‘Begetting’ in the Bible means ‘conceiving’. Begetting describes the key role the father plays in reproducing – by ‘fathering’ he passes on genetic material to the next generation. According to chapters such as Genesis 5 (in the Old Testament) and Matthew 1 (in the New Testament) it is at the time of conception, or begetting, that a man becomes a father and a woman becomes a mother. Although the Bible often draws attention to the birth of a child, it doesn’t always make a distinction between an unborn child and a child that has been born – the Greek word brephos is sometimes used in both instances (eg Luke 1:44 and Luke 2:12).