[B-Greek] Unique Vs. Begotten
James Ernest
jdemail at charter.net
Thu Jun 9 23:41:12 EDT 2005
Carl wrote:
> MONOGENHS
> (stem MONOGENES-)
> derives from the noun GENOS/GENES, NOT from GENNAW (there is no verb
> GINNAW) nor from
> the verb GINOMAI (itself a reduplicated present from GEN/GON).
I wish I knew more about where to look up this kind of thing. (Chantraine?)
I had it in my head that GENOS and GIGNOMAI are related (and LSJ seems to
indicate so, but is very sketchy) and that GENOS can mean "derivation" (TDNT
article on MONOGENHS pushes that meaning, referring to EUGENHS, DIOGENHS,
etc., and this seems to mesh well with BDAG). On that basis together with
biblical usage--which seems to be a pretty restricted part of the range one
might expect for "unique" or "one of a kind," i.e., pretty much always with
TEKNON or hUIOS--supports "only begotten" even while acknowledging that this
is a translation of Lat. unigenitus and discussing Heb. YACHID etc.
My question: is MONOGENHS related to GIGNOMAI or not, and how would we know?
--Of course we all know by now that etymology doesn't determine meaning,
right?
James Ernest
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