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H A Y ACHID T HE U NIQUE M ESSIAH

Take now your son, your one and only son, whom you love.
(Genesis 22:2)
God has sent his one and only Son into the world,
that we might have life through him.
(1 John 4:9)
by Paul Sumner

saac and Yeshua are both called the one and only sons of their fathers. Isaac is
Abrahams yachid. Yeshua is Gods monogenes (Greek). Both words mean unique.

The link between the Hebrew Bible and the Greek New Testament is the Greek
Bible, the Septuagint, a translation done by Jewish scholars living in Egypt before the
time of Yeshua. [See Endnote]
The word yachid occurs 12x in the Hebrew Bible. This table lists how the Septuagint
renders yachid.

Hebrew
Yachid
Genesis 22:2

your one and only son (Isaac)

Greek
Septuagint / LXX
a)gaphto&j

loved one

agapetos
Genesis 22:12

your one and only son (Isaac)

a)gaphto&j

loved one

agapetos
Genesis 22:16

your one and only son (Isaac)

a)gaphto&j

loved one

agapetos
Judges 11:34

She was his one and only daughter

[ yechidah, fem.]

Jeremiah 6:26 Mourn as for an only son

monogenh&j

only, unique

monogenes

a)gaphto&j

loved one

agapetos
Amos 8:10

a time of mourning for an only son

a)gaphto&j

loved one

agapetos
Zechariah
12:10

as one mourns for an only son

a)gaphto&j
agapetos

loved one

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Psalm 22:20

HaYachidThe Unique Messiah

Deliver my . . . one and only [soul]

monogenh&j

only, unique

monogenes
Psalm 25:16

I am lonely [alone] and afflicted

monogenh&j

only, unique

monogenes
Psalm 35:17
Psalm 68:6
Proverbs 4:3

Rescue my soul . . . my precious

[only] life

monogenh&j

God makes a home for the lonely

[isolated, desolate]

monotro&poj

When I was . . . the only son in the

sight of my mother

a)gapw&menoj

only, unique

monogenes
lonely

monotropos
beloved

agapomenos

In the Greek New Testament, Yeshua is named monogenes five times.

John 1:14b
We beheld his glory, glory as of a one and only [son] from the Father. *1*
John 1:18
No one has seen God at any time, the one and only [Son] of God,
who is in the bosom of the Father, That One has revealed him. *2*
John 3:16
God loved the world in this way: he gave his one and only Son,
that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
John 3:18b
He who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not
believed in the name of the one and only Son of God.
1 John 4:9
By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent
his one and only Son into the world so that we might live through him.
Older English translations of these five passages read only begotten Son. This follows
the 4th century Latin Vulgate which emphasizes begetting [unigenitus]. However, the
Greek mono (one, singular) and genes (genus, kind) means one of a kind, an only one,
someone unique. The Vulgate reflects a later theological turn of thought reimposed on
the NT. *3*
See R. L. Roberts, The Rendering of Only Begotten in John 3:16, Restoration
Quarterly, Vol. 16 (1973): 2-22; Dictionary of N.T. Theology, 2:75-76, 725; Bauer-ArndtGingrich-Danker, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament (2d ed.), 527; J. H.
Thayer, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, 417-18.

Notes
1) John 1:14 and 18 do not have the Greek noun Son [huios]. But the masculine form
monogenes is understood to mean one and only Son.

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2) Based on several old Greek manuscripts of John 1:18, many modern translations
read the only God [monogenes theos] instead of the only one of God
[monogenes theou]. The difference in Greek is one letter in the two forms of
God as they were typically abbreviated in the earliest uncial manuscripts.

