[B-Greek] Unique Vs. Begotten

malcolm robertson mjriii2003 at yahoo.com
Wed Jun 8 13:33:05 EDT 2005


There is a simply aspact of meaning that we have apparently overlooked.  GINOMAI can simply mean *be*. The English gloss and semantic nuance would be more difficult to capture, but the French unique or the English *one and only* are perhaps the better attempts at unpacking this concept of MONOGENHS QEOS (or hUIOS) as one reads it based on textual evidence.
 
It is similiar to the nuances found between the Hebrew words bara' (Gen 1:1), yalad (Ps 2:7/Acts 13:33) and qanah (Prov. 8:22) and chul (8:25).  There is a distinct semantic difference and nuance that only the context can provide.
 
Cordially in Christ,
 
Malcolm Robertson

James Ernest <jdemail at charter.net> wrote:
For the etymological question I think you can just count the NUs. But
semantically there's overlap, and orthographically there's confusion,
between various words formed on these two stems, well into the fourth
century AD.

As to whether being begotten or born is the only way to become a hUIOS:
hUIOS has a semantic range; at one end of that range it clearly implies
physical begetting (by a father) or birthing (normally by a mother); at
another end any such notion is remote (e.g., "sons of perdition"). The
theological question that we're steering around is the eventual Christian
understanding of where "son of God" as applied to Jesus falls within or
beyond the normal semantic range of the word "son."

James Ernest






> -----Original Message-----
> From: b-greek-bounces at lists.ibiblio.org 
> [mailto:b-greek-bounces at lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of Gary Hedrick
> Sent: Tuesday, June 07, 2005 11:50 PM
> To: b-greek at lists.ibiblio.org
> Subject: RE: [B-Greek] Unique Vs. Begotten
> 
> 
> I didn't mean to provoke any sort of theological 
> discussion, so let me ask my question in another way. Does 
> MONOGENHS derive from GINNAW
> (beget) or GENWMAI (become)?
> Also, is being born or begotten the only way to become 
> a son (hUIOS)?
> 
> Gary Hedrick
> 
> 
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> B-Greek home page: http://metalab.unc.edu/bgreek
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