Monogenēs

To be distinguished from Monogenic (genetics), Monogenic system.

In Christian Biblical criticism and theology, there have been disputes about the meaning and usage of "monogenes".[1] Does the word mean "only begotten", as it is as traditionally rendered,[2] or does it merely mean "only" or "only one"? Does the word mean "only, single, or unique" son, or "special, privileged, favorite, or legitimate" son?[1] Related text-critical issues to John 1:18 (and John 3:16, etc.).

Monogenes has two primary definitions, "pertaining to being the only one of its kind within a specific relationship" and "pertaining to being the only one of its kind or class, unique in kind".[3] Thus monogenēs (μονογενὴς) may be used both as an adjective monogenēs pais, meaning unique and special.[4] Its Greek meaning is often applied to mean "one of a kind, one and only". Monogenēs (μονογενὴς) may be used both as an adjective monogenēs pais, only child, or only legitimate child, special child, and also on its own as a noun; o monogenēs "the only one", or "the only legitimate child".[5]

The word is used in Hebrews 11:17-19 to describe Isaac, the son of Abraham. However Isaac was not the only-begotten son of Abraham, but was the chosen, having special virtue.

The term is notable outside normal Greek usage in two special areas: in the cosmology of Plato and in the Gospel of John. As concerns the use by Plato there is broad academic consensus, generally following the understanding of the philosopher Proclus (412–485 AD).

Lexical entry

In A Greek-English Lexicon of Liddell & Scott the following main definition is given:

A. the only member of a kin or kind: hence, generally, only, single, "child" (pais, παῖς) Hesiod, Works and Days 376; Herodotus Histories 7.221; cf. Gospel of John 1.14; Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews 32.1; Hesiod Theogony, concerning Hecate.
2. unique, of (to on, τὸ ὄν), Parmenides 8.4; “εἷς ὅδε μ. οὐρανὸς γεγονώς” Plato Timaeus.31b, cf. Proclus Institutio Theologica 22; “θεὸς ὁ μ.” Friedrich Preisigke's Sammelbuch 4324.15.[6]

A typical example:

"The Egyptians told me that Maneros was the only son of their first king, who died prematurely, and this dirge was sung by the Egyptians in his honor; and this, they said, was their earliest and their only chant." (Herodotus Histories 2:79)[7]

But note that this example does not necessarily rule out sons by concubines.

Usage in Greek texts

Classical Greek texts

The following examples are taken from the Greek text uses of monogenēs in the Perseus database.

An exhaustive listing of monogenēs can be found in the Thesaurus Linguae Graecae database.

Parmenides The reference above found in Liddell Scott, and therefore in other lexicons, and unquestioned in Christian commentaries, to a use of monogenes by Parmenides has more recently been shown to probably be incorrect. The text of Parmenides 8. 4 is "unusually corrupt".[10] Plutarch read the text as holomeles (οὐλομελές, "whole-limbed"). The original reconstruction by H. Diels (1897) left the text open.[11] Later editions of Diels-Kranz[12] defer to Plutarch's reading in the reconstructed Greek text. Others since reconstructed the text as monogenes (only-begotten) but John R. Wilson (1970) argues that this is inconsistent with context[13] and suggests the text as monomeles (one-limbed). The inconsistency is accepted by H. Schmitz (1988)[14] but Schmitz proposes instead a return to holomeles (οὐλομελές, "whole-limbed").

