With respect to "begotten" and "only begotten", the English words "begotten" or "begat" or "born" are translations of the Greek word
gennao and basically means "born of" or "generated of", with few exceptions. One of those exceptions is Matthew 1:20 where it means "conceived" and in John 3:7 Jesus uses it when he tells Nicodemus that "you must be born again". (I'll leave it to the reader to determine if he meant that literally, metaphorically, spiritually, or exactly how.)
One of the more interesting uses of
gennao is 2 Timothy 2:23 -- "Don't have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they
produce quarrels." Here obvioulsy the type of generating being spoken of is not reproductive birth. And much the same thing occurs in Philemon 1:10 -- "I appeal to you for my son Onesimus, who
became my son while I was in chains." If you know the story, you know that Onesimus was a runaway slave that came to Paul seeking protection (though Paul was himself in prison at the time) and while with him became a Christian, hence the reference to "became my son".
The phrase "only begotten" in English appears simply to be attaching the adverb "only" (meaning one, sole, single or alone) in front of "begotten". The Greek words usually translated as "only" are
monos and
monon, and indeed this is the way we do find "only" throughout the majority of scripture. But the phrase "only begotten" in English isn't translated from a two-word phrase (
monos gennao or
monon gennao), but from a compound word
monogenes. And, as a compoun word,
monogenes means something slightly different than either
monos gennao or
monon gennao would have meant as a two-word phrase.
Just as in interpreting the Arabic of the Qur'an into English there are many translations, so in interpreting the Greek of the New Testament into English there are many translations. Some of them translate
monogenes as "only begotten" but others use the phrase "one and only", some just "only", and personally I prefer the translation "unique". You see, just as any compound word takes on a connotation that includes but is slightly different than it's original words taken independently (try "background", "runway", or "guidelines" for example), so too for "
monogenes". It is only distantly related to
gennao (to begat) and literally means "of a single kind". Of course it could be used for any unique item. It,
monogenes, is even used in Hebrews 11:17-18 in reference to Isaac, though everyone new that Abraham had more than just a single son:
By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had received the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, even though God had said to him, "It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned." (NIV)
By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, of whom it was said, "That in Isaac shall thy seed be called:" (KJV)
So, clearly, if "only begotten" can be used in reference to Isaac, when Abraham had another son Ishmael, then the term
monogenes does not mean that one is the only offspring, but more the concept of being uniquely generated, which carries with it the literal meaning "of a single kind". Isaac was the unique child of the covenant that God had promised to Abraham
and Sarah. Though both Isaac and Ishmael were sons of Abraham, what was unique about Isaac was that God had promised him to Abraham through Sarah, not Hagar. So, Isaac was
monogenes not because he was the only begotten son of Abraham but because he was the unique son of the covenant that God had made with Abraham.
***(Please, I am working with the Greek here to help us interpret "monogenes", not trying to make commentary on the Qur'an if it happens to differ with that aspect of the storyline.)
In this sense
monogenes can refer to a person who is the single child of a parent (as in Luke 7:12, 8:42, and 9:38) or the Phoenix (see 1 Clement 25:2 at the end of this post*) because each is unique. It also very appropriately refers to Jesus, who in the understanding of the New Testament writers, was a literally one of a kind individual. So, though there are many who may refer to themselves as "begotten" or "born" (
gennao) of God (see 1 John 5:1), Jesus is one of a kind. Thus he is not only
gennao he is
monogenes. Jesus as the
monogenes is the ONE AND ONLY who can say, "I and the Father are one [
hen esmen]" (John 10:30), even as he invites us to be one with each other and one joined with/in him (John 17:21-22).
*as referenced above
(This is a letter by an early Christian leader, not scripture. It is customarily dated to 95 or 96 A.D. which would make it nearly contemporaneous with the last writings of the New Testament.)
1 Clement 25:2
There is a bird, which is named the phoenix. This, being the only
one of its kind, liveth for five hundred years; and when it hath now
reached the time of its dissolution that it should die, it maketh for
itself a coffin of frankincense and myrrh and the other spices, into
the which in the fullness of time it entereth, and so it dieth.
