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Begat
CategoryArchaic Word
Modern Equivalentfathered; became ancestor of.
KJV Word TypeVerb
DefinitionFathered; became the ancestor of. Common in biblical genealogies.
Key Verses"And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat a son in his own likeness." (Genesis 5:3)
KJV Usage NoteCommonly appears in genealogies and means “fathered” or “became the ancestor of,” not simply “created.”
Common MisunderstandingIt does not mean “created from nothing”; in genealogies it means fathered or became the ancestor of.
EtymologyFrom Old English begietan ("to get, obtain, beget").