Interpretation of Classical Greek usage

Plato's Timaeus speaks twice of a monogenes Heaven:

The subject is the creation, or begetting, of heaven (ouranos) as a unique birth, not the birth of more than one cosmos. Comparison is also made with the begetting of animals and birds from the souls of "light-minded men".[20]

In commentary on Plato Proclus considers that if a visible god like the ouranos is to resemble higher invisible gods, then the visible cosmos must be monogenes.[21]

Greek Old Testament usage

The word occurs five times in the Septuagint:

Interpretation of Greek Old Testament usage

Psalm 22:20, 35:17 and Wisdom 7:22 appear to be personifications of the soul (in Hebrew a masculine noun) and wisdom (feminine noun) as an "only son" and "only daughter" respectively.[22]

There is an increase in the use of monogenes in later versions of the Septuagint. Gen 22:2 "the beloved one whom you have loved" (ton agapeton, on egapesas) in Aquila's Greek translation uses monogenēs to translate yachid, the common Hebrew word for "only".[23]

Greek New Testament usage

The New Testament contains 9 uses, all adjectival:

Hellenistic Jewish usages

Early Patristic usage

Gnosticism and magic texts

Platonic usage also impacted Christian usage, for example in Gnosticism. In Tertullian's Against the Valentinians, he gives the name to one of their thirty aeons as monogenes in a syzygy with makaria, Blessedness.[25]

"I summon you divinities by the bitter necessities that bind you and by those carried away by the wind IO IOE PHTHOUTH EIO PHRE. The Greatest Divinity YAH SABAOTH BARBARE THIOTH LAILAMPS OSORNOPHRI EMPHERA, to God in the heavens, the only-begotten (ho Monogenes) who shakes the depths, sending out the waves and the wind. Thrust forth the spirits of these divinities wherever the box... "[26][27]

Similar content is found in:

The problem with magical inscriptions, on papyri, walls or ostraca, is firstly dating the source, secondly that magical spells by their nature tend to be syncretic. In the example above lovestruck Capitolina summons "all the divinities" to release the spirits of "all who drowned in the Nile, the unmarried dead" etc. to sway the heart of her young man, yet she may not have known enough about Judaism or Christianity, or even Gnostic Christianity, to know whether "YAHWEH SABAOTH" and "the Only-Begotten" were the same god or not.

Later uses in Christianity

Interpretation of New Testament usage

Some aspects of the meaning, or range of meanings, of monogenēs in the New Testament are disputed. Lexicons of the New Testament both reflect and determine debate:

Begetting

The entrance of "only begotten" into the English Bible was not directly from mono-genes but from the Latin of the Vulgate, which had uni-genitus (one-begotten):[34]

  • John 3:16 sic enim dilexit Deus mundum ut Filium suum unigenitum daret ut omnis qui credit in eum non pereat sed habeat vitam aeternam. (Latin Vulgate)
  • John 3:16 God lufede middan-eard swa þæt he sealde hys akennedan sune þæt nan ne for-wurðe þe on hine ge-lefð. Ac habbe þt eche lyf. (Hatton Gospels c.1160 AD)
  • John 3:16 For God lovede so the world, that he yaf his oon bigetun sone, that each man that bileveth in him perishe not, but have everlastynge lijf.(Wycliffe's Bible 1395 AD)

The meaning of monogenēs was part of early Christian christological controversy regarding the Trinity. It is claimed that Arian arguments that used texts that refer to Christ as God's "only begotten Son" are based on a misunderstanding of the Greek word monogenēs[35] and that the Greek word does not mean "begotten" in the sense we beget children but means "having no peer, unique".[36][37]

Alternatively in favour that the word monogenēs does carry some meaning related to begetting is the etymological origin mono- (only) + -genes (born, begotten).[38] The question is whether the etymological origin was still "live" as part of the meaning when the New Testament was written, or whether semantic shift has occurred. Limiting the semantic change of monogenes is that the normal word monos is still the default word in New Testament times, and that the terms co-exist in Greek, Latin and English:

Greek monos → Latin unicus → English "only"
Greek monogenes → Latin unigenitus → English "only-begotten"

Also there is a question about how separate from the idea of -genes birth and begetting the cited uses of monogenes in the sense of "unique" truly are. For example, the ending -genes is arguably not redundant even in the sense of "only" as per when Clement of Rome (96 AD), and later Origen, Cyril and others, employ monogenes to describe the rebirth of the phoenix. At issue is whether Clement is merely stressing monos unique, or using monogenes to indicate unique in its method of rebirth, or possibly that there is only one single bird born and reborn. Likewise in Plato's Timaeus, the "only-begotten and created Heaven", is still unique in how it is begotten, in comparison to the begetting of animals and men, just as Earth and Heaven give birth to Ocean and Tethys. Of the Liddell Scott references for "unique" (monogenes being used purely as monos) that leaves only Parmenides, which (as above) is no longer considered a likely reading of the Greek text.

