (ISBE)
<p>a-gen': Advb. denoting repetition; in New Testament, generally for palin, "back," "once more." Occasionally, it has the force of a connective, synonymous with "moreover," as in Ro 15:10 ff; 1Co 3:20, etc. The expression "born again" of the King James Version, Joh 3:3,7; 1Pe 1:23, translating the Greek "anothen" and "ana" in composition, becomes in the Revised Version (British and American) "anew," i.e. "over again." As these particles mean "from above" and "up," their use as indicating repetition is sometimes disputed, but without further foundation than that "again" does not exhaust the meaning.</p>