Lemma
μονογενής
monogenēs
Only born. One of a kind as the sole child of the parent.
Forms
- μονογενής
- μονογενῆ
- μονογενοῦς
Passages
- John 1:14 Glory as of the only born Son of the Father.
- John 1:18 The only born Son, who is in the bosom of the Father.
- John 3:16 He gave his only born Son.
- Hebrews 11:17 Abraham offering up his only born son.
μονογενής is μόνος and γένος together: only, and of that kind. It names a child who is the parent’s only one. Thayer glosses it “single of its kind, only,” and Strong’s “only-born, i.e. sole.” This Bible prints it “only born,” following the World English Bible’s wording rather than the traditional “only-begotten.”
John uses it of the Son. John 1:14 speaks of glory “as of the only born Son of the Father.” John 1:18 names “the only born Son, who is in the bosom of the Father.” John 3:16 and John 3:18 keep the same title. 1 John 4:9 says God sent his only born Son into the world.
The word is not reserved for Christ alone. Luke uses it of an only child: Luke 7:12, an only born son; Luke 8:42, an only born daughter; Luke 9:38, an only born child. Hebrews 11:17 calls Isaac Abraham’s only born son in the offering.
Begotten language belongs to other Greek words. μονογενής marks the uniqueness of the child, not a theory of generation.
Strong’s
Strong’s dictionaries compiled by Open Scriptures, used under CC-BY-SA 4.0.
μονογενής G3439
monogenḗs
only-born, i.e. sole
Thayer’s
Joseph Henry Thayer, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament (1889). Public-domain digital text.
μονογενής G3439
monogenḗs
μονογενής, μονογενές (μόνος and γένος) (Cicero,unigena; Vulg. (in Lukeunicus, elsewhere) and in ecclesiastical writingsunigenitus), single of its kind, only (A. V. only-begotten); used of only sons or daughters (viewed in relation to their parents), Hesiod theog. 426, 448; Herodotus 7, 221; Plato, Critias 113 d.; Josephus, Antiquities 1, 13, 1; 2, 7, 4; μονογενές τέκνον πατρί, Aeschylus Ag. 898. So in the Scriptures: Heb 11:17; μονογενῆ εἶναι τίνι (to be one's only son or daughter), Jdg 11:34; Tob 3:15; Luk 7:12; Luk 8:42; Luk 9:38; (cf. Westcott on Epistles of John, pp. 162ff). Hence, the expression ὁ μονογενής υἱός τοῦ Θεοῦ and υἱός τοῦ Θεοῦ ὁ μονογονης, Joh 3:16; Joh 3:18; Joh 1:18 (see below); 1Jn 4:9; μονογενής παρά πατρός, Joh 1:14 (some take this generally, owing to the omission of the article (cf. Green, pp. 48f)), used of Christ, denotes the only son of God or one who in the sense in which he himself is the son of God has no brethren. He is so spoken of by John not because ὁ λόγος which was ἐνσαρκωθεις in him was eternally generated by God the Father (the orthodox interpretation), or came forth from the being of God just before the beginning of the world (Subordinationism), but because by the incarnation (ἐνσαρκωσις) of the λόγος in him he is of nature or essentially Son of God, and so in a very different sense from that in which men are made by him τέκνα τοῦ Θεοῦ (Joh 1:13). For since in the writings of John the title ὁ ἱυος τοῦ Θεοῦ is given only to the historic Christ so called, neither the Logos alone, nor Jesus alone, but ὁ λόγος ὁ ἐνσαρκωθεις or Jesus through the λόγος united with God, is ὁ μονογενής υἱός τοῦ Θεοῦ. The reading μονογενής Θεός (without the article before μονογενής) in Joh 1:18, — which is supported by no inconsiderable weight of ancient testimony, received into the text by Tregelles, and Westcott and Hort, defended with much learning by Dr. Hort ("On μονογενής Θεός in Scripture and Tradition in his Two Dissertations" Camb. and Lond. 1876), and seems not improbable to Harnack (in the Theol. Lit.-Zeit. for 1876, p. 541ff) (and Weiss (in Meyer 6te Aufl. at the passage)), but is foreign to John's mode of thought and speech (Joh 3:16; Joh 3:18; 1Jn 4:9), dissonant and harsh — appears to owe its origin to a dogmatic zeal which broke out soon after the early days of the church; (see articles on the reading by Prof. Abbot in the Bib. Sacr. for Oct. 1861 and in the Unitarian Rev. for June 1875 (in the latter copious references to other discussions of the same passage are given); see also Prof. Drummond in the Theol. Rev. for Oct. 1871). Further, see Grimm, Exgt. Hdbch. on Sap., p. 152f; (Westcott as above).