Additionally the New Testament frame of reference for monogenes is established by uses of the main verb "beget", and readings of complimentary verses, for example:

Heb. 1:5 "For unto which of the angels said he at any time, "Thou art my Son (uios mou ei su), this day have I begotten thee (ego semeron gegenneka se)"? And again, I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son?" (citing Ps.2:7, also cited Acts 13:33, Heb.5:5)
1 John 5:18 "We know that everyone who is begotten of God does not sin" or
1 John 5:18 "We know that the One who is begotten of God does not sin" [39]

Uniqueness

This issue overlaps with, and is interrelated with, the question of begetting above. Interpretation of the uniqueness of monogenes in New Testament usage partly depends on understanding of Hellenistic Jewish ideas about inheritance. Philo stated:

In his 1894 translation of Philo Charles Duke Yonge rendered "loved-and-only son" (agapetos kai monos uios) as "only legitimate son", which is not unreasonable given Philo's parallel comments in On Sacrifice X.43. It also parallels Josephus' use (see above 20:20) for a legitimate son of the main royal wife.

Likewise in the later Jewish Septuagint revisions:

In contrast in Proverbs 4:3 Aquila, Symmachus and Theodotion all have monogenes of a mother's only-begotten son where legitimacy is not an issue.

Textual issues in John 1:18

In Textual criticism opinions are divided on whether Jesus is referred to as "only-begotten God" or "only-begotten Son", in John 1:18.[42]

This textual issue is complicated by the scribal abbreviations of nomina sacra where "G-d" and "S-n" are abbreviated in the Greek manuscripts by ΘΣ and ΥΣ (theta-sigma vs upsilon-sigma) increasing the likelihood of scribal error.[43]

