Nicodemus (nih-ko-DEE-muhs) — Nicodemus was a Pharisee, a teacher of Israel, and a member of the Jewish ruling council. John records his nighttime conversation with Jesus, his due-process objection before other leaders, and his part in Jesus’s burial.
Birth year: Unknown.
Death year: Unknown.
Active during: The Jerusalem ministry of Jesus in the first century AD.
Home region: Jerusalem.
Main passages: John 3:1–21; 7:45–52; 19:38–42.
Story and role
Nicodemus was a Pharisee, a teacher of Israel, and a member of the Jewish ruling council. John records his nighttime conversation with Jesus, his due-process objection before other leaders, and his part in Jesus’s burial.
How the dates were determined
The biblical text places Nicodemus within this broad period: The Jerusalem ministry of Jesus in the first century AD. Where an approximate calendar date is shown, it follows a conventional historical reconstruction rather than a date stated in Scripture. BC means “before Christ”; AD marks years in the traditional Christian calendar.
Limits of the evidence
John does not give Nicodemus’s age, birth, death, or a complete account of his later life. Later church traditions are not used here to fill those gaps. The artwork is an imagined historical illustration, not a known likeness.
Explore the places connected with Nicodemus on a modern reference map.
Read further
John 3:1–21; 7:45–52; 19:38–42, NIV; BiblicalTraining reference library.