Only begotten son

[npetreley]

Does "only begotten son" mean something more than the obvious?

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 son

Didn't Abraham also have a begotten son named Ishmael? Yet, if I recall correctly, the Greek here is exactly the same as when Jesus is referred to as God's only begotten son. In fact, if I recall correctly, these exact words are only used in these two cases -- references to Jesus and Isaac. How is Isaac an "only begotten son" in the same way Jesus is the "only begotten son".

I seem to recall starting a similar thread a long time ago, but I don't remember what the comments were, so I figured I'd try again.

 

[Rippon]

I am answering on the fly here . Gotta' get back to Guk-su . However , it means unique , one-and-only . You are right , Abraham had Ishamel . But Issac is refered to as his only son . William Tyndale had it right in the 1520's -1530's . Begotten has the unfortunate tendency to convey a sense of derivation which is not correct .

 

[John of Japan]

This word is usually used in Greek much like we use "only child." (See Luke 7:12, 8:42, 9:38). In non-Biblical literature, it also sometimes means unique, or the only one of its kind.

Only John and Hebrews 11:17 use it for Jesus. At the risk of being jumped on here on the BB, I see no need to regard it as some special word with great spiritual significance. It simply means that Jesus is unique as God's Son in a way that no one else is or can be. He is of the same divine nature as the Father, which we cannot be, though we become children of God at salvation; we are adopted children.

 

[doulous]

 

[doulous]

It conveys legitimacy and promise of God.

Romans 9:8-9 8 That is, it is not the children of the flesh who are children of God, but the children of the promise are regarded as descendants. 9 For this is a word of promise: "At this time I will come, and Sarah shall have a son."

Both Isaac and Jesus were promised sons.

 

[John of Japan]

I was called to supper. To continue, the significance of the word is thus not linguistic, but simply because it is used of our Lord Jesus Christ.

In the case of Abraham, it simply means that Isaac was his only child through Sarah. Ishmael was "only begotten" through Hagar, Abrham's slave and concubine, but Isaac was "only begotten" through Sarah, his wife.

 

[webdog]

Originally posted by doulous:
It conveys legitimacy and promise of God.

Romans 9:8-9 8 That is, it is not the children of the flesh who are children of God, but the children of the promise are regarded as descendants. 9 For this is a word of promise: "At this time I will come, and Sarah shall have a son."

Both Isaac and Jesus were promised sons.

Doulous wins the prize!

 

[npetreley]

Originally posted by doulous:
It conveys legitimacy and promise of God.

Romans 9:8-9 8 That is, it is not the children of the flesh who are children of God, but the children of the promise are regarded as descendants. 9 For this is a word of promise: "At this time I will come, and Sarah shall have a son."

Both Isaac and Jesus were promised sons.

This is how I interpret it, too. I just wondered if someone had an alternate explanation.

 

[Ransom]

npetreley asked:

Does "only begotten son" mean something more than the obvious?

Unless I am confusing this term with something related, I believe I have read that "only begotten" does strictly connote an only child, so much as it does the son's unique privilege as the heir of the father.