ἐγεννήθης

gennáō

were born

To beget, produce, or engender offspring; to generate new life. In most contexts in Hellenistic and Koine Greek, γεννάω refers to the male act of begetting children, typically the fathering of descendants. By extension, it is also used passively of the mother to indicate giving birth, and more generally of origins or being brought into being. The sense may range from literal biological procreation to metaphorical or symbolic origin, such as being the source or initiator of a group, event, or new reality.

G1080

John 9:34 · Word #8

Lexicon G1080

Lemmaγεννάω
Transliterationgennáō
Strong'sG1080
DefinitionTo beget, produce, or engender offspring; to generate new life. In most contexts in Hellenistic and Koine Greek, γεννάω refers to the male act of begetting children, typically the fathering of descendants. By extension, it is also used passively of the mother to indicate giving birth, and more generally of origins or being brought into being. The sense may range from literal biological procreation to metaphorical or symbolic origin, such as being the source or initiator of a group, event, or new reality.

Morphology V AOR PASS IND 2P SG All morphology codes

Part of Speech V — Verb — An action or state of being
Tense AOR — Aorist — Simple occurrence, often past
Voice PASS — Passive — The subject receives the action
Mood IND — Indicative — States a fact or reality
Person 2P — 2nd person — The one spoken to ("you")
Number SG — Singular — One

Common Translation

Phrasewere born
Literalwere-born

Lexical Info

Lemmaγεννάω
Strong'sG1080

SIBI-P1 Translation G1080-06

you were begotten

Morphological NotesVerb; aorist tense (simple past), passive voice (subject receives action), indicative mood (statement of fact), 2nd person singular.
Rendering RationaleThe aorist passive indicative, second person singular, denotes a completed action received by the subject in the past. "You were begotten" preserves the generative root sense of γεννάω while accurately reflecting the passive voice and past tense.

View full lexicon entry for G1080 →

SILEX v2

SIBI-P2 (Context-Aware)

you were born

Same as P1No — adjusted for context
RationaleP1 'you were begotten' is less contextually appropriate. 'You were born' is the natural passive meaning expected here, as supported by the common translation and silex_definition extension for birth.