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Greek · G1080 · unreviewed

γεννάω

To beget

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γεννάω G1080
Pronunciation gennáō

What does γεννάω (gennáō) mean in the Bible?

γεννάω (gennáō) is a Greek word meaning "to beget". γεννάω, -ῶ (γέννα, poët.

Full entry for γεννάω (G1080) · Browse the biblical lexicon

Meaning

to beget
Extended definition

(γέννα, poët. for γένος), [in LXX chiefly for ילד ;]

1of the father, to beget: with accusative, Mat.1:1-16, Act.7:8, 29; before ἐκ, Mat.1:3, 5, 6.
2Of the mother, to bring forth, bear: Luk.1:13, 57 23:29, Jhn.16:21; εἰς δουλείαν, Gal.4:24. Pass. __(1) to be begotten: Mat.1:20; __(2) to be born: Mat.2:1, 4 19:12 26:24, Mrk.14:21, Luk.1:35, Jhn.3:4, Act.7:20, Rom.9:11, Heb.11:23; before εἰς, Jhn.16:21 18:37, 2Pe.2:12; ἐν, Act.2:8 22:3, (ἁμαρτίαις), Jhn.9:34; ἀπό, Heb.11:12 (WH, mg., ἐγεν-); ἐκ, Jhn.1:13 3:6 8:41; with adj., τυφλὸς γ., Jhn.9:2; [Ῥωμαῖος ], Act.22:28; κατὰ σάρκα: κ. πνεῦμα: Gal.4:29. Metaphorical; μάχας, 2Ti.2:23; ὑμᾶς ἐγέννησα, 1Co.4:15, (ὅν), Phm 10; in quotation, Psa.2:7 (LXX), Act.13:33, Heb.1:5 5:5; of Christians as begotten of God, born again: Jhn.1:13 3:3, 5-8, 1Jn.2:29 3:9 4:7 5:1, 4, 18 (cf. ἀνα-γεννάω); (Cremer, 146).
Source: STEPBible TBESG + Abbott-Smith
Grammatical Forms

How mood, tense, and voice shift the force of this verb in context.

Tenses
Aorist Perfect Present Future
Voices
Active Passive
Indicative states a fact or reality 71×
Aorist Active Matt 1:2 · Matt 1:3 · Matt 1:4 · Matt 1:5 · Matt 1:6 · Matt 1:7 · Matt 1:8 · Matt 1:9 · Matt 1:10 · Matt 1:11 · Matt 1:12 · Matt 1:13 · Matt 1:14 · Matt 1:15 · Matt 1:16 · Luke 1:57 45×
Aorist Passive Matt 1:16 · Matt 26:24 · Mark 14:21 · John 9:19 · John 9:20 · John 16:21 · Acts 7:20 · Matt 19:12 · John 1:13 · Heb 11:12 · John 9:34 · Acts 2:8 12×
Perfect Passive Gal 4:23 · 1 John 2:29 · 1 John 3:9 · 1 John 4:7 · 1 John 5:1 · John 18:37 · Acts 22:28 · John 8:41 8×
Perfect Active Acts 13:33 · Heb 1:5 · Heb 5:5 3×
Present Passive Matt 2:4 1×
Future Active Luke 1:13 1×
Present Active 2 Tim 2:23 1×
Participle verbal adjective — the action as a modifying quality 19×
Perfect Passive John 3:8 · Acts 22:3 · 1 John 3:9 · 1 John 5:18 · John 3:6 · 1 John 5:4 · John 9:32 · 2 Pet 2:12 · 1 John 5:1 10×
Aorist Passive Gal 4:29 · Heb 11:23 · 1 John 5:18 · Matt 1:20 · Matt 2:1 · Rom 9:11 6×
Present Passive Luke 1:35 1×
Present Active Gal 4:24 1×
Aorist Active 1 John 5:1 1×
Subjunctive possibility, probability, or purpose 4×
Aorist Passive John 3:3 · John 3:5 · John 9:2 3×
Aorist Active John 16:21 1×
Infinitive verbal noun — the action in abstract 3×
Aorist Passive John 3:4 · John 3:7 3×
97 total occurrences across all forms in the biblical text Morphology: MorphGNT SBLGNT — CC BY-SA 3.0
Discourse Aspect

How this verb appears across 97 occurrences in the NT discourse index (MACULA Greek SBLGNT).