qs = theos, God

qu = theou, of God

In my opinion, the older reading theos [the only, unique God] is a theological change
introduced into the Greek text in Egypt, and is not original.
The lexicographer Joseph Thayer believed monogenes theos to be foreign to
Johns mode of thought and speech...dissonant and harsh, and appears to owe its
origin to a dogmatic zeal which broke out soon after the early days of the church
(Greek-English Lexicon of the N.T., 418).
3) The following modern versions abandoned only begotten Son and usually
render monogenes as only Son or one and only SonRSV, NRSV, NIV,
TNIV, English Standard Version, Holman Christian Standard Bible, Contemporary
English Version, New Century Version, 21st Century King James Version, New
International Readers Version, James Moffat, Richard Weymouth, The Message,
New Living Translation.
These Modern Hebrew translations have (ben) yachid at John 1:14, 18; 3:16,
18; 1 John 4:9Delitzsch, Salkinson, Israel Bible Society. The Aramaic Peshitta
New Covenant has yechidaya. David Stern uses only Son and only and unique
Son in his Jewish New Testament.
Monogenes is used elsewhere for others besides Yeshua: Luke 7:12, 8:42, 9:38;
Hebrews 11:17 (for Isaac).
The Loved One

In addition to being Gods monogenes, Yeshua is also his agapetos: his onlybeloved one. *1*
Matthew 3:17 [allusion to Isa 42:1; Ps 2:7]
Behold, a voice out of heaven saying,
This is my Son, the Beloved, in whom I am well pleased.

Matthew 12:18 [quoting Isa 42:1]

Behold, my Servant whom I have chosen;
My Beloved in whom my soul is well-pleased.

Matthew 17:5 [see Deut 18:15; Isa 42:1; Ps 2:7]

This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well-pleased; hear him!

Mark 1:11; Luke 3:22 [see Isa 42:1; Ps 2:7]

You are my Son, the Beloved, in you I am well-pleased.

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HaYachidThe Unique Messiah

Mark 9:7 [see Deut 18:15; Isa 42:1; Ps 2:7]

A voice came out of the cloud,
This is my Son, the Beloved, listen to him!

Luke 9:35 [see Deut 18:15; Isa 42:1; Ps 2:7]

A voice came out of the cloud, saying,
This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him!
[Some Grk mss. read: my Son, the Chosen]
2 Peter 1:17 [see Isa 42:1; Ps 2:7]
An utterance . . . was made to him by the Majestic Glory,
This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well-pleased.
Note
1) The phrase my Son, the Beloved is normally translated my Beloved Son. I
follow the Greek word order to emphasize that agapetos is actually a noun in these
verses, not merely an adjective (though it functions as a adjectival noun, as the
modifier Holy often does in the phrase the Holy Spirit).
The Hebraic Link to Yeshua
Lets put together our findings to show that Yeshuas two designations
monogenes (one and only) and agapetos (beloved)reflect the one Hebrew
term yachid.
Hebrew Bible

yachid

Greek Bible/
Septuagint

Greek NT

monogenes

agapetos

monogenes

agapetos

Love is an aspect of yachid. We see this clearly in Genesis 22:2. Take now your
son, your one and only [yachid] (son), whom you love, Isaac. Isaac was the
offspring of Abraham, but he was not Abrahams only biological son. Ishmael was
his first-born son. Yet Isaac is described as the patriarchs special, unique and onlyloved son.
When referring to Yeshuas status as a son, the gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke
use beloved (agapetos). This term is used for dear children in the Septuagint. In
his gospel account, John chose the term unique (monogenes) for Yeshua, which
also referred to precious children in Jewish circles. Johns intent merges with that of
the others. All four gospel writers lead our attention back to the Hebrew word
yachid.
Unique Son, Unique Messiah

The Hebrew Scriptures refer to Gods various sons. They include angels

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HaYachidThe Unique Messiah

(messengers) [Gen 6:2; Deut 32:8 LXX, DSS; Ps 29:1; 82:6; 89:6; Job 1:6, 2:1;
38:7]; the nation Israel [Exod 4:22; Deut 14:1; Jer 31:9; Hosea 11:1]; and King
David and his descendants [2 Sam 7:14; Ps 89:26-27].
The Mashiach in Psalm 2:7 is also called Gods Son [beni atah, my son are you]/.
Therefore, to identify Yeshua of Nazareth as Gods only, unique, beloved son
should be seen against this background of all his other sons, or children.
Discerning Messiahs

The NT says there are, and will be, false or anti-Messiahs (1 John 2:18, 22; 4:3; 2
John 7). Given their reality, it behooves people to know how to distinguish one
messiah from another. From the NTs point of view, of course, Yeshua is the only
true anointed one sent by and from God. The NT would argue that people need to
know what exactly a messiah is and does.
In the Hebrew Bible, there are many messiahs (anointed ones). These are priests
(Lev 4:3; 6:15), kings (1 Sam 2:10; 2 Sam 22:51), and prophets (Isa 61:1; Ps
105:15). Each one sets down a pattern of character and activity for future
generations to note and remember how God himselfthe one who established
these messiahsdefines the term Messiah/Mashiach.
Why is This Messiah Different From All Others?

