The Only Begotten

The Only Begotten

Aleksandar Trajkovski

John 1:14 KJV  And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

The phrase only begotten is a translation of the Greek word monogenēs. This word may come from the word monos, which means the only one, and the ginomai, which means: to be born, to exist, to happen, to go out, to establish, to have, to appear in public, etc. (it does not have to have the meaning of birth or creation at all) or genos which means: offspring, race, kind. In the New Testament word is used for only child (Luke 7:12), but mostly when referring to Christ. He is the only begotten of the Father (Jn 1:14). What does it mean that Christ is the only begotten? He was created? Certainly not. ''Only begotten'' signifies His uniqueness. If we look at Hebrews 11:17, we will see that Abraham offered the only begotten Isaac.

Heb 11:17 KJV  By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son,

Anyone who reads the Bible regularly knows that Isaac was not the only son of Abraham. He was not even the first, for the first was Ishmael. But Isaac was not the son of a slave, and Abraham received promises about him. Isaac was called the only begotten because he was special and not the only one born. (The Hebrew word used in Genesis 22: 2 is yachiyd. The same word is used in Psalm 35:17, and translates as my darling and refers to the soul. In Psalm 68: 6 refers to abandoned or lonely.)

Therefore, when it is said that Christ is the only begotten, it means that Hi is special and has a special relationship with the Father (Jn 1:18). The Bible calls us believers children or sons of God, since God has adopted us into his family and gave us the Holy Spirit. Christ is therefore called the only begotten Son because He is the special Son, unique, "the only one of its kind".¹ He is the LORD God, who has no beginning or end. He is the Creator, not the creature. He is the Son of God "in a sense in which others are not."²

(Sveto Trojstvo)

1Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible, s. v. ”Only Begotten”.

2ISBE,  s. v. ”Only Begotten”.