Featured Born or Fathered?

Yes, the NASB still uses the archaic "begotten (beget)" rather than fathered. In Acts of the Apostles 13:33 a more literal translation would be "have fathered you."

 

Hi Conan, thanks for your post.

Yes, the "c" footnote on 1 John 5:1 says "literally one who begets" for the use of "Father." My suggested improvement is "One fathering" rather than either "Father" or "One who begets."

 

Here are the alternate choices (fathered over born or begotten) in 1 John. In addition to the context (out of God) the alternate choice accepts the interpretation that John is using paternal imagery.

1Jo 2:29
If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone also who practices righteousness has been fathered by Him.

1Jo 3:9
No one having been fathered by God practices sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been fathered by God.

1Jo 4:7
Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves has been fathered by God and knows God.

1Jo 5:1
"Everyone believing Jesus is the Christ has been fathered by God and everyone loving the One fathering is also loving the one fathered by Him."

1Jo 5:4
For every one fathered by God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.

1Jo 5:18
We know that no one having been fathered by God sins; but He who was fathered by God keeps him, and the evil one does not touch him.

 

1 John 5:4: For every one fathered by God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, sometimes when looking at a verse to resolve one issue, another issue pops up.

Here we have the odd use of "victory." Since this Greek word only appears here in scripture, its meaning cannot be discerned by looking at how the word is used elsewhere in scripture. The lexicons say it means "victory" or figuratively the means of victory. Using this alternate figurative meaning our faith becomes the means of our victory in overcoming the world. This parallels Romans 5:1 where our faith provides our access to the grace in which we stand.

 

Yes, but a passive verb means the subject (everyone believing) has been acted upon (born, fathered, begat). I do not understand how the passive voice of the verb points to born rather than fathered. Note that the NET version renders the passive voice gennao as fathered in 1 John 5:1.

Here is the NET footnote (from 1 John 2:29) on the topic:

"82tn The verb γεννάω (gennaw) presents a translation problem: (1) should the passive be translated archaically “be begotten” (the action of the male parent; see BDAG 193 s.v. 1.a) or (2) should it be translated “be born” (as from a female parent; see BDAG 194 s.v. 2)? A number of modern translations (RSV, NASB, NIV) have opted for the latter, but (3) the imagery expressed in 1 John 3:9 clearly refers to the action of the male parent in procreating a child, as does 5:1 (“everyone who loves the father loves the child fathered by him”), and so a word reflecting the action of the male parent is called for here. The contemporary expression “fathered by” captures this idea."

 

I was referring to the second of three usages, not the middle voice.

 

Here is the NET footnote addressing the complication:
"82tn The verb γεννάω (gennaw) presents a translation problem: (1) should the passive be translated archaically “be begotten” (the action of the male parent; see BDAG 193 s.v. 1.a) or (2) should it be translated “be born” (as from a female parent; see BDAG 194 s.v. 2)? A number of modern translations (RSV, NASB, NIV) have opted for the latter, but (3) the imagery expressed in 1 John 3:9 clearly refers to the action of the male parent in procreating a child, as does 5:1 (“everyone who loves the father loves the child fathered by him”), and so a word reflecting the action of the male parent is called for here. The contemporary expression “fathered by” captures this idea."