What does the word 'begotten' in the NKJV translation of John 3 16 mean?

Answer 1

Meaning of 'begotten'

• The words "only begotten" in the KJV and NKJV come from the single Greek word monogenes, which means "only born," "sole" (as in "only," not in the flesh), or "only child." (In this case one word needed to be translated into two English words.)

• From what I understand begotten means unique one because of Jesus special nature. He was fully God in the flesh as well as fully human or one of a kind. He said himself that he was the I AM to let all of his disciples (including modern day) know he was the same LORD GOD from the Old Testament
• Dr. Reymound Brown in his book: "The Anchor Bible,"volume 29 & Dr. Paul Duff chairman of the Dept. of Religion, George Washington University, say the Greek word 'monogenes' which is the 'begotten' in John 3:16 from the Bible is an insertion into the Bible by Jerome (4th century) and was added by a scribe in a later manuscript. This being said though, parchments which date back from AD200 (P66) & AD175-200 (P75) include this Greek word.
• Additional to this fact, as the central theme of the New Testament is to portray Jesus as the divine Son of God, who by nature is God (See Isaiah 9:6; John 8:58; Philippians 2:6-11; Hebrews 1:1-3; Revelation 1:7-8) and born of a virgin (Matthew 1:18; Luke 1:26-35) the word 'begotten' in John 3:16 makes every sense.

Answer 2

To get the correct meaning we need to look at the original Greek term 'monogenes. According to the Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (BAGD, 3rd Edition), monogenes has two primary definitions. The first definition is "pertaining to being the only one of its kind within a specific relationship." The second definition is "pertaining to being the only one of its kind or class, unique in kind." It is the 2nd definition that applies to John 3:16 and Jesus as the only begotten of the Father.

Another point to remember is that one cannot be begotten without a mother and this is why Jesus was born of a woman by His Father - and not some 3rd being. He is uniquely God's Son, sharing God's divine nature. This is different from believers who are sons an daughters of God via faith. There are some who take this term and go too far with it saying Jesus is the first created or produced by God and is not therefore God. Many consider those who claim this to be cults