The Narrow Path Ministries

“I came forth from the Father and have come into the world. Again, I leave the world and go to the Father.” NKJV
"I came from the Father and entered the world; now I am leaving the world and going back to the Father.” NIV

KJV, NKJV and NASB all have 'forth'
NIV, ESV, CSB, all omit 'forth'

Not trying to make a mountain from a mole hill just looking into this passage. Could this be affirming the view that at one time the son was generated?

thanks

I think that is exactly what it says. As I understand the early Christian writers, the divine Son was begotten or generated by the Father (not created)—the first of God's acts.

The first words of the passage in Greek are: ἐξηλθον ἐκ του πατρος (exālthon ek tou patros).
Both "ex" and "ek" are forms of the word "out". So "exālthon" means "I came out" or "I emerged." And "ek tou patros" means "out of the Father."
Put them together and we have, "I emerged out of the Father."
The whole verse:

"I emerged out of the Father and have come into the Cosmos; again, I am leaving the Cosmos and am going to the Father."

I think God and His Son now transcend the Cosmos or Universe. If man could travel to any point in the Universe, he would never find God or Jesus. My thought is that They don't exist within the Universe but "outside" of it. So I think Jesus said, in effect, that after being begotten or generated by God, that is, emerging out of God, He came into the physical Universe. After the Father raised Him from the dead, He left the physical Universe and went to His Father "outside" the Universe. There's probably a more descriptive phrase than "outside the Universe" but "outside" is the only word of which I can think right now to describe this transcendence.