Studies in the Usage of the Greek Word Μονογενής As Found in the Gospel of John, the Epistle to Hebrews, First Clement and Other Sources Variously Translated as Only-Begotten, One of a Kind, and One and Only B.P. Harris Table of Contents ____________ A Quiet Revisionism and Common Misunderstanding 4 Monogenes – the Revelatory Word of our Saviour 12 Various Views on the Translation of Monogenes 19 Contextual and Grammatical Considerations of Hebrew 11:17 32 The Phoenix, Ovid, Clement, Monogenes and Metamorphoses: A Study of First Clement 25:2-3 36 Misconceptions and Misunderstandings Regarding the Stem –genes in the Greek Word Monogenes in Light of Extra-Biblical Usages 49 Regarding the Greek Word Monogenes as Found in Dale Moody’s Paper: God’s Only Son: The Translation of John 3:16 in the Revised Standard Version 54 Regarding the Dissertation of Francis Marion Warden: ΜΟΝΟΓΕΝΕΣ in the Johannine Literature 108 The Patristics 150 The Greek Septuagint 169 (יחִ יד) Monogenes and Yachid Monogenes and Agapetos (ἀγαπητός) 173 Psalm 22:20 & Psalm 35:17 in LXX 177 Psalm 24:16 in LXX 181 Only-Begotten vs. One of a Kind: An Assumption 183 The –genes Stem as Found in Scripture Hermogenes – Ἑρμο-γένης 201 Allogenes – Άλλο-γενής 201 Suggenes – Συγ-γενής 202 Oikogenes – Οἰκο-γενής 204 Eugenes – Εὐ-γενής 205 Protogenes – Πρωτο-γενής 208 The Testimony of Old Latin Versions, Jerome and the Latin Vulgate 217 The Apostle’s Creed 229 1 CONTENDING FOR THE FAITH SERIES “Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE, Copyright1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.” All Scriptures are taken from the New American Standard Bible unless otherwise indicated. Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Most Scriptural texts are sourced from: BibleWorks™ Copyright © 1992-2008 BibleWorks, LLC. All rights reserved. BibleWorks was programmed by Michael S. Bushell, Michael D. Tan, and Glenn L. Weaver. All rights reserved. Bible timelines Copyright © 1996-1999 BibleWorks, LLC. All rights reserved. Map datasets Copyright © 2005 BibleWorks, LLC: source of underlying data for some of the images was the Global Land Cover Facility, www.landcover.org. Detailed Jerusalem image Copyright © 2005 TerraServer.com. All rights reserved. The following versions and works are referenced from BibleWorks: The English Translation of The Septuagint Version of the Old Testament by Sir Lancelot C. L. Brenton, 1844, 1851, published by Samuel Bagster and Sons, London, original ASCII edition Copyright © 1988 by FABS International (c/o Bob Lewis, DeFuniak Springs FL 32433). All rights reserved. Used by permission. Apocryphal portion not available. Copyright © 1998-1999, by Larry Nelson (Box 2083, Rialto, CA, 92376). Used by permission The English Young's Literal Translation of the Holy Bible 1862/1887/1898, by J. N. Young. ASCII version Copyright © 1988-1997 by the Online Bible Foundation and Woodside Fellowship of Ontario, Canada. Licensed from the Institute for Creation Research. Used by permission. Geneva Bible 1599. Text edited and provided by Mark Langley . The Seputagint with Apocrypha, by Sir Lancelot C.L. Brenton, Samuel Bagster & Sons, London, 1851. Electronic text provided by The Common Man's Prospective, Copyright © 1999-2008 Ernest C. Marsh, www.ecmarsh.com/lxx. Used by permission. Today's New International Version, New Testament ® Copyright © 2001 by International Bible Society www.ibs.org. All rights reserved worldwide The Tyndale New Testament (1534) - Scholars have regarded the 1534 edition as Tyndale’s definitive version of the New Testament. Though in 1535 he did issue another edition, the 1534 edition remains his crowning work. The text was entered by Mark Langley. The Works of Flavius Josephus - This addition includes the complete works of Josephus, fully parsed and lemmatized, as well as the 1828 Whiston English Translation. The Greek text is based on the 1890 Niese edition which is public domain. Unless otherwise noted, all Greek Scriptures from the New Testament are taken from— BYZ - Robinson-Pierpont Majority Text GNT 1995. Produced by Maurice A. Robinson and William G. Pierpont. Public Domain. Accented. The Robinson-Pierpont is a modern (1995) attempt at producing a reliable Majority Text version of the Greek New Testament. 2 “No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him.” John 1:18 The Nicene Creed “We believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of all things, visible and invisible, and in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Only-Begotten Son of God, Begotten of His Father before all time, Light of Light, true God of true God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father, through whom all things were made; who for us men and for our salvation came down from the heavens, and was made flesh of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary, and became Man, and was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate and suffered and was buried, and rose again on the third day according to the Scriptures, and ascended unto the heavens and sitteth on the right hand of the Father, and cometh again with glory to judge the living and the dead, of whose kingdom there shall be no end: and in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and the Life-giver, that proceeded from the Father, who with Father and Son is worshipped together.” _________________________________ These books are free as the Lord provides. They are free for all who desire to grow in the knowledge of the Lord. Please limit one per household. They are available from: Assembly Bookshelf P.O. Box 15086 Sacramento, CA 95851 USA (Please note – At this time, this book is only available in digital format) Copyright 2012 by the Author 3 A Quiet Revisionism and Common Misconception Concerning the Greek Word Monogenes A Revisionism A quiet revision has occurred in a well-known Greek lexicon – Liddell and Scott – regarding the Greek word monogenes (μονογενής). In 1883 the Liddell and Scott Greek Lexicon, published by Harper & Brothers, glossed monogenes in this way: “μονογενής, ές, (S, Ep. and Ion. (μουνογ-: only-begotten, single, παῖς Hes. Op. 374, Th. 426, Hdt. 7. 221, etc. ; μ. αἷμα one and the same blood, Eur. Hel. 1685. Adv. - γῶς, growing alone, Arr. Peripl. M Rubri p.n.”1 However, the newly revised Liddell and Scott Greek Lexicon that is now available online glosses monogenes in this way. “μονο-γενής, ές, Ep. and Ion. μουνο-γενής, (γένος) the only member of a kin or kind: hence, generally, only, single, παῖς Hes.Op.376, Hdt.7.221, cf. Ev.Jo.1.14, Ant.Lib.32.1; of Hecate, Hes. Th.426. 2. unique, of τὸ ὄν, Parm. 8.4; εἷς ὅδε μ. οὐρανὸς γεγονώς Pl.Ti.31b, cf. Procl.Inst.22; θεὸς ὁ μ. Sammelb.4324.15. 3. μ. αἷμα one and the same blood, dub. l. in E. ̄̄̄̆ Hel.1685. 4. Gramm., having one form for all genders, A.D.Adv. 145.18. 5. name of the foot , Heph.3.3. II. Adv. μονογε-νῶς, φέρεται μ. ἐν ἑνὶ τόπῳ grows only in one place, Peripl.M.Rubr.56, cf. 11. 2. in a unique manner, Aët. 15.13,14.”2 As you can see, the glossed meaning of the word has changed, leaving not a trace of the original meaning of “only-begotten.” A modern reader would have no clue that originally Liddell and Scott understood the word to also mean only-begotten. And what is so ironic is that some of the same references that were used to show that the word meant only-begotten are now used to support the new gloss of only member of a kin or kind. For instance, Hes. Op. 376 (374) is used to support both meanings. However, when we actually look at the text we find out it cannot support the new, underlying meaning which they have assigned to monogenes. The Greek text is as follows. “…μουνογενὴς δὲ πάις εἴη πατρώιον οἶκον φερβέμεν ὣς γὰρ πλοῦτος ἀέξεται ἐν μεγάροισιν. γηραιὸς δὲ θάνοις ἕτερον παῖδ᾽ ἐγκαταλείπων.3 1 Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, Greek-English Lexicon, Seventh Edition (Harper & Brothers, New York, 1883) pg. 976 2Sourced.from:www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057% 3Aentry%3Dmonogenh%2Fs 3Sourced.from:www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0131% 3Acard%3D370 4 And in English it would read: “And might there be an only-begotten son to feed his father’s house, for, as such, possessions will multiple in your dwelling. Moreover, by allowing another child, you may die [ripe] in old age.”4 A. W. Mair, Professor of Greek at Edinburgh University, translates it this way. “May there be an only born son to feed his father's house: for so is wealth increased in the halls. But late be thy death if thou leave a second son.5 And, Willem Jacob Verdenius, professor of the Greek Language at the University of Utrecht, makes this comment as to whether the translation of monogenes should be “only-begotten” or “only member of its kin” in this passage. “376: μουνογενής. Not ‘the only member of its kin’ (LSJ) but ‘only-begotten’: cf. A. Ag. 898 μουνογενἑς τέκνον πατρἰ, Pl. Criti. 113 d 2 μονογενῆ θυγατρέρα ἐγεννηςἁσθην. Although the advice has a general purport, Hes. may be thinking of the fact that his personal difficulties would not have arisen if he had been an only child himself.”6 Monogenes cannot mean “only member of a kin” in this context. Now, let’s leave aside the latter part of this text; it makes no difference if the advice is to only have one child, or to have more than one child.