μονογενής
Unique
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What does μονογενής (monogenḗs) mean in the Bible?
μονογενής (monogenḗs) is a Greek word meaning "unique". μονογενής, -ές (μόνος, γένος), [in LXX: Jdg. Describes the Son's unique relationship to the Father. This term runs through the canonical themes of Messiah.
Full entry for μονογενής (G3439) · Browse the biblical lexicon
Meaning
Only child or unique offspring; in John's Gospel, Christ's singular relation to God the Father.
(μόνος, γένος), [in LXX: Jdg.11:34, Psa.22:20 25:16 35:17 (יָחִיד), Tob.3:15 6:10, 14 8:17, Wis.7:22, Bar.4:16 * ;] only, only begotten (DCG, ii, 281), of sons and daughters : Luk.7:12 8:42 9:38, Heb.11:17; of Christ, Jhn.3:16, 18, 1Jn.4:9; μ. παρὰ πατρός, Jhn.1:14; μ. θεός, Jhn.1:18.
Why This Word Matters
Describes the Son's unique relationship to the Father. 1 John 4:7-12
The uniqueness of the Son magnifies the depth of the Father’s love.
Grammatical Forms
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
Canonical Themes
Biblical Occurrences
Each occurrence shows the passage reference, the original language term as it appears in that context, its transliteration, and the contextual sense.
New Testament Witnesses
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.
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.
A.T. Robertson, Word Pictures in the New Testament (1930–31) — public domain