What does the Greek word monogenes mean? Does it mean ‘begotten’ in the sense that God created or produced a Son? I appreciated the words of the late biblical scholar F.F. Bruce from his commentary on 1 John.
“As in the Gospel, the adjective ‘only begotten’ (monogenes) is used in a sense which combines the ideas of ‘only-begotten’ and ‘well-loved’ (like Heb. yachid in Gen. 22.2, which is rendered agapetos, ‘beloved’, in the Septuagint, but monogenes in Josephus, Aquila and Heb. 11.17).”
It seems that Jesus as the only begotten can very much mean beloved without requiring that he came into existence at a set point in time.
