The Greek adjective artigennētos combines arti (just now, G737) with gennētos (born), meaning 'just born' or 'newborn.' Peter uses this vivid term in his first epistle to describe the spiritual condition and longing that should characterize believers who have been born again.
Peter's exhortation in 1 Peter 2:2 — 'Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation' — captures the essence of the new birth. Just as a newborn infant has an instinctive, urgent, wholehearted craving for nourishment, so the newly regenerated believer should have a natural and intense desire for God's Word. The image is both humbling (we begin as infants, dependent and needy) and hopeful (infants grow). The goal is not to remain a newborn indefinitely but to grow up into the full stature of Christ — mature, stable, and fruit-bearing.