It is noticeable that in all the Greek
sources cited the word for “born” in the phrase “born of a woman” is a cognate
of gennao, the common word for birth:
·
Job 14:1,2, LXX –
gennetos gunaikos
·
Job 15:14-15, LXX
– gennetos gunaikos
·
Job 25:4-5, LXX –
gennetos gunaikos
·
Sir. 10:5 – gennemasi
gunaikon
·
Matt. 11:11 – genetois
gunaikon
·
Luke 7:28 – gennetois
gunaikon
Paul, however, does not use this word.
In Galatians 4:4 he says genomenon ek gunaikos, using a cognate of the
root word ginomai (“to become”). Literally Paul says Jesus “came in
existence out of a woman” (cf. Darby: “come of a woman,” KJV: “made of a
woman,” Young’s Literal Translation: “come of a woman”). The issue is not
whether Paul’s choice of words shows him deviating from the common idiom
because he wants to say something different.
Usually idioms use the same words
whenever they occur; it is the consistency of language that makes them
idiomatic. “Born of woman” is a Hebrew/Aramaic idiom so, I suppose, it is
possible that some may have translated it into Greek in different ways. The
evidence from the examples cited, though, is that consistently cognates of gennao
are used. It seems reasonable to suppose Paul would have used those words
were he using them idiomatically.
Also, though it would be acceptable
for a Greek writer to use a cognate of ginomai to refer to birth, it is
not usual. Norris writes that “since [Paul] makes no categorical statement of
the circumstance of Jesus’ conception, he is scrupulous that no misconception
shall arise through a misconstruction of words carelessly used.” (Norris, Virgin
Birth, 13)
He contrasts Paul’s use of a cognate of gennao
when referring to the births of Isaac and Ishmael in Galatians 4:23.
(Norris, Virgin Birth, 14) Paul’s deviation from both the idiom and from
his own practice suggests that he is using his words purposefully. And if Paul
means to distinguish Jesus’ origins from usual human birth then this may
indicate that he knows something special about Jesus’ birth. (Thomas Edmund
Gaston, Dynamic Monarchianism: The Earliest Christology? [2d ed.;
Nashville: Theophilus Press, 2023], 299-300)
Gal
4:4 is not necessarily a “Socinian” proof-text:
It is worth mentioning, in passing,
that ginomai is far too common a word to read much into its usage here.
For example, it can be used both of an origin and of a change of state. We
cannot form Gal. 4:4 alone determine that Paul believed that Jesus came into
existence (i.e., “was made”) when his mother became pregnant, any more than we
can, on the basis of this verse aloe, rule out that Paul believed that Jesus
was incarnated at his birth. This word alone will not help us in regard to this
question. (Ibid., 300 n. 70)
