μονογενὴς

monogenes

only begotten

from μόνος and γίνομαι; only-born, i.e. sole:--only (begotten, child).

G3439

John 1:18 · Word #5

Lexicon G3439

Lemmaμονογενής
Transliterationmonogenḗs
Strong'sG3439
In-contextonly begotten
Literalonly-begotten

Morphology ADJ.S NOM M SG All morphology codes

Part of Speech ADJ.S — Substantive Adjective — An adjective functioning as a noun
Case NOM — Nominative — The subject of the sentence
Gender M — Masculine — Grammatical masculine
Number SG — Singular — One

Lexical Info

Lemmaμονογενής
Strong'sG3439

SIBI-P1 G3439-02

the only-begotten one

Rootμονογενής (monogenēs)
Core Meaningsonly-born, one-of-a-kind, sole offspring, unique by birth
Semantic Rangeonly-born child, sole heir, unique one, one-of-a-kind, uniquely begotten
Conceptual SignificanceIn the New Testament, especially in Johannine literature, μονογενής expresses the unique filial relationship of the Son to the Father, emphasizing singular origin and unparalleled status rather than mere numerical singularity. It conveys both intimacy of origin and exclusivity of identity.
Morphological NotesAdjective used substantively; nominative singular masculine (NMS) and nominative singular feminine (NFS) forms occur, as well as nominative plural masculine. Functions as a predicate or substantive adjective identifying the subject.
Rendering RationaleThe term combines μόνος (alone, only) and γίνομαι (to become, to be born), conveying the sense of one who has come into being as the sole offspring. Rendered as "the only-begotten one," it preserves the birth-derived nuance of -γενής and reflects the nominative singular form (masculine or feminine depending on context); in plural contexts it would be "the only-begotten ones."

AI-generated (openai/gpt-5.2-chat-latest)

Words from Root μονογενής (only-born, one-of-a-kind, sole offspring, unique by birth)

SILEX Code Transliteration SIBI-P1
G3439-01 monogene the sole-born one

Word Usage (9 occurrences of G3439)

Location Form Transliteration Meaning
Luke 7:12 μονογενὴς monogenes only
Luke 8:42 μονογενὴς monogenes only
Luke 9:38 μονογενής monogenes only