Gennaō
Bauer-Arndt-Gingrich-Danker
A highly respected Greek-English lexicon is A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature. The subtitles tells us that it is a translation and adaptation of the fourth revised and augmented edition of Walter Bauer's Griechisch-Deutsches Wörterbuch zu den Schriften des Neuen Testaments und der übrigen urchristlichen Literatur, by William F. Arndt and F. Wilbur Gingrich. The second edition has been revised and augmented by F. Wilbur Gingrich and Frederick W. Danker based on Bauer's fifth edition, which was published in 1958. The English translation/adaptation was published in 1979 by University of Chicago Press. The 900-page book is sometimes abbreviated BAGD, an acronym of its authors and revisers.
Here's what it says about genna
ō:"gennáō, future gennēsō; first aorist egennēsa; perfect gegennēka, passive gegennēmai; first aorist passive egennēthēn ([known to occur in] Pindar, Herodotus; plus inscriptions, papyri, LXX, Enoch; Epistle of Aristeas 208; Philo, Josephus, Testaments of the 12 Patriarchs). — Cf. A. Rahlfs, Genesis [pages] 26, 39.1
| 1 BAGD does not transliterate,
and often does not translate nonbiblical quotes. I have transliterated, and
given an English translation from the Loeb Classical Library, if available.
BAGD also abbreviates many words; I have spelled them out if I could decipher them. 2 The meaning of the English word "beget" is also important for us to clarify. Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary says: "1. to procreate as the father: sire 2. to produce as an effect or outgrowth: cause." Procreate means "to beget or bring forth (offspring)." These definitions do not include conception, nor do they exclude it.Webster's Third International Dictionary (unabridged edition, 1971) says: "1 obsolete: to acquire especially through effort 2a: to procreate as the father.... b: to give birth to.... 3 obsolete: to make (a woman) pregnant 4 to produce usually as an effect or as a natural outgrowth." The definition includes conception, but that meaning is considered obsolete. We might expect the King James Version to use a meaning now obsolete, but we would not expect modern lexicons to do so. We would not want to use an obsolete meaning in literature we publish today. |
"1. beget2 — a. literally become the father of ([used] often [in] LXX [the Septuagint], from Genesis 4:18 on) [this is the meaning in] Matthew 1:2ff (see Diodorus of Sicily [Library of History, book] 4, [chapter] 67, [section] 2 – 68, 6, the genealogy of the Aeolians: 67, 4 Arnē...egennēsen Aiolon kai Boiōton [Arnê...gave birth to Aeolus and Boeotus (translations are from the Loeb Classical Library edition)]; 67, 7 Hippalkimos egennēse Pēneleōn [Hippalcimus begat Peneleos]; 68, 1 Salmōneus...egennēse thygatera...Tyrō [Salmoneus...begat by her a daughter...Tyro]; 68, 3 Poseidōn egennēse Pelian kai Nēlea [Poseidon begat Pelias and Neleus]; 68, 6 Nēleus paidas egennēse dōdeka [Neleus begat twelve sons]. Interchanged with egennēse [third person singular aorist of gennaō] are eteknōse, ēn huios, paides egenonto, [was born, was a son, children came] etc. The continuity is not as rigid or monotonous as in Matthew. But in Diodorus Siculus 4, 69, 1-3 egennēse is repeated six times in a short space, and 4, 75, 4f we have egennēse four times with the names of fathers and sons);
"[The meaning `become the father of' is also found in] Acts 7:8, 29; [it is used with] ek with genitive of the mother (Euripides fragment 479; Diodorus Siculus 4, 2, 1; 4, 62, 1; Palaephatus 44; PLond [a list of papyri in London's British Museum] 1730, 10 hoi ex autēs gennēthentes huioi [the sons born from her]; Tobit 1:9; 2 Esdras [Ezra] 10:44; Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews 12, 189) Matthew 1:3, 5f.
"Passive be begotten — ek tēs paidiskēs kata sarka with the slave-woman, according to the flesh Galatians 4:23. Ho kata sarka gennētheis he that was begotten in natural fashion (opposite ho kata pneuma [he according to spirit]) v. 29. to en autē gennēthen ek pneumatos estin that which is conceived in her is of the Spirit Matthew 1:20 (to gennēthen of that which is yet unborn: Diodorus Siculus 17, 77, 3). Here [Mt 1:20] the male principle is introduced by ek (Lucian, Dialogue of the Gods 20 [Judgment of the Goddesses], 14 ek kyknou gegennēmenēn [having been begotten of a swan]; Phlegon: 257 fragment 36, 2, 4 Jac [a book of fragments edited by F. Jacoby]; Pseudo Callisthenes 1, 30, 3 ex Ammōnos egennēthē; Testament of Simeon 2:2) as John 1:13 (egenēth. Papyrus Bodmer 14-15 and others); [and John] 3:6.
"[The male introduced] with apo (Enoch 15, 8 hoi gigantes hoi gennēthentes apo tōn pneumatōn kai sarkos [the giants born from the spirits and the flesh]) aph henos egennēthēsan they were begotten by one man Hebrews 11:12 variant reading (for egenēthēsan).
"Ek porneias ouk egennēthēmen [we were not born/conceived of fornication] John 8:41. En hamartiais su egennēthes holos you were altogether conceived in sin [John] 9:34. — Luke 1:35 (where meaning 2 is also possible (as in to gennōmenon Philo, On Planting 15). Cf. A. Fridrichsen, Symbolae Osloensis [volume] 6, [19]28, [pages] 33-6; Helge Almqvist, Plutarch und das Neue Testament [19]46, [page] 60f).