To his disciples, Yeshua of Nazareth was different from all other Jewish leaders. His
truthfulness and righteousness threatened and unmade them, thrilled them and gave
them a taste of new life.
Yet his uniqueness was not proven merely by calling him One and Only. The NT
writers penned their portraits of Yeshua so that people in other times and lands
who did not know him personallycould see and hear for themselves that their
declaration of his uniqueness before God was true.
The multitudes were amazed at his teaching, for he was teaching them
as one having authority, not as their scribes. (Matthew 7:28-29)
They became astonished. (Matthew 13:54)
Never did a man speak the way this man speaks. (John 7:46)
These Jewish authors knew there was no messiah like him, nor any son cherished
more by God. And they hoped that others would believe that Yeshua is to God
what Isaac was to AbrahamhaBen haYachid, the Unique Sonthrough whom
all the families of earth will be blessed (Gen 12:3; 26:24).
The Unique God

The Shema (Deuteronomy 6:4) testifies to the uniqueness of Israels God.

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HaYachidThe Unique Messiah

Hear, O Israel!
The LORD our God
The LORD is unique.
The Hebrew word for unique is the numeral echad, which often denotes singular
uniqueness (2 Sam 7:23; Zech 14:7; Song 6:9). In the ancient world, into which
Israel was about to enter, they needed to know that their God was the One and
Only deity who loved them, the one to whom they owed their love because he
redeemed them from Egyptian slavery and led them to a new life. The Shema gave
them a banner of faith and an obligation.
This one, unique God is saidin the NTto be the Father of Yeshua (Acts 3:13;
5:30; Hebrews 1:1-2).
See the full article Echad in the Shema.
The Unique Two

Taken together, the Hebrew Bible and the NT Gospels witness to the fact that God
and Messiah are both unique. None is like them as Father or Son. In John 17:3 are
words of Yeshua that may intend to combine ancient Hebrew with New Testament
theology into a kind of Messianic Shema:

This is eternal life, that they may know you the only true God,
and Yeshua Messiah whom you have sent.
Paul Sumner
www.hebrew-streams.org/works/ntstudies/yachid.pdf

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Endnote

Not long after the conquests of Alexander the Great, his native Greek became the
international language in the Mediterranean area by the 3rd century BCE. Most
Jews living outside geographical Israel had learned to speak it. In fact, many had lost
their working knowledge of Hebrew and Aramaic, and needed a modern-language
Bible translation. The Jewish community in the grand metropolis Alexandria, Egypt,
commissioned a team of scholars to translate the five books of Torah into Greek
around 250 BCE. In time, the other books of the Tanakh were translated. The
whole Greek Bible came to be known as the Septuagint, the version of the
Seventy (scholars).
The Septuagint forms a bridge between the Tanakh and the New Testament.
For the NT documents, as we have them, are also written in the so-called Common

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or Koine Greek of the turn of the Era.

In the Septuagint are Hebrew concepts and expressions crystallized in Greek.
The NT is also a collection of writings by Jews about Hebrew religion in the same
Hellenistic tongue. If we compare the Greek in both books we can ultimately bring
the NT face to face with the ideas in the Hebrew Bible and look for similarities.
References
Kohlenberger-Swanson, Hebrew-English Concordance to the Old Testament (1998)
Even-Shosan, Konkordantzia Hadashah (1981)
Hatch & Redpath, Concordance to the Septuagint (1897)
Nestle-Aland, Novum Testamentum Graece (27th ed.)
Aland et al., Greek New Testament (3d ed., 1983)
Kohlenberger-Goodrick-Swanson, Exhaustive Concordance to the Greek New
Testament (1995)

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