I read Robertson over and over again. He doesn't come anywhere close to this drivel:
In fact, the context speaks for itself. What does it say?
Joh 3:3 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.
Joh 3:4 Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born?
--Okay, Nicodemus is thinking, "I need to be born again. Jesus said it is necessary." Therefore he answers Jesus and says,
"How can a man be born when he is old?..."
--How do I do this; what must I do... Obviously Nicodemus wanted to obey the command that Jesus gave him. He was looking for instructions that he could carry out what Jesus had said to him. HOW? he answered.
The context speaks for itself.
Joh 3:5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
--It is in this verse that Jesus begins to tell Nicodemus the how.
Nope.
Again, you seem to be missing the point. The verb gennao, being passive, cannot mean what you want it to mean, what you've been saying it means.
This isn't an issue of interpretation or context, it is an issue of what "is" is. "Is" does not mean was, it means is. You're doing something similar with the verb gennao. The context doesn't, can't, and won't override the passive verb.
What is more, you cite v. 5 as a contextual argument for Nicodemus being told to do something... But, in v. 5 the verb gennao is also Aorist and Passive.
Why your "interpretation" is wrong is seen in to facts about the verb itself:
1. As already mentioned, in a passive verb (which is not interpretive, it is based on the form of the verb in the text) the subject does not and--by definition--can not act upon himself.
So, the assertion that Nicodemus is seeking to do something to or for himself is in error and, no matter how much you want it to say what you're saying it says it won't.
2. The use of the Aorist tense further shows an action presented in its entirety. The use of the subjunctive mood (along with the third-class conditional statement) with the Aorist Passive suggest the possibility of a future fulfillment--but the Passive means that it is something that--if it is to be done at all--will be done to Nicodemus, not by Nicodemus.
Face it, DHK, you're never going to be right about this. You can kick against the goads of the Greek grammar all you want, but this passage will never say and will never mean what you think it means.
Again, I challenge you to explain your "interpretation" from the Greek. Tell me why gennao isn't to be taken as an Aorist Passive. You've already demonstrated that you can't do what I'm asking and in that demonstration of "lack-thereof" you have also shown that you're simply out of your league. You have no facility in the languages. All you can do is reference AT Robertson (who is a great scholar, by the way). But, even in referencing him you've shown that you have no idea what he's saying.
The Archangel