# G1096 - ginomai **Strong's:** [G1096](https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g1096/) · BLB lookup **Pronunciation:** ghin'-om-ahee **Part of speech:** deponent middle verb (active in meaning, middle in form) **NT occurrences:** ~669, one of the most frequent NT verbs **Hebrew equivalents (LXX):** [H1961 - hayah](/codex/h1961-hayah/) (הָיָה, "to be / become / come to pass") is the dominant LXX-equivalence ## Semantic range (Thayer / BDAG) 1. **To come into being, be born, be produced**, the *coming-to-be* sense, the most lexically loaded for theological argument ([John 1:3](/codex/john-1-3/), [14](/codex/john-1-14/); [Galatians 4:4](/codex/galatians-4-4/); [Romans 1:3](/codex/romans-1-3/)). 2. **To happen, take place, occur**, events / circumstances coming about ([Matthew 6:10](/codex/matthew-6-10/), *genēthētō to thelēma sou*, "let Your will *happen*"; [Luke 1:38](/codex/luke-1-38/), *genoito moi kata to rhēma sou*, "let it *be done* to me"). 3. **To become, be transformed into**, change of state ([John 1:14](/codex/john-1-14/), "the Word *became* flesh"; [John 9:39](/codex/john-9-39/) "*ginōntai* blind"; [1 Cor 13:11](/codex/1-corinthians-13-11/) "when I *egenomēn* a man, I put away childish things"). 4. **To be made, be created, be appointed**, passive-effect sense (often functioning as the passive of *poieō*), [Gal 4:4](/codex/galatians-4-4/), *genomenon ek gynaikos*; [Heb 5:5](/codex/hebrews-5-5/), "He did not glorify Himself *to become* high priest, but the One who said…" 5. **To be present, exist** (in some contexts indistinguishable from *eimi*), [Hebrews 11:6](/codex/hebrews-11-6/), *pisteusai gar dei… hoti estin*, using *eimi*; but elsewhere *ginomai* takes on existence-claim functions. The verb's range from existence-coming-to-be through happening through becoming makes it semantically broad; its **theological force** is concentrated in the contexts where the *coming-into-being* sense is sharply distinguished from a separate verb of *being*, most decisively in [John 1.1-3](/codex/john-1-1-3/). ## Theological force, the *ēn / egeneto* contrast in John 1 [John 1:1-3](/codex/john-1-1-3/) deploys two verbs in deliberate contrast: - **εἰμί** ([G1510 - eimi](/codex/g1510-eimi/), "to be"), used three times in the imperfect *ἦν* (*ēn*, "was") for the eternal Logos: - *ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν ὁ λόγος*, "in the beginning *was* the Word" - *καὶ ὁ λόγος ἦν πρὸς τὸν θεόν*, "and the Word *was* with God" - *καὶ θεὸς ἦν ὁ λόγος*, "and the Word *was* God" - **γίνομαι** (*ginomai*, "to come into being"), used twice in the aorist *ἐγένετο* (*egeneto*, "came into being") for the created order: - *πάντα δι' αὐτοῦ ἐγένετο, καὶ χωρὶς αὐτοῦ ἐγένετο οὐδὲ ἕν ὃ γέγονεν*, "all things *came into being* through Him, and apart from Him *came into being* not one thing that *has come into being*" The grammatical contrast does load-bearing christological work: - *ēn* (imperfect of *eimi*) names the **timeless / continuous existence** of the Logos. The imperfect tense, in this context, picks out a state that simply *was* without temporal origin, there is no implied beginning to the *being*. - *egeneto* (aorist of *ginomai*) names the **punctiliar coming-into-existence** of created things. The aorist names a discrete event of beginning-to-be. The Logos *ēn* (was, eternally); creation *egeneto* (came-to-be, at a beginning). The two verbs partition reality: that which *is* (the Logos, with God, indeed *was God*) and that which *came-to-be* (the created order, which came-to-be *through* the Logos). This is the primary lexical-grammatical buttress for the orthodox christological claim that the Logos is **uncreated**: He is not among the things that *egeneto*; He is the *agent* through whom all things *egeneto*. Athanasius (*Contra Arianos* II.21-24) makes precisely this point against the Arians: *if all coming-to-be is through the Logos, the Logos cannot be coming-to-be*. The grammatical wedge is the *ēn / egeneto* distinction. The Watchtower Society's New World Translation has historically tried to dilute this distinction by translating [John 1:1c](/codex/john-1-1/) as "the Word was *a* god" (predicate-noun controversy), but this leaves [John 1:3](/codex/john-1-3/) untouched: the *egeneto / ēn* distinction holds, and the Logos remains on the