Greek · Strong's G3439
μονογενής
monogenḗs (mon-og-en-ACE)
adjective
One of a kind, unique, only—used of Jesus as the unique Son of God, and of an only child within a family.
Monogenēs combines monos ("only, alone") with the noun stem genos ("kind, class, race")—not gennaō ("to beget"). The older translation "only-begotten" obscures the emphasis: the word stresses uniqueness of kind more than the act of generation. The best modern lexica render it "only," "one of a kind," or "unique."
Luke uses monogenēs three times in ordinary human contexts: the widow of Nain's only son (Luke 7:12), Jairus' only daughter (Luke 8:42), and the boy with a demon described as his father's only child (Luke 9:38). In Hebrews 11:17 Isaac is called Abraham's monogenēs even though Ishmael preceded him—because Isaac was the unique son of the promise, in a class by himself.
This is the freight John lays on the word when he applies it to Jesus: "the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth" (John 1:14), "the only Son, who is at the Father's side" (John 1:18), and the famous declaration that "God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son" (John 3:16). 1 John 4:9 ties God's love directly to His sending of His monogenēs into the world. The point of the title is not biological generation but utter uniqueness: Jesus is the one and only Son of His kind, sharing the Father's nature in a way no creature and no other son ever could.
Common English renderings
- only
- only begotten
- one and only
Key verses
"And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us (and we beheld his glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father), full of grace and truth."
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"No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him."
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"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but have eternal life."
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"He that believeth on him is not judged: he that believeth not hath been judged already, because he hath not believed on the name of the only begotten Son of God."
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"By faith Abraham, being tried, offered up Isaac: yea, he that had gladly received the promises was offering up his only begotten son;"
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"Herein was the love of God manifested in us, that God hath sent his only begotten Son into the world that we might live through him."
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