Monogenes

Monogenes, when applied to the Incarnation, can only be found in John (John 1:14, John 1:18, John 3:16, John 3:18, 1John 4:9). It is an important theological word, so let us examine what ὁ μονογενὴς υἱὸς (TR) or μονογενὴς θεὸς (NA-26) actually means.

Let us first examine monogenes in the LXX (Old Greek/Septuagint).

Kittel (TDNT) suggests that in some usages of the word, the thought ‘incomparable’ is present. We know that the word is an adjective, but the use of this word is what is important. Does it mean something more than we are giving it? My position is that John uses it to describe the inseparable and indistinguishable relationship between the Logos and the Father. In Judges 11:34, it is used to describe the daughter of Jephthae as his only child. In Psalms 21:21(22:20 - Eng), where it is used in the sense of ‘incomparable’, reads ῥῦσαι ἀπὸ ῥομφαίας τὴν ψυχήν μου καὶ ἐκ χειρὸς κυνὸς τὴν μονογενῆ μου· which the NETS translates as: Rescue my soul from the sword, and from a dog’s claw my only life! The KJV reads ‘my darling’ from the Hebrew יחיד (yâchîyd) meaning:

(From Strong’s) properly united, that is, sole; by implication beloved; also lonely; (feminine) the life (as not to be replace): - darling, desolate, only (child, son), solitary.

Palms 34:17 (35:17 - Eng) has the same understanding. In Tobit 3:15 (From the Deuterocanonicals), the word is used to describe the only child, but in 6:11 it is used as ‘beautiful’. In Wisdom (again, where I think John draws his Logos from) 7:22, when the author is describing Wisdom, he uses monogenes:

For there is in her a spirit that is intelligent, holy, unique, of many parts… NETS

The TDNT says this about monogenes outside the NT:

In compounds with genḗs, adverbs describe the nature rather than the source of derivation. Hence monogenḗs is used for the only child. More generally it means “unique” or “incomparable.” The LXX has the first sense in Judg. 11:34 and the second in Ps. 22:20. agapētós occurs in Gen. 22:2, 12 where monogenḗs might have been used (cf. Mark 1:11), but while the only child may be “beloved,” the terms are not synonymous. Philo refers to the lógos as prōtógonos rather than monogenḗs. Ps. Sol. 18:4 refers to God’s chastisement coming on Israel as his firstborn and only-begotten son.

One of the issues is with the addition of the English word ‘begotten’ which is not in the Greek and has a connotation that the ‘Only’ was created. This comes from the latter half of the compound word. γίνομαι means to cause to be, to bring forth, so that the entire word could mean the ‘only one brought forth’. Something that strikes me is that children are naturally begotten, so the need to continuously say ‘only begotten’ is a bit redundant and does not do justice to the word and thought behind it. When you take the word for itself, as the sum of its parts, the word means ‘only.

We can look at it abstractly and see that creating/begetting/giving birth to the Logos did happen, because as we discussed in the last post, the Logos was sent forth from God in heaven to accomplish the will of the Father. Abstract thoughts, however, are not in the bible. Theology must be concrete, so although some might seek to retain the thought ‘begotten’, it is not called for.

In Psalms 2:7 (LXX), we read:

διαγγέλλων τὸ πρόσταγμα κυρίου Κύριος εἶπεν πρός με Υἱός μου εἶ σύ, ἐγὼ σήμερον γεγέννηκά σε·

Which I translate as: You are My Son, this day I have brought you forth. And if I was creating a study bible, I would add a note that looks like this:

brought forth - caused to be from God’s own essence.

Here, the LXX translator used γεννάω to describe the act of God bringing His Anointed into existence. No monogenes here. We have to make the distinction between γεννάω and μονογενὴς. Gennao is speaking about the actual creation on an object whereas monogenes is speaking about the incomparability and uniqueness about the object. In 1st Peter 1:3, the word ἀναγεννάω (which is found only in 1Peter) is used to describe the new birth of the Saint.

In the Johannine Corpus, monogenes is used only in describing the Son of God. John freely uses gennao to describe the new birth of the Saint when he is born of God; therefore necessity dictates that we rule out the concept of ‘birth’ behind monogenes when it is used by John.

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