uncreated side of the partition. The grammar resists subordinationist readings independently of the predicate-noun question. ### *Ho gegonen*, the perfect-tense closing flourish [John 1:3](/codex/john-1-3/) ends with a perfect-tense form: *καὶ χωρὶς αὐτοῦ ἐγένετο οὐδὲ ἕν ὃ γέγονεν*, "and apart from Him came-into-being not one thing *that has come-into-being*." The perfect *gegonen* names the standing-state of being-already-come-to-be. The clause is universally exhaustive: nothing in the category "things that have come into being" lies outside the Logos's mediation. (There is a textual / punctuation variant: some Patristic readings, favored by Origen and the Gnostic *Valentinians*, punctuate the verse to attach *ho gegonen* to v. 4: "what came into being in Him was life." Modern critical editions vary; UBS5 / NA28 punctuate with *ho gegonen* as the close of v. 3, which is the more grammatically natural reading.) ## Theological force, the *Logos egeneto sarx* of [John 1:14](/codex/john-1-14/) The other dense christological use is **[John 1:14](/codex/john-1-14/)**, *καὶ ὁ λόγος σὰρξ ἐγένετο*, "and the Word *became* flesh." The same verb that names *creation's coming-to-be* (1:3) names *the Word's incarnation* (1:14). The grammatical-theological lever: - The Logos who *was* (*ēn*) eternally now *egeneto* (came-to-be) flesh. - This is **not** that the Logos *ceased to be* what He was; the imperfect / aorist contrast is preserved by the lexicon. - It is that the Logos *added* a mode of being, the *sarx* (flesh, [G4561 - sarx](/codex/g4561-sarx/)) is the assumed humanity, taken up into the eternal Logos's identity. - *Ginomai* here is the Greek-language Christological tool for asserting genuine incarnation without compromising eternal deity: the eternal *ēn* never became *egeneto*; rather, the Logos who is eternal *egeneto* (became / took on) flesh. The Council of Chalcedon (AD 451) and its associated theological vocabulary (two natures in one person, *enhypostasis*, communicatio idiomatum) is in part an extended explication of how *Logos egeneto sarx* works grammatically and metaphysically. ## Pauline use, *genomenon* of incarnation Paul's parallel formulations leverage the same verb: - **[Galatians 4:4](/codex/galatians-4-4/)**, *exapesteilen ho theos ton hyion autou, **genomenon** ek gynaikos, **genomenon** hypo nomon*, "God sent forth His Son, *born* of woman, *born* under the Law" - **[Romans 1:3](/codex/romans-1-3/)**, *peri tou hyiou autou tou **genomenou** ek spermatos David kata sarka*, "concerning His Son, *born* of David's seed according to flesh" - **[Philippians 2:7](/codex/philippians-2-7/)**, *en homoiōmati anthrōpōn **genomenos***, "being *made* in the likeness of men" - **[Hebrews 1:4](/codex/hebrews-1-4/)**, *tosoutōi kreittōn **genomenos*** tōn angelōn, "having *become* so much better than the angels" - **[Hebrews 2:17](/codex/hebrews-2-17/)**, *epheilen kata panta tois adelphois homoiōthēnai*, He had to *become* like His brothers in all things (different verb, same incarnational claim) - **[Hebrews 5:5](/codex/hebrews-5-5/)**, Christ did not glorify Himself *to become* (*genēthēnai*) high priest, but God said to Him "You are my Son" In each case, *ginomai*/-cognate verbs are doing the **incarnational work**: the eternal Son enters the human / Davidic / fleshly / under-Law condition. The lexical pattern is consistent: *ginomai* names the assumption, not the constitution. ## Theological force, the *genēthētō / genoito* of divine command and human submission A second cluster of theologically loaded uses is the imperative / optative of *ginomai* in the contexts of divine fiat and human submission: - **[Genesis 1](/codex/genesis-1/) (LXX)**, *kai eipen ho theos: genēthētō phōs, kai egeneto phōs*, "and God said, 'let there *be* light,' and light *came-to-be*", the verb fronted to the absolute creative fiat - **[Matthew 6:10](/codex/matthew-6-10/)**, *genēthētō to thelēma sou*, "let Your will *come-to-pass*" - **[Matthew 26:42](/codex/matthew-26-42/)** (Gethsemane), *genēthētō to thelēma sou*, Jesus's submission to the Father's will (echoing the Lord's Prayer) - **[Luke 1:38](/codex/luke-1-38/)**, *genoito moi kata to rhēma sou*, Mary's *fiat*, "let it *be done* to me according to your word", patristically read as the Marian assent that mirrors Christ's Gethsemane