The Greek noun genetē (γενετή) means birth or the time of birth. It appears only once in the New Testament (John 9:1), in the description of the man who was blind 'from birth' (ek genetēs) — from his very beginning. This phrase emphasizes that his condition was congenital, not acquired.
The phrase 'blind from birth (ek genetēs)' in John 9 establishes the impossibility of the healing from a purely human perspective. No one born blind had ever been healed in recorded Jewish history. When Jesus heals this man, he is not restoring lost sight but creating sight that never existed — a new creation act. The disciples' question ('Who sinned?') reveals common theological assumptions about suffering. Jesus rejects that framework entirely: 'This happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him.' The genetē — birth condition — became the occasion for divine glory.