One of the pastors reviewing the Ancient Roots Translinear Bible (ARTB) raised a question about the use of the word begat.  Isn’t that an out-of-date Old English word?  Why would it be in ARTB?

This is a great question to see if there’s a better word in the English language.  Do you know of one?

Here’s the background.

Begat is used in ARTB as the English word for Strong’s number 3205a, the Hebrew word yalad.  The King James Version uses the word begat many times for 3205a (42% of the time), but the more modern translations all have moved away from that word.  For example, the NASB and NIV both use a variety of words, but the number one word used in both is father (29% and 30%, respectively).  All three versions also use the word bore and give birth. So why not pick one of those words?

ARTB assigns the word father exclusively to Strong’s number 1, ab in Hebrew.  Jesus used a form of  this word to call on his father, “Abba”.  All three of the other versions utilize the word father for Strong’s number 1.  The KJV uses it 99% of the time, the NASB 96% of the time, and the NIV 75% of the time.  Because ab is a different word than yalad, ARTB would never assign the same English word to two different ancient words.  So father is out.

Well, how about the word bore or gave birth or was born?  Here’s a case of the difference between ancient Hebrew and modern English.  In ancient Hebrew, the same word yalad is used whether the parent is the mother or the father.  In the English language, we utilize the word bore exclusively with females, never for man.  We say, “Mary bore Jesus”, but we’d never say “Joseph bore Jesus”.  We say “Mary gave birth to Jesus”, but we’d never say “Joseph gave birth to Jesus”. 

But that’s exactly the use of the word yalad in scripture:  It’s a verb used for both men and women.  In Genesis 4:25,26  ARTB reads:

Adam knew his woman again. She begat a son and called his name Seth (establish), "For God established another seed in me instead of Abel, slayed by Cain." Seth also begat a son.

KJV: And Adam knew his wife again, and she bare a son, and called his name Seth:  For God said she, hath appointed me another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain slew.  And to Seth, to him also there was born a son.

NIV:  Adam lay with his wife again, and she gave birth to a son and named him Seth, saying, “God has granted me another child in place of Abel, since Cain killed him.”  Seth also had a son.

NASB: Adam had relations with his wife again; and she gave birth to a son and named him Seth, for she said, “God has apppointed me another off-spring in place of Abel, for Cain killed him.” To Seth, to him also a son was born.

This passage was chosen randomly to show the male and female use of the word yalad. But it’s interesting to note that even the KJV which uses a lot of begats didn’t use begat in this passage.  And it’s also interesting to note that none of the three versions utilized the same English wording for the exact same Hebrew word in back-to-back passages!

So, is there a good alternative gender-neutral verb besides begat?  Or did the King James folks do the best job of capturing the right word?  Yes it seems outdated.  The author would love to utilize a more modern word. Can you help?

You can easily look up all the yalad verses in the Old Testament by going to the “Word/Strong’s Search” page and entering in “3205a” in the lower box.  Send us a note if you know an alternative word.  Or register and be part of the Ancientroots.com community using the “How to Contribute” section and get your name cited in the Acknowledgments section of the next book printing.