The Word Begotten in Reference to Jesus

What does the word Begotten mean?

There are a total of seven definitions within the KJV Bible. The Strong’s numbers would be the following: 313, 1080, 3205, 3318, 3439, 4138, and 4416. As you can see in some instances the word begotten can be in the form of verbs, nouns, or adjectives.

313 – anagennao (verb)
1080 – Gennao (verb)
3205 – yalad (verb)
3318 – yasta (verb)
3439 – monogenes (adjective)
4138 – mowledeth (Feminine Noun)
4416 – prototokos (adjective)

The two definitions we are focusing upon deal with the Son of God. The terms monogenes and prototokos are both adjectives. Adjectives describe a quality of a thing named—a distinction from something else. This distinction (From a humanity aspect) from something else would be the distinctness of Jesus from Adam, and his descendants in the formal sense; Jesus was not prone to sin and of course would bear sin from the Virgin Birth. However, the term monogenes is typically meant as Jesus the Son of God in his uniqueness. The book of John describes the nature of The Word in relationship to the Father.

Monogenes
1) Single of its kind, only
a) Used of only sons or daughters (viewed in relation to their parents)
b) Used of Christ, denotes the only begotten Son of God.

Prototokos
1) The firstborn
a) Of man or beast
b) Of Christ, the first born of all creation

The following verses are where we find the terms monogenes and prototokos.

Strong’s
3439 = Luke 7:12, Luke 8:42, Luke 9:38, John 1:14, John 1:18, John 3:16, John 3:18, Heb 11:17, 1 John 4:9

4416 = Matt 1:25, Luke 2:7, Rom 8:29, Col 1:15, Col 1:18, Heb 1:6, Heb 11:28, Heb 12:23, and Rev 1:5

Let us first recognize that “First born” (prototokos) does not mean that Christ was a created being. Either in Scripture it could mean, “the first born Child,” or it often meant, “one who possessed priority.”