Abner Chou Explains John 3:16 in the Legacy Standard Bible (LSB)
00:00:00.000 | Why does the Legacy Standard Bible retain "only begotten" in its translation of John 3:16?
00:00:07.700 | Like I said, this is a really great question and I empathize with it because we know how the cults have abused and misused the phraseology of "only begotten" to wrongly insinuate that Jesus is created or made.
00:00:22.400 | That is completely false and so I can understand our desire to want to translate it something like "one and only" or "the only one."
00:00:31.000 | That's a quick and clear conclusion that you can draw from a translation and there's definitely room for that for that very reason.
00:00:38.400 | But part of what is in translation, and particularly with the Legacy Standard Bible, is to communicate what the text says and also through that to be a window into why it says fully what it says.
00:00:52.800 | It's a platform for theology in that way.
00:00:56.300 | And to be clear, research has demonstrated without a shadow of a doubt that the word "only begotten" in Greek does not inherently and certainly does not always denote creation or being made.
00:01:10.900 | There are plenty of times when the Greek Old Testament translates using this word for "only begotten" a Hebrew word which means "only one," "exclusive," "one and only."
00:01:22.700 | And so to be sure, the Greek word does not necessarily or inherently mean creation at all.
00:01:30.900 | That's a false implication. It does move toward uniqueness.
00:01:35.800 | But it's not just good enough to say what a word does not imply or does not mean.
00:01:40.600 | We need to know what it does mean and means fully.
00:01:44.000 | And recent research, say in the last five to ten years, has really brought this forth once again.
00:01:50.500 | For instance, we know that in John, he makes a big deal about birth.
00:01:55.300 | John chapter 3, "born again." That's the very context of John 3, 16.
00:02:00.800 | And in 1 John, we have the language of "having been born of God."
00:02:05.600 | John really does, as the apostle, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, emphasize the notion of birth.
00:02:13.400 | And that matters because that ties into the notion of begotten.
00:02:17.400 | And we need to recover this notion. And a good illustration of that is found in Psalm chapter 2, Psalm 2.
00:02:25.500 | And that passage says, "Today I have begotten you."
00:02:31.300 | Now the background of that passage, the historical background of the whole text and the whole concept of begetting,
00:02:37.400 | comes from coronation. Coronation, a son becoming king because he's begotten of his father.
00:02:44.400 | Now think about this with me. How do sons become kings?
00:02:47.900 | It's because their dad was a king. Because they share the same family heritage.
00:02:52.600 | Because they're of the same genealogical line. Because they have the same royal blood flowing through their veins.
00:02:59.700 | And so the declaration of begetting is a declaration, "Son, we share something together. We're united in something.
00:03:07.700 | And that's why you have the same status that I do, even though we're distinct persons, father and son."
00:03:14.200 | It's unity even though there is distinction.
00:03:18.200 | Well what makes then Jesus so unique, so exclusive in John 3:16?
00:03:23.700 | It is because he perfectly shares, he absolutely shares with his father the exact same nature and essence
00:03:31.700 | because they are one in nature and essence.
00:03:35.200 | That is what is going on with the idea of begetting even as they are distinct persons.
00:03:41.200 | They perfectly share. They are perfectly in union in their essence even as they are distinct persons.
00:03:48.200 | That is the notion of begetting and we need that. We need that.
00:03:53.200 | Remember, John talks a lot about the new birth, about birth.
00:03:57.200 | How are we born again? Why and how can we be changed so that we can share in God's holiness and commune with him?
00:04:07.700 | It is because God always, internal to himself, eternally, forever, has shared himself with his Son.
00:04:17.200 | They are one in essence, one in nature, even as they are distinct persons.
00:04:25.200 | And it is because God has always done that internally and eternally to himself
00:04:30.200 | that you can have the conceptualization for why God can do that in a derivative way
00:04:36.700 | with those who are created actually and external to God.
00:04:42.200 | That would be like you and me.
00:04:44.200 | And so only begotten, there is a lot of theology in there.
00:04:48.200 | It not only affirms wholeheartedly the deity of Christ, maybe counter to our first instinctive reactions,
00:04:55.200 | but that's what it says, union between the two, even as distinct persons.
00:05:00.200 | The connection and union and sharing absolutely between Father and Son.
00:05:06.200 | But it also tells us why that matters, why we need it.
00:05:09.200 | Because if you don't have that Trinitarian interaction, then there's no platform,
00:05:13.700 | there's no foundation, no conceptualization for how we are saved
00:05:19.200 | and we can relate to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit and the entire Godhead.
00:05:25.200 | Put it simply, God's relationship eternally with his Son
00:05:29.700 | is the only reason why we can have a relationship with God himself.
00:05:35.200 | And so it shows us that every word of Scripture matters
00:05:39.200 | and your questions are great because they remind us of that.
00:05:43.700 | And so along that line, while we definitely encourage you to read the preface to the Legacy Standard Bible
00:05:49.700 | and visit our FAQs on the website, which can answer a bunch of questions,
00:05:54.200 | if you or your friends or a bunch of you have a question,
00:05:58.200 | please get in contact with us through the Contact Us part of the LSB website
00:06:04.200 | and send us your questions so that we can have more opportunities for edification.
00:06:09.700 | Well, I hope that's exactly what has happened.
00:06:11.700 | Thank you for your questions. Thank you for investing yourself in the Scripture.
00:06:16.700 | And I hope to learn more with you all soon.