Matthew Poole and continuators on John 3:10

10 Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things ?

Our Saviour doth not so much wonder at, as upbraid the Ignorance of Nicodemus, and all of his Sect, who went for Masters or Teachers, and that in Israel, who had the Law and the Prophets, and yet were ignorant of those things which were necessary to be known to every ordinary persons Salvation. Will any say, But where was there any thing spoke in the Books of the Law and the Prophets about Regeneration, or a being born again? Ans. What other things could be meant by the Circumcision of the heart, commanded by Moses, Deut. 10.16. promised in Deut. 30.6. by the new Heart, and the new Spirit, promissed Ezek. 36.25, 26. by the clean heart prayed for by David, Psal. 51.10. A Teacher in Israel, should from hence have understood the necessity of a new, and of a clean heart; but the whole Sect of the Pharisees were so taken up with the trifles of the Rites and Traditions, and the works of the Law, that as to these spiritual things of nearer and much higher concernment to peoples Souls, they knew, and spake little of them.