Begotten (Hastings' Dictionary)
Only begotten is ihe tr" in AV and RV of mo-oy"")! at To 8", Jn l'«- '» S'"- '», He 11" 266 BEGUILE BEL 1 Jn 4", all (except To 8", He 11" ' Abraham . . oUered up his only b. son ') in ref. to Christ. The same Gr. word ia found in Lk 7" 'the only sou of his mother,' 8 'he had one (RV 'an') only daughter,' and 9 ' he is mine only child.' Firstbegotten is the tr.
of npuTlyroKot in He \', iind in Rev 1' (both in reference to Christ), a word which is here by RV and elsewhere by AV and RV tr'' ' first bom.' It would have been more accurate if ' first-begotten ' had been given as the tr° of TpoT., and ' only-bom ' of /iov. The meaning of the latter ia indeed, as Westcott points out, obscured under the tr" 'only-begotten,' since in its reference to Christ it is the Son's personal Being, not His generation, that is the tliought.
Both words exprsss the Son of Man's uniqueness among the sons of men, fj-ov. more absolutely than TTpur. , and more directly in relation to the P ather. See Thayer, NT Lex.; and Cremer, Bibl.-Theol. Lex. of NT Greek, t.w., and (esp. for rpwr. ), Light- foot on Col 1". J. Hastings.
This topic also has an entry in the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. Both articles offer independent scholarly perspectives.
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia on Begotten
Begotten be-got'-'-n (yaladh; "to bear," "bring forth," "beget"; denotes the physical relation of either parent to a child, Ge 3:16; 4:18): Used metaphorically of God's relation to Israel (De 32:18) and to the Messianic king (Ps 2:7); (gennao, "to beget," or "bear"): generally used of a father (Mt 1:1-16); more rarely of a mother (Lu 1:13,57); used metaphorically of causing or engendering moral and spiritual relations and states (1Co 4:15; Phm 1:10); of the new birth of the Holy Spirit (Joh 3:3 ff). Men who obey and love God as sons are begotten of Him (Joh 1:13; 1Jo 2:29; 3:9; 4:7; 5:1,4,18; compare 1Pe 1:23). Used especially of God's act in making Christ His Son: "Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee" (Ps 2:7) quoted in Ac 13:33 in reference to His resurrection (compare Ro 1:4). The same passage is cited (Heb 1:5) as proving Christ's filial dignity, transcending the angels in that "he hath inherited a more excellent name than they," i.e. the name of son; and again (Heb 5:5) of God conferring upon Christ the glory of the priestly office. ⇒See the definition of begotten in…
References
- Orr, J. (ed.) (1915) The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. Chicago: Howard-Severance Company. [Public Domain]
- Easton, M.G. (1893) Easton's Bible Dictionary. 3rd edn. Thomas Nelson. [Public Domain]
- Nave, O.J. (1897) Nave's Topical Bible. Topical Bible Publishing Co.. [Public Domain]
- Hastings, J. (ed.) (1909) A Dictionary of the Bible. Edinburgh: T&T Clark. [Public Domain]
- Smith, W. (ed.) (1884) Smith's Bible Dictionary. London: John Murray. [Public Domain]
- Fausset, A.R. (1878) Fausset's Bible Dictionary. [Public Domain]A Critical and Expository Bible Cyclopaedia