[Heb 11:17 KJV] "17 By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son,"
V. 17 says "only begotten". How is Isaac the "only begotten" son of Abraham?
Abraham had 8 sons (Gen 16:15, 21:3, 25:1-2).
Isaac wasn't the first son of Abraham. Isaac was the 2nd born from Abraham.
Isaac was "special", Gen 17:19, of the promise, not just of the seed of Abraham. Isaac was of God's promise, not just a mere descendant of Abraham by the flesh.
The Greek G3439 is "monogenes": meaning special, one of a kind.
Strong’s Definitions
μονογενής monogenḗs, mon-og-en-ace'; from G3441 and G1096; only-born, i.e. sole:—only (begotten, child).
KJV Translation Count — Total: 9x
The KJV translates Strong's G3439 in the following manner: only begotten (6x), only (2x), only child (1x).
Similarly:
Jesus is the only begotten Son of God (Ps. 2:7, John 1:14, 18; John 3:16-18; Acts 13:33, 1 John 5:1, Heb 1:5; Heb 5:5; 1 John 4:9; 1 John 5:1; Rev 1:5).
In other words, Jesus is declared special and unique by God's sovereign decree.
Psalm 2:7 calls Jesus the only begotten Son of God at His resurrection, as clarified by Acts 13:33 and the other verses shown above.
Jesus being "begotten" does not mean that the eternal soul of Jesus (ie. previously known as the Son of Man, then also the Son of God, then also The Lamb of God, etc.), was created (nor born, nor fathered, nor sexually reproduced, etc.) by God the Father. That misinterpretation of the Bible therefore leads some cults (ie. like the JW's and others), & individuals to wrongly assume that Jesus Christ, fully man and fully God, has not existed from eternity past.
Yes, the flesh of Jesus was born, then died. However, the eternal soul of Jesus Christ, the God part of Jesus Christ, existed forever.
The second person of the Trinity (ie. Son of Man, Son of God, Jesus Christ, The Lamb of God, etc.) has existed from eternity past, and will continue to exist to eternity future. There has never been a point in time when this second person of The Trinity did not exist.
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