John 3:6: “Chip Off the Old Block”

It's a common phrase with generational longevity: "You're just a chip off the old block." Possible meanings: "You look just like your father," or "You laugh just like your dad." Notice the "chip off the old block" imagery found in John 3:6, where Jesus is detailing to Nicodemus the pre-requisites for true spirituality and entrance into "the Kingdom of God." In this "born again" passage Jesus reveals to Nicodemus that a spiritual transaction must occur. And he literally says, "That which has been begotten out of the flesh flesh it is, and that which has been begotten out of the Spirit Spirit it is." Observe the "chip off the old block" word repetitions and word order proximity. Unmistakably, the comparison and contrast is made from both sides: "flesh flesh" and "Spirit Spirit." Where in English we would normally find a verb in the middle of these two couplets (i.e., "…out of the flesh is flesh, and …out of the Spirit is Spirit"), this is the actual Greek word order:

τὸ γεγεννημένον ἐκ τῆς σαρκός σάρξ ἐστιν, καὶ τὸ γεγεννημένον ἐκ τοῦ πνεύματος πνεύμά ἐστιν. 

Matthew 1:1-16: The Genealogy and the Virgin Birth of Christ