Jesus is called God’s only begotten Son in five verses. The Greek word translated “begotten” is not intended to suggest that God somehow birthed Jesus as an only child. Monogenes emphasizes that something is ‘alone of its kind’ or ‘unique.’ It translates the Hebrew word yahid meaning ‘only, precious’. For that reason ‘only begotten’ is a poor translation. It originated with Jerome, who used the Latin unigenitus to translate monogenes. Monogenes is derived from genos (origin, race, stock), not gennao (beget).
“Only begotten,” part of the name, “only begotten Son” in the Greek text of 1 John 4:9.
Only begotten Son in Greek:
Ho hyios ho monogenos
Strong’s Concordance numbers: 3439, 3439
Bible references: John 1:14, 18; 3:16, 18; 1 John 4:9
John 1:18 may be excluded since “Only God” is a better reading.
In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. (1 John 4:9 KJV)