Aspect
completed 57 ongoing 2 prospective 1 resultant 11 subjunctive 4 infinitive 3 participle 19
Tense
aorist 71 perfect 21 present 4 future 1
Voice
active 53 passive 44
Mood
indicative 71 participle 19 subjunctive 4 infinitive 3
NT Occurrences
Matthew 1:10 ἐγέννησεν aorist active indicative completed Matthew 1:10 ἐγέννησεν aorist active indicative completed Matthew 1:10 ἐγέννησεν aorist active indicative completed Matthew 1:11 ἐγέννησεν aorist active indicative completed Matthew 1:12 ἐγέννησεν aorist active indicative completed Matthew 1:12 ἐγέννησεν aorist active indicative completed Matthew 1:13 ἐγέννησεν aorist active indicative completed Matthew 1:13 ἐγέννησεν aorist active indicative completed Matthew 1:13 ἐγέννησεν aorist active indicative completed Matthew 1:14 ἐγέννησεν aorist active indicative completed Matthew 1:14 ἐγέννησεν aorist active indicative completed Matthew 1:14 ἐγέννησεν aorist active indicative completed Matthew 1:15 ἐγέννησεν aorist active indicative completed Matthew 1:15 ἐγέννησεν aorist active indicative completed Matthew 1:15 ἐγέννησεν aorist active indicative completed Matthew 1:16 ἐγέννησεν aorist active indicative completed Matthew 1:16 ἐγεννήθη aorist passive indicative completed Matthew 1:2 ἐγέννησεν aorist active indicative completed Matthew 1:2 ἐγέννησεν aorist active indicative completed Matthew 1:2 ἐγέννησεν aorist active indicative completed Matthew 1:20 γεννηθὲν aorist passive participle participle Matthew 1:3 ἐγέννησεν aorist active indicative completed Matthew 1:3 ἐγέννησεν aorist active indicative completed Matthew 1:3 ἐγέννησεν aorist active indicative completed Matthew 1:4 ἐγέννησεν aorist active indicative completed Matthew 1:4 ἐγέννησεν aorist active indicative completed Matthew 1:4 ἐγέννησεν aorist active indicative completed Matthew 1:5 ἐγέννησεν aorist active indicative completed Matthew 1:5 ἐγέννησεν aorist active indicative completed Matthew 1:5 ἐγέννησεν aorist active indicative completed Matthew 1:6 ἐγέννησεν aorist active indicative completed Matthew 1:6 ἐγέννησεν aorist active indicative completed Matthew 1:7 ἐγέννησεν aorist active indicative completed Matthew 1:7 ἐγέννησεν aorist active indicative completed Matthew 1:7 ἐγέννησεν aorist active indicative completed Matthew 1:8 ἐγέννησεν aorist active indicative completed Matthew 1:8 ἐγέννησεν aorist active indicative completed Matthew 1:8 ἐγέννησεν aorist active indicative completed Matthew 1:9 ἐγέννησεν aorist active indicative completed Matthew 1:9 ἐγέννησεν aorist active indicative completed +57 more occurrences

Aspect reflects grammatical form — not authorial emphasis. Participles and infinitives are verbal adjectives and nouns respectively.

Clause data: MACULA Greek (Clear Bible, CC BY 4.0) · SBLGNT (Logos/SBL, CC BY 4.0)

Appears In

Compound and idiomatic lexemes in which this word is a constituent. Follow a link to study the phrase and its other participating words.

γεννάω · ἐκ · θεός G1080, G1537, G2316
to procreate (properly, of the father, but by extension of the mother); figuratively, to regenerate
γεννάω · ἄνωθεν G1080, G509
to be born from above, born anew
Word Pictures (Robertson)

A.T. Robertson's Word Pictures in the New Testament (1930–31) discusses this term in the following chapters. Open any chapter and go to the Word Pictures tab to read his verse-by-verse commentary.

John 16 — The Spirit’s Convicting Witness, the Disciples’ Sorrow Turned to Joy, and Christ’s Victory over the World John 18 — The Arrested King: Betrayal, Sovereign Surrender, Denial, Trial, and the Kingdom Not of This World John 3 — New Birth, Lifted-Up Son, and the Love of God for the World Matthew 1 — The Genealogy and Birth of Jesus the Messiah

A.T. Robertson, Word Pictures in the New Testament (1930–31) — public domain

Sources

MorphGNT Strong's Dictionary XML — CC0 1.0 Public Domain

Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible (morphhb/OSHB) — CC BY 4.0

Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon — CC BY 4.0

STEPBible Data — CC BY 4.0

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