submission The lexeme thus carries both the **divine creative speech** (let it come to be) and the **creaturely consenting submission** (let it come to be in me), a remarkable double-register that liturgical and devotional traditions have long noted. ## Notable verses ### The *ēn / egeneto* contrast and Christ-as-creator - **[John 1.1-3](/codex/john-1-1-3/)**, the imperfect *ēn* and aorist *egeneto* contrast - **[John 1.3](/codex/john-1-3/)**, *panta di' autou egeneto* - **[John 1.14](/codex/john-1-14/)**, *ho logos sarx egeneto* - **[John 1:6](/codex/john-1-6/)**, *egeneto anthrōpos apestalmenos para theou* (John the Baptist), the lexeme deployed for human creaturely coming-to-be, in immediate contrast to the eternal Logos - **[John 8:58](/codex/john-8-58/)**, *prin Abraam genesthai egō eimi*, "before Abraham *came-to-be*, I AM", Christ uses *ginomai* of Abraham (creature) and *eimi* of Himself (uncreated), the same partition ### Pauline incarnational *genomenon* - **[Galatians 4.4](/codex/galatians-4-4/)**, *genomenon ek gynaikos, genomenon hypo nomon* - **[Romans 1:3](/codex/romans-1-3/)**, *genomenou ek spermatos David* - **[Philippians 2.7](/codex/philippians-2-7/)**, *en homoiōmati anthrōpōn genomenos* ### Divine creative fiat - **[Genesis 1](/codex/genesis-1/) LXX**, *genēthētō* / *egeneto* throughout - **[Matthew 6:10](/codex/matthew-6-10/); 26:42**, *genēthētō to thelēma sou* - **[Luke 1:38](/codex/luke-1-38/)**, *genoito moi* ### Eschatological coming-to-pass - **[Mark 13:30](/codex/mark-13-30/); [Matthew 24:34](/codex/matthew-24-34/); [Luke 21:32](/codex/luke-21-32/)**, *heōs an panta tauta genētai*, "until all these things *come to pass*" - **[Revelation 1:1](/codex/revelation-1-1/); 4:1; 22:6**, *ha dei genesthai*, "what must *take place*" ## Patristic / scholarly note The exegetical importance of the *ēn / egeneto* distinction in [John 1:1-3](/codex/john-1-1-3/) is recognized across the patristic period. **Origen** (*Commentary on John* 2.1) draws the contrast explicitly. **Athanasius** (*Contra Arianos* II.21-24, II.31; *De Decretis* 14) treats the partition between eternal-being and coming-to-be as the structural backbone of the anti-Arian argument: the Arian claim that the Son *egeneto* (came-to-be) before the rest of creation is shown to be incoherent on John's own grammar, the verb *egeneto* names what *passes through the Son*, not what *the Son is*. **Augustine** (*Tractates on John* 1.5-11, c. AD 415) develops the *ēn / egeneto* distinction at length, using it to refute both Arian subordinationism and Sabellian modalism: the Word who eternally *was* with God (against Sabellian collapse) is also Himself God (against Arian subordination); creation *came-to-be* through this eternally-existing Word. In modern scholarship, the John 1 prologue is the most-discussed Christological pericope. C. K. Barrett (*The Gospel According to St. John*, 1955), Raymond Brown (*The Gospel According to John*, 1966-70), Craig Keener (*The Gospel of John*, 2003), and Andreas Köstenberger (*A Theology of John's Gospel and Letters*, 2009) all treat the *ēn / egeneto* contrast as a deliberate authorial signal of high christology. The contrast is sometimes called "the verbal partition" or "the imperfect/aorist contrast" in technical literature. ## Verses in this codex _See Obsidian's backlinks pane for every verse page linking here._ Top-cited references using *ginomai*: [John 1.1-3](/codex/john-1-1-3/), [John 1.3](/codex/john-1-3/), [John 1.14](/codex/john-1-14/), [Galatians 4.4](/codex/galatians-4-4/) (when present), [Philippians 2.7](/codex/philippians-2-7/) (when present). ## See also - [G1510 - eimi](/codex/g1510-eimi/), *eimi* (to be), the contrastive verb in [John 1:1-3](/codex/john-1-1-3/) - [H1961 - hayah](/codex/h1961-hayah/), Hebrew "to be / become / come to pass", what *ginomai* renders in LXX - [G4561 - sarx](/codex/g4561-sarx/), *sarx* (flesh), the predicate of *egeneto* in [John 1:14](/codex/john-1-14/) - [G3056 - logos](/codex/g3056-logos/), *Logos*, the subject of *ēn* and *egeneto sarx* - [G2936 - ktizo](/codex/g2936-ktizo/), *ktizō* (to create), adjacent verb, also names creation but with different emphasis - [John 1.1-18](/codex/john-1-1-18/), [John 1.14](/codex/john-1-14/), [John 8.58](/codex/john-8-58/), [Galatians 4.4](/codex/galatians-4-4/), locus classicus