ἀποκῠ-έω G0616
to give birth, bring forth offspring or produce results
This verb describes the act of giving birth or bringing something forth. In James, it appears in both literal biological context (sin giving birth to death) and metaphorical spiritual context (God bringing forth believers through the word of truth). The multilingual evidence shows consistent rendering as birth/generation language across Romance and Germanic languages, reflecting the term's foundation in biological reproduction applied theologically.
Senses
1. sense 1 — Used metaphorically in James 1:15 where sin 'brings forth' death, and literally in 1:18 where God 'gave birth to' believers through the word. The Greek middle/passive forms suggest both active birthing and being born, mirroring the dual biological process. Cross-linguistic glosses uniformly employ birth/generation terminology (Spanish 'engendra', German 'gebären'), confirming the physiological semantic core. 2×
AR["تُنتِجُ", "وَلَدَنا"]·ben["জন্ম-দিলেন", "জন্ম-দেয়"]·DE["gebaeren"]·EN["brings-forth", "he-gave-birth-to"]·FR["ἀπεκύησεν", "ἀποκύει"]·heb["הוֹלִיד", "מוֹלִיד"]·HI["उत्पन्न-करता-है", "जन्म-दिया"]·ID["Dia-melahirkan", "menghasilkan"]·IT["apekuēsen", "apokuei"]·jav["nglairaken", "nuwuhaken"]·KO["낳는다", "낳으셨다"]·PT["gera", "gerou"]·RU["порождает", "родил"]·ES["engendra", "nos-engendró"]·SW["alituzaa", "inazaa"]·TR["doğurdu", "doğurur"]·urd["جنا", "جنتا-ہے"]
Related Senses
H7200 1. Qal: to see, perceive (1257×)G4771 2. you (singular address) (1077×)H8085 1. Qal: hear, perceive aurally (921×)H0859a 1. you (2nd person masculine singular pronoun) (743×)H0398 1. eat (consume food) (697×)H4191 1. die (Qal: natural/general death) (645×)G3708 1. see, perceive visually (419×)G0191 1. hear, perceive sound (360×)H???? 3. (352×)G3708 2. behold, look (exclamatory) (256×)H7272 1. foot (body part) (236×)H8354 1. drink, consume liquid (209×)H3205 1. Qal active: bear/give birth (female subject) (204×)H3205 2. Qal active: beget/father (male subject) (198×)H2421 1. Qal: live, be alive (177×)H8085 2. Qal: listen, heed, pay attention (172×)H2416a 1. alive, living (state/attribute) (146×)H2416e 1. life, lifespan, lifetime (145×)G2198 1. be alive, have life (133×)H8193 1. lip, lips (body part) (123×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
ἀποκῠ-έω, bear young, bring forth, with accusative, NT+4th c.BC+:—passive, of the child, Refs 1st c.AD+ (passive participle ἀποκυόμεναRefs 1st c.AD+