So The Bible says both “Sons of God” and “Only begotten son”
so which is it? Did God have more than one son or not?
"Î¼Î¿Î½Î¿Î³ÎµÎ½Î®Ï 3439 is literally âone of a kind,â âonly,â âuniqueâ (unicus), not âonly-begotten,â which would be μονογÎννηÏÎ¿Ï (unigenitus), and is common in the LXX in this sense (e.g. Judg 11:34, Ps 21 (22):21, 24 (25):16, Tob 3:15). It is similarly used in the NT of âonlyâ sons and daughters (Lk 7:12, 8:42, 9:38), and is so applied in a special sense to Christ in Jn 1:14, 18, 3:16, 18, 1 Jn 4:9, where the emphasis is on the thought that, as the âonlyâ Son of God, He has no equal and is able fully to reveal the Father. We cannot enter here into the doctrinal aspects of the word, or into a discussion on the sources, Orphic or Gnostic, from which John is sometimes supposed to have drawn his use of it, but reference may be made to the art. by Kattenbusch âOnly Begottenâ in Hastingsâ DCG ii. p. 281f. where the relative literature is given. A few exx. of the title from non-Biblical sources will, however, be of interest. In an imprecatory tablet from Carthage of iii/A.D., Wünsch AF p. 1837, we findâá½ÏÎºÎ¯Î¶Ï Ïε Ïὸν θεὸν . . . Ïὸν μονογενῠÏὸν á¼Î¾ αá½Ïοῦ á¼Î½Î±ÏανÎνÏα, where the editor cites the great magical Paris papyrus, 1585 εἰÏάκοÏ
ÏÏν μοÏ
á½ Îµá¼·Ï Î¼Î¿Î½Î¿Î³ÎµÎ½Î®Ï. With this may be compared P Leid Vv. 34 (iii/iv A.D.) (= II. p. 21) εá½ÏαÏιÏÏῶ Ïοι κÏÏιε á½
[Ïι] μοι [á¼Î»Ï
Ïεν] Ïὸ á¼
γιον Ïνεῦμα, Ïὸ μονογενÎÏ, Ïὸ ζÏÏν. See also Vett. Val. p. 1132. An inscr. in memory of a certain Plutarchus, Kaibel 1464 (iii/iv A.D.) describes him as μοÏ
Î½Î¿Î³ÎµÎ½Î®Ï ÏÎµÏ á¼á½¼Î½ καὶ ÏαÏÎÏεÏÏι ÏίλοÏ. And the word is apparently used as a proper name in C. and B. i. p. 115, No. 17 (Hierapolis) Î¦Î»Î±Î²Î¹Î±Î½á½¸Ï á½ ÎºÎ±á½¶ ÎÎ¿Î½Î¿Î³Î¿Î½Î¹Ï Îµá½ÏαÏιÏÏῶ Ïῠθεῷ, where Ramsay thinks that we should probably read ÎονογÎÎ½Î·Ï or ÎηνογÎνηÏ. For the true reading in Jn 1:18 it is hardly necessary to refer to Hortâs classical discussion in Two Dissertations, p. 1ff. James Hope Moulton and George Milligan, The Vocabulary of the Greek Testament (London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1930), 416â417."
what the heck? weird formatting from FR right now!