ἀρτιγέννητος (artigennētos)
artigennētos
newborn
Quick Reference
- Language
- Koine Greek
- Testament
- New Testament
- Occurrences
- 1 verses
- Root
- —
Word Overview
The adjective artigennētos describes someone who is just born or newborn. It combines the word for "just now" with the root for "birth," creating a precise term for the very beginning of life. In Scripture, this word appears only once, in First Peter 2:2.
Peter uses it to describe believers who have been spiritually reborn through God’s living and enduring word. The image is concrete: new infants crave pure spiritual milk so they can grow into salvation. By calling Christians "newborn," the text emphasizes their fresh start and their natural, urgent need for nourishment from God.
This specific phrasing highlights that spiritual life begins with a decisive moment of birth, followed by a continuous process of feeding and growth. It reminds readers that faith is not static but requires daily sustenance to mature.
Based on public-domain lexicons (Strong's, Thayer, Gesenius, Brown-Driver-Briggs and others).
What This Word Means for Your Faith
The word artigennētos paints a simple but powerful picture of spiritual life. It describes someone who is just born, capturing the fresh start and urgent need for nourishment that comes with new life. In First Peter 2:2, Peter uses this term to remind believers that faith begins with a decisive moment of birth through God’s word.
Just as a physical infant naturally craves milk to survive and grow, so too does the newly born believer have an innate desire for spiritual sustenance. This image encourages us to recognize our ongoing need for God’s truth. It is not about striving on our own strength but responding to the natural hunger that God has placed within us.
This reminder brings comfort because it acknowledges that spiritual growth is a process. We do not have to be perfect immediately. Instead, we can trust that as we seek the pure spiritual milk of Scripture, we are following the design for healthy development in our faith journey.
How it's translated
How this word is rendered word-by-word in the 1 verses where it appears, by frequency.
- newborn1×
Forms in the text
The inflected forms of this word as they appear in Scripture, by frequency.
- ἀρτιγέννητα1×
Key Verses
-
I Peter 2:2
as newborn babies, long for the pure spiritual milk, that with it you may grow,
This is the only occurrence of the word, where Peter uses it to describe believers who have been spiritually reborn and must crave spiritual nourishment to grow.