"Begotten" Meaning

What "Begotten" means in the Bible

ACTS 13 COMMENTARY ◄
Acts 13:27-32 Voices of the Prophets

Acts 13:33-37 "Begotten" Meaning

ACTS 13:33 33 God has fulfilled this for us their children, in that He has raised up Jesus. As it is also written in the second Psalm: ‘You are My Son, today I have begotten You.’

What is the meaning of "have begotten" (Acts 13:33)?
γεγεννηκα (gegenneka), the original Greek word translated "have begotten," is typically understood to mean "having fathered" or "having brought forth from the womb," but it literally means just "having brought forth" or "having caused to arise," and is being used in this literal sense in this passage (see below). It should be noted that γεγεννηκα (gegenneka) is different from μονογενης (monogenes), which means “only” or “unique” but mistranslated as “only begotten” in some English translations (see monogenes).

What is meant by the full quote, "You are My Son, today I have begotten You" (Acts 13:33)?
In the prophecy in Psalm 2, earthly "rulers" rage and rebel against God the Father in heaven, who derides them and sets His "Son" as "King" on His "holy hill of Zion": Why do the nations rage, and the people plot a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD and against His Anointed, saying, “Let us break their bonds in pieces and cast away their cords from us.” He who sits in the heavens shall laugh; the LORD shall hold them in derision. Then He shall speak to them in His wrath, and distress them in His deep displeasure: “Yet I have set My King on My holy hill of Zion. I will declare the decree: The LORD has said to Me, ‘You are My Son, Today I have begotten You’ ” (Psalm 2:1-7). When Jesus was crucified, earthly rulers lashed out at Him and thought that they had won, until God the Father raised Him from the dead, and having "begotten" Jesus - i.e., "brought forth" Jesus from the grave or "caused [Him] to arise" from the dead - in effect publicly coronated Him "King" of the Jews and God the "Son." Paul is using a prophetic Psalm to say the resurrection of Jesus proves that He is God, and that God won.

ACTS 13:34-37 34 And that He raised Him from the dead, no more to return to corruption, He has spoken thus: ‘I will give you the sure mercies of David.’ 35 Therefore He also says in another Psalm: ‘You will not allow Your Holy One to see corruption.’ 36 “For David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell asleep, was buried with his fathers, and saw corruption; 37 but He whom God raised up saw no corruption.

What "corruption" (Acts 13:36) is Paul talking about?
The original Greek word is διαφθοραν (diapthoran), which in the physical sense indicates destruction, decay or decomposition. To the Jews awaiting a David-like Messiah to re-establish the political kingdom of Israel, Paul is declaring the incomparable supremacy of Jesus. Their revered David died and his body decomposed. By contrast, Jesus defeated death and rose from the dead in His glorified body to prove His deity, just as the Old Testament had prophesied, as God the Father will not "allow Your Holy One to see corruption" (Psalm 16:4 & Acts 13:35).