1. properly: of men begetting children, Matthew 1:1-16; Acts 7:8, 29; followed by ἐκ with the genitive of the mother, Matthew 1:3, 5, 6; more rarely of women giving birth to children, Luke 1:13, 57; Luke 23:29; John 16:21; εἰς δουλείαν to bear a child unto bondage, that will be a slave, Galatians 4:24 ((Xenophon, de rep. Lac. 1, 3); Lucian, de sacrif. 6; Plutarch, de liber. educ. 5; others; the Sept. Isaiah 66:9; 4 Macc. 10:2, etc.). Passive, to be begotten: τό ἐν αὐτῇ γεννηθέν that which is begotten in her womb, Matthew 1:20; to be born: Matthew 2:1, 4 (Winers Grammar, 266 (250); Buttmann, 203 (176)); ; Mark 14:21; Luke 1:35; John 3:4; (Acts 7:20); Romans 9:11; Hebrews 11:23; with the addition εἰς τόν κόσμον, John 16:21; followed by ἐν with the dative of place, Acts 22:3; ἀπό τίνος, to spring from one as father, Hebrews 11:12 (L WH marginal reading ἐγεννήθησαν see Tdf. at the passage); ἐκ τίνος to be born of a mother, Matthew 1:16; ἐκ πορνείας, John 8:41; ἐξ αἱμάτων, ἐκ θελήματος ἀνδρός, John 1:13; ἐκ τῆς σαρκός, John 3:6 (Rec.elz γεγενημένον); ἐν ἁμαρτίαις ὅλος, John 9:34 (see ἁμαρτία, 2 a.); εἰς τί, to be born for something, John 18:37; 2 Peter 2:12 (Tdf. γεγενημένα so Rec.st bez); with an adjective: τυφλός γεγέννημαι, John 9:2, 19f, 32; Ῥωμαῖος to be supplied, Acts 22:28; τῇ διαλέκτῳ, ἐν ἡ ἐγεννήθημεν, Acts 2:8; γεννηθείς κατά σάρκα begotten or born according to (by) the working of natural passion; κατά πνεῦμα according to (by) the working of the divine promise, Galatians 4:29, cf. Galatians 4:23.

2. metaphorically,

a. universally, to engender, cause to arise, excite: μάχας, 2 Timothy 2:23 (βλαβην, λύπην, etc. in Greek writings).

b. in a Jewish sense, of one who brings others over to his way of life: ὑμᾶς ἐγέννησα I am the author of your Christian life, 1 Corinthians 4:15; Philemon 1:10 (Sanhedr. fol. 19, 2 "If one teaches the son of his neighbor the law, the Scripture reckons this the same as though he had begotten him"; (cf. Philo, leg. ad Gaium § 8)).

c. after Psalm 2:7, it is used of God making Christ his son;

a. formally to show him to be the Messiah (υἱόν τοῦ Θεοῦ), viz. by the resurrection: Acts 13:33.

b. to be the author of the divine nature which he possesses (but compare the commentaries on the passages that follow): Hebrews 1:5; Hebrews 5:5.

d. peculiarly, in the Gospel and First Epistle of John, of God conferring upon men the nature and disposition of his sons, imparting to them spiritual life, i. e. by his own holy power prompting and persuading souls to put faith in Christ and live a new life consecrated to himself; absolutely 1 John 5:1; mostly in passive, ἐκ Θεοῦ or ἐκ τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐγεννήθησαν, γεγέννηται, γεγεννημένος, etc.: John 1:13; 1 John 2:29 (Rec.st γεγένηται); ; also ἐκ τοῦ πνεύματος γέννασθαι, John 3:6 (Rec.elz γεγενημένον), ; ἐξ ὕδατος καί πνεύματος (because that moral generation is effected in receiving baptism ((?) cf. Schaff's Lange, Godet, Westcott, on the words, and references under the word βάπτισμα, 3)), John 3:5; ἄνωθεν γέννασθαι, John 3:3, 7 (see ἄνωθεν, c.) equivalent to τέκνον Θεοῦ γίνεσθαι, . (Compare: ἀναγεννάω.)