FIRSTBORN
4416a. prótotokos
Paul is NOT saying Jesus was the first created being!