"b. figuratively of the influence exerted by one person on another (Philo On the Embassy to Gaius 58 mallon auton tōn goneōn gegennēka [I am his begetter more than his parents]) of a teacher on pupils en Christō Iēsou dia tou euangeliou hymas egennēsa I became your father as Christians through the gospel 1 Corinthians 4:15; Philemon 10 (compare H. Lietzmann and J. Weiss on 1 Corinthians 4:15; A. Dieterich, Eine Mithrasliturgie [19]03, 146ff). —
"Passive ek (tou) theou gennasthai [to be born of God] John 1:13; 1 John 2:29; 3:9; 4:7; 5:1, 4, 18. Also anōthen gennēthē John 3:3. Pas ho agapōn ton gennēsanta agapa ton gegennēmenon ex autou everyone who loves the father (=God) loves the child (=Christ or one's Christian brother) 1 John 5:1 (on gennasthai ek theou [to be born of God] see Handbuch zum NT on John 3:3 and 1 John 3:9 and the sources and literature listed there; see also on palingenesia). On gennasthai ex hydatos kai pneumatos [to be born of water and spirit] John 3:5 compare IQS [The Qumran Manual of Discipline] 4, 20-22 and see Y. Yadin, Journal of Biblical Literature [volume] 74, [19]55, [pages] 40-43. Compare sēmeron gegennēka se [today I have begotten you] (Psalm 2:7) 1 Clement 36:4; Gospel of the Ebionites 3; Acts 13:33 (held by some to have been the original reading [of] Luke 3:22; see H. Usener, D. Weihnachtsfest2 [19]11, [page] 38ff); Hebrews 1:5; 5:5.
"2. of women: bear (Aeschylus, Suppliant Maidens 48; Xenophon, Constitution of the Lacedaemonians 1, 3; Lucian, On Sacrifices 6; Plutarch, Moralia, Education of Children, 3c; Pseudo Callisthenes 1, 9, 2 ek theou gennēsasa paida = a woman who has borne a child to a god; BGU [a list of Greek documents in the Berlin Museum] 132 II, 5; Judges 11:1 [as found in the version of the LXX in the] Vaticanus codex; Isaiah 66:9; 4 Maccabees 10:2) Luke 1:13, 57; 23:29; (with tiktein) John 16:21. Eis douleian gennōsa who bears children for slavery Galatians 4:24.
"Passive be born — prin hēmas gennēthēnai before we were born 1 Clement 38:3. Eis ton kosmon come into the world John 16:21; Matthew 2:1, 4; 19:12; 26:24 (=1 Clement 46:8); Mark 14:21 (compare Enoch 38, 2); Luke 1:35 ([meaning] 1a is also a possibility; a variant adds ek sou, which can be rendered `that which is born of you' and `that which is begotten with you'; ek Marias egennēthē [begotten of/in Mary] Third Corinthians 3:5); John 3:4; 9:2, 19-20, 32; Ignatius to the Ephesians 18:2; Ignatius to the Trallians 11:2; alēthōs g. be truly born (in opposition to Docetism) 9:1.
"Gegennēmena (variant gegenēmena) eis alōsin [having been born for capture] 2 Peter 2:12. Eis touto for this purpose John 18:37. Dialektos en hē egennēthēmen the language in which we were born, that is, which we have spoken from infancy Acts 2:8. Egō de kai gegennēmai but I was (actually) born a Roman citizen [Acts] 22:28.
"3. figuratively bring forth, produce, cause (classical; Polybius 1, 67, 2 stasis egennato; Philo, On Joseph 254; Josephus, Antiquities 6, 144) 2 Timothy 2:23. — G. karpon produce fruit Ignatius to the Trallians 11:1. J.H. Moulton and G. Milligan. C.D. Buck 280."
Summary of BAGD
BAGD contains a great deal of information. What have we learned from this article? Gennaō has three basic meanings:
1a. to beget, become the father of. New Testament examples listed in this category: Matthew 1:2-16; Acts 7:8, 29; the mother is mentioned in Matthew 1:3, 5-6. In a passive sense, be begotten, Galatians 4:23, 29; Matthew 1:20. In Matthew 1:20; John 1:13; 3:6, the nonfemale parent is mentioned by using the preposition ek; the preposition apo is used for that purpose in a variant of Hebrews 11:12. Other uses of gennaō with the meaning of "begotten" include John 8:41; 9:34 and possibly Luke 1:35.
1b. to beget figuratively by influence. 1 Corinthians 4:15; Philemon 10. In a passive sense, to be influenced. John 1:13; 3:3; 3:5; 1 John 2:29; 3:9; 4:7; 5:1, 4, 18; Acts 13:33; Hebrews 1:5; 5:5.
2. (of women) to bear. Luke 1:13, 57; 23:29; John 16:21; Galatians 4:24. Passively, to be born. John 16:21; Matthew 2:1, 4; 19:12; 26:24; Mark 14:21; John 3:4; 9:2, 19-20, 32; 2 Peter 2:12; John 18:37; Acts 2:8; 22:28; perhaps Luke 1:35.
3. figuratively, to bring forth, produce, cause. 2 Timothy 2:23.
Of particular interest is the way gennaō is used in John 3:3 and 1 John. BAGD includes these in meaning 1b — a figurative sense, as a matter of influence, like a teacher influences his students. BAGD does not elaborate on this meaning.
Another verse of interest is Matthew 1:20, in which gennaō is used literally (according to BAGD) to mean beget, before birth, and the "male principle" would presumably be the Holy Spirit. The first-century B.C. writer Diodorus also uses gennaō for a child before birth. John 8:41; 9:34 may also be references to the beginning of a pregnancy.
