Only Begotten Son: Edit history

Biblical Texts

"Only begotten Son" means a son born alone, that is, an only son. In the New Korean Revised Version, a Korean Bible translation, Jesus Christ is called by this term only in the Gospel of John and 1 John.

• John 1:14: "the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth."
• John 1:18: The verse states that the one who is in the bosom of the Father has declared God. The New Korean Revised Version renders the phrase as "the only begotten God."
• John 3:16: "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son."
• John 3:18; 1 John 4:9

Meaning and Background of the Word

The underlying Greek word, monogenēs, was also used of ordinary people. The Gospel of Luke applies it to the only son of the widow of Nain (7:12), the only daughter of Jairus (8:42), and a boy possessed by a spirit (9:38). Hebrews 11:17 uses the word of Isaac; the New Korean Revised Version translates it there as "only son." Isaac, however, had a half-brother, Ishmael. On this basis, some interpreters hold that the word conveys the sense of "unique and special" rather than the numerical sense of "the only one."

Views also differ on the word's root. Those who connect it with "to be born" (gennaō) read it as "only begotten," while those who connect it with "kind" (genos) read it as "unique, one and only." The Latin Vulgate rendered it unigenitus ("only begotten"), and the "only begotten" of the King James Version follows the same tradition. The traditional Korean rendering (doksaengja) stands close to this tradition. By contrast, the Korean New Korean Standard Version and Common Translation render John 3:16 as "only son."

Meaning in the Whole of Scripture

Genesis 22:2 calls Isaac "thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest." Christian interpretive tradition has read the account of Abraham offering his son (the burnt offering on Mount Moriah) alongside the love of God, who did not spare His own Son but delivered Him up (Romans 8:32). In the Johannine writings, "only begotten Son" distinguishes Jesus' sonship from believers' becoming "the sons of God" (John 1:12) and emphasizes the love of God in sending His Son.

Interpretations and Issues

• Eternal generation: The Nicene Creed confesses that the Son, as the "only-begotten," was "begotten of the Father before all worlds." This confession sought to safeguard the deity of the Son against Arianism, which regarded the Son as a creature, and it has been received by the Catholic Church, the Orthodox Church, and most Protestants. Some evangelical scholars, citing the etymological reading "unique," hold that this word alone cannot prove eternal generation, while still confessing the deity of the Son and the doctrine of the Trinity on the basis of other texts.
• Manuscript variation in John 1:18: Manuscripts differ between "the only begotten God" and "the only begotten Son." Among Korean translations, the Korean Revised Version renders the phrase "only begotten Son," while the New Korean Revised Version renders it "the only begotten God."
• Jehovah's Witnesses: Jehovah's Witnesses maintain that Jesus is the only begotten Son in the sense that he is the only being created directly by God. Major denominations reject this interpretation as a denial of the Son's deity.

In the Korean Church

In Korean Protestant churches, John 3:16 is often counted as the most widely memorized verse and is frequently cited in evangelism and in Christmas sermons. The Apostles' Creed, recited in worship, expresses the same confession in the words "his only Son our Lord Jesus Christ."