References

  1. 1 2 John V. Dahms, "The Johannine Use of Monogenes Reconsidered," New Testament Studies 29 (1983) 222-32.
  2. ↑ As in the King James Version, Revised Version, New American Standard Bible and the Revised Standard Version - Second Catholic Edition
  3. ↑ Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (BAGD, 3rd Edition)
  4. ↑ White, The Forgotten Trinity [Minneapolis, MN, Bethany House Publishers, 1998
  5. ↑ Richard Murphy, Background To The Bible, Servant Publications, 1978.
  6. ↑ LSJ Dictionary Entry
  7. ↑ Herodotus, with an English translation by A. D. Godley. Cambridge. Harvard University Press. 1920.
  8. ↑ Plato in Twelve Volumes, Vols. 10 & 11 translated by R.G. Bury. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1967 & 1968.
  9. ↑ Plato in Twelve Volumes, Vol. 9 translated by W.R.M. Lamb. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1925.
  10. ↑ John R. Wilson Classic Quarterly article
  11. ↑ Diels, Hermann. Parmenides Lehrgedicht: griechisch und deutsch Berlin, Reimer. 1897.
  12. ↑ Diels-Kranz Die Fragmente der Vorsokratiker
  13. ↑ J.R. Wilson. Parmenides, B8.4, in Classical Quarterly n.20 (1970) p32-34
  14. ↑ Schmitz, Hermann. Der Ursprung des Gegenstandes. Von Parmenides bis Demokrit. Bonn: Bouvier Verlag, 1988
  15. ↑ Guido Rappe Archaische Leiberfahrung. der Leib in der frühgriechischen Philosophie und in aussereuropäischen Kulturen. 1995, Akademie Verlag p.149
  16. ↑ [31b] ἵνα οὖν τόδε κατὰ τὴν μόνωσιν ὅμοιον ᾖ τῷ παντελεῖ ζῴῳ͵ διὰ ταῦτα οὔτε δύο οὔτ΄ ἀπείρους ἐποίησεν ὁ ποιῶν κόσμους͵ ἀλλ΄ εἷς ὅδε μονογενὴς οὐρανὸς γεγονὼς ἔστιν καὶ ἔτ΄ ἔσται.
  17. ↑ Timaeus Parallel English-Greek text 31b
  18. ↑ μέγιστος καὶ ἄριστος κάλλιστός τε καὶ τελεώτατος γέγονεν εἷς οὐρανὸς ὅδε μονογενὴς ὤν.
  19. ↑ [Parallel English-Greek text 92c]
  20. ↑ T. K. Johansen Plato's natural philosophy: a study of the Timaeus-Critias 2004 Page 190
  21. ↑ Proclus, edition Dirk Baltzly Commentary on Plato's Timaeus: Book 3, Part 1 2007
  22. ↑ Lust, J., Eynikel, E., & Hauspie, K. (2003). A Greek-English Lexicon of the Septuagint: Revised Edition. Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft: Stuttgart: "μονογενής,-ής,-ές+ A 0-2-0-3-9=14 Jgs 11,34; Ps 21 (22),21; 24 (25),16; 34 (35),17 the only member of a kin, only-begotten, only (of children) Jgs 11,34; id. (of God) Od 14,13; alone in its kind, one only Wis 7,22 Cf. HARL 1960=1992a 206–207; 1986a 192; LARCHER 1984, 482–483; →MM; NIDNTT; TWNT"
  23. ↑ Journal of Biblical literature, Volumes 70-72 1970 p217
  24. ↑ Büchsel TDNT notes 4 Esdras 6:58 :With this may be compared 4 Esr. 6:58 : 'But we, thy people, whom thou hast called the first born, the only begotten, the dearest friend, are given up into their hands.'" Here Büchsel is referring to the Latin text of Fourth Esdras (also called Second Esdras), a book for which there is no extant Greek text.
  25. ↑ Andrew Phillip Smith A Dictionary of Gnosticism 2009 Page 163
  26. ↑ "285. Charm to bind Capitolina's lover Nilos to her" PGM XV1-21 Provenance unknown 3rd Century AD. Women and society in Greek and Roman Egypt: a sourcebookBy Jane Rowlandson p.360
  27. ↑ "Λαιλαμψ Oσορνοφρι Βαρβαρε εν τω ουρανω θεος, ο μονογενης" F. Büchsel, Hinweis auf einen Liebeszauber ThWNT IV p746.
  28. ↑ "εισακουσον μου, ο εις, μοvογενης"
  29. ↑ Strecker G. Die Johannesbriefe p.233 "ορκιζωσε τον θεον... τον μονογην τον εξ αυτου αναφανεντα"
  30. ↑ Arndt, W., Danker, Friedrich W., & Bauer, W. (2000). A Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament and other early Christian literature (3rd ed.) (658). Chicago: University of Chicago Press: "See also Hdb. on vs. 18 where, beside the rdg. μονογενὴς θεός (considered by many the orig.) an only-begotten one, God (acc. to his real being; i.e. uniquely divine as God’s son and transcending all others alleged to be gods) or a uniquely begotten deity (for the perspective s. J 10:33–36), another rdg. ὁ μονογενὴς υἱός is found. MPol 20:2 in the doxology διὰ παιδὸς αὐτοῦ τοῦ μονογενοῦς Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ. Some (e.g. WBauer, Hdb.; JBulman, Calvin Theological Journal 16, ’81, 56–79; JDahms, NTS 29, ’83, 222–32) prefer to regard μ. as somewhat heightened in mng. in J and 1J to only-begotten or begotten of the Only One, in view of the emphasis on γεννᾶσθαι ἐκ θεοῦ (J 1:13 al.); in this case it would be analogous to πρωτότοκος (Ro 8:29; Col 1:15 al.)."
  31. ↑ Theological Dictionary of the New Testament edited by Gerhard Kittel, English edition (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1967), pp. 737-41. Hermann Martin Friedrich Büchsel on μονογενής (and 1 of 14 footnotes)
  32. ↑ Balz, Horst R., & Schneider, Gerhard. (1990-). Vol. 2: Exegetical dictionary of the New Testament (440). Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans: "Μονογενής means only in all the Lukan passages. In 7:12 (L) it is used of the son born to the widow of Nain. The Gospel writer has inserted μονογενής in 8:42 in the account of the healing of Jairus’s daughter (cf. Mark 5:23: τὸ θυγάτριόν μου) and in 9:38 in the pericope on the epileptic boy (cf. Mark 9:17: τὸν υἱόν μου). In these passages μονογενής intensifies the significance of Jesus’ miracles."
  33. ↑ Friberg, Timothy, Friberg, Barbara, & Miller, Neva F. (2000). Vol. 4: Analytical lexicon of the Greek New Testament. Baker's Greek New Testament library (266). Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker Books: "μονογενής, ές of what is the only one of its kind of class unique; (1) an only child born to human parents one and only (LU 7.12; 8.42); substantively only child (LU 9.38); (2) as a child born in a unique way; (a) used of God’s Son Jesus only, only begotten; substantively (JN 1.14); (b) used of Abraham’s son Isaac only; substantively ὁ μ. his only true son (HE 11.17)"
  34. ↑ David Ewert A general introduction to the Bible: from ancient tablets to modern translations 1990 p230
  35. ↑ Wayne A. Grudem, Jeff Purswell Bible Doctrine: Essential Teachings of the Christian Faith 1999- Page 113
  36. ↑ Richard Abanes Today's Mormonism: Understanding Latter-Day Saints 2007 Page 191
  37. ↑ Edward L. Dalcour A definitive look at oneness theology: defending the tri-unity of God 2005
  38. ↑ Kenneth L. Barker, Edwin H. Palmer The NIV: the making of a contemporary translation 1986 p121
  39. ↑ Kittel TDNT Büchsel on μονογενής Op. cit. "It is not wholly clear whether μονογενής in Jn. denotes also the birth or begetting from God; it probably does, Jn. calls Jesus ὁ γεννηθεὶς ἐκ τοῦ θεοῦ, 1 Jn. 5:18. Though many will not accept this, he here understands the concept of sonship in terms of begetting. For him to be the Son of God is not just to be the recipient of God's love. It is to be begotten of God. This is true both of believers and also of Jesus. For this reason μονογενής probably includes also begetting by God. To be sure, Jn. does not lift the veil of mystery which lies over the eternal begetting. But this does not entitle us to assume that he had no awareness of it. Johannine preaching and doctrine is designed to awaken faith, 20:30 f., not to give full and systematic knowledge. Hence it does not have to dispel all mysteries."
  40. ↑ Philo On Abraham
  41. ↑ Philo On Sacrifice
  42. ↑ Raymond E Brown Introduction to the New Testament Christology 1994 Page 179
  43. ↑ Allen Wikgren footnote in Metzger A Textual Commentary on The Greek New Testament United Bible Societies 2nd ed. p. 170."It is doubtful that the author would have written monogenes theos which may be a primitive transcriptional error in the Alexandrian tradition ΘC/ΥΣ. At least a 'D' decision would be preferable. A.W."

Further reading

Harris, B.P. (2012). Studies in the Usage of the Greek Word Monogenes as Found in the Gospel of John, the Epistle to Hebrews, First Clement and Other Sources (PDF). 

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