Re (2): Born Again/From Above

Well, this certainly pushed my word-study buttons. I was curious about "born," "begotten," and "anothen" after reading these things, so I looked them up in my 1989 version of Strongs Exhaustive Concordance and Vines Expository Dictionary, and pulled out a few different versions of the Bible.

"Born," is in my NAB (the newer version)and my Douay-Rheims, from the Latin Vulgate, as well as the ones we know best. But the interesting thing is the reference in Strongs. It is #1080 "gennao - from a var of 1085; to procreate (properly of the father, but by extension of the mother); fig.to regenerate;—bear, beget, be born, bring forth, conceive, be delivered of, gender, make, spring."

This same word, "born" is the one used of Jesus being born of Mary, when Jesus talked about a eunuch not being born that way from his mother's womb, and men for whom it would have been better not to have been born. It's the one Paul uses about his birth at Tarsus, and most other references to the birth of a child use this word.

The other words used for birth are similar, with the exception of Mt 2:2 and Lk 2:11, which use "tikto" (Strongs 5088) which means to produce from seed. In Matthew, the wise men use it to ask "where is He that is born King of the Jews?" And in Luke, it is the genealogy of Jesus. I wonder if the difference in use has more to do with the difference in language used between Jew and Gentile back then?

At any rate, this certainly does seem to imply an entirely new creation (gee, where have I heard that term before?), one begotten of Our Father, in Heaven, from above.

According to Vines, "anothen" can mean: "above, again, anew, first, top." Two similar words, "anoterikos" and "anoteron" mean "upper" and "above, higher" respectively. (upper room is a different word, "huperoon") Sure seems to imply Heaven to me.

Now, the word, "begotten" can also be referenced to this same "gennao" and is used in Acts 13:33, Heb 1:5 an 5:5, all quoting the same verse, "My Son, today I have begotten You," as well as 1 Cor 4:15 "I have begotten you through the Gospel", Philemon 10, "whom I have begotten in my bonds." In 1 John, he uses "begotten" of Jesus, (only begotten of God - monogenes)and of we who are begotten of God (gennao) 1 Jn 4:9 and 5:1 But in Revelation 1:5 he uses prototokos, first-born. "first begotten from the dead...". Again, this is from the word, tiktos - produced from seed.

As for Jesus' assertion that this must happen for us to "enter into" the Kingdom of God, almost all my versions, including the Douay-Rheims say "enter into." According to Strongs, this term "enter" is the very same as Nicodemus uses when asking how a man can enter a second time into his mother's womb. It's an active word.

One exceptional translation I have is the JP Green Hebrew/Greek/English Interlinear Bible which says that it should literally read, " Truly, truly, I say to you, if one is not generated from above he cannot see the Kingdom of God." Weymouth's New Testament has it, "In very truth, I tell you," answered Jesus, "that unless a man is born anew he cannot see the Kingdom of God."

And of course, the point is that this weekend we celebrate the birth of the Son of God, Jesus Christ, our Lord. And when all the turkeys are eaten, the wrapping paper thrown away, the toys broken, the hugs and kisses only a memory, we will still have this promise:

"But as many as received Him, he gave them power to become sons of God, (teknon, from tiktos - produced from seed) even to those who belived on His name."

"Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the Word of God, which lives and abides forever." 1 Peter 1:23

"The Word (that) became flesh and dwelt among us."

"In Him we live, and move, and have our being...for we are His offspring." Acts 17:28