Why is Jesus the Only-begotten Son of God?

Many Christians are used to calling Jesus the “only begotten Son” of God. This is because the most popular rendering of the most popular Bible verse, John 3:16, comes from the King James Version (KJV) of the Bible:

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

The Greek word for “only begotten” in the KJV is the adjective monogenēs (μονογενής). It was previously thought that monogenēs meant “only begotten” since it was comprised of two parts: (1) the prefix mono- (μονο-), meaning “only”, and (2) the verb gennaō (γεννάω), meaning “to beget”.

However, the second part of monogenēs actually comes from the noun genos (γένος), “kind”, and not the verb gennaō, “to beget”. Hence, the word monogenēs actually communicates that Jesus was God’s “only-kind” or “unique” son, and not that he was “begotten” by God in the same way that a human father physically begets a son.

We know that monogenēs cannot possibly mean “only begotten” because of how it is used in Hebrews 11:17:

By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten [monogenēs] son, (KJV)

Was Isaac really Abraham’s “only begotten son”? Of course not. We know that Abraham had another begotten son: Ishmael. Therefore, Isaac could not have been Abraham’s “only begotten son”. Rather, monogenēs here means “only-kind” or “unique”.

The testing of Abraham mentioned in Hebrews 11:17 refers to the Binding of Isaac in Genesis 22. Take a look at what God said to Abraham during this event:

He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.” (Genesis 22:2 ESV)

The Hebrew word for “only son” here is yāḥiyḏ, which means the same thing as the Greek word monogenēs—“unique; only-kind”. In fact, the Greek word monogenēs was used by the Jews as the primary equivalent for the Hebrew word yāḥiyḏ.

In the Hebrew text, God refers to Isaac three times in one mention: “(1) your son, (2) your only-kind whom you love, (3) Isaac.” This highlights the intensity of Abraham’s affections for Isaac. Isaac was monogenēs to Abraham not because he was the only son that Abraham begot, but because Abraham loved him so much that he was irreplaceable—hence, “only-kind”.

Interestingly, John 3:16 is written in such a way that recalls the language of Genesis 22:2.

• In John 3:16, the Greek expression for “his only Son” (ESV) is literally, “his son, his only-kind”.
• Likewise, in Genesis 22:2, the Hebrew expression for “your son, your only son” is literally, “your son, your only-kind”.

The message is unmistakable: While God commanded Abraham, “Take now your son, your only-kind, whom you love,” yet “God loved the world that he gave his son, his only-kind.”

Jesus is the monogenēs son of God because he was the most precious, most beloved person to God the Father. Yet, God loved the world that he gave Jesus up in order to save those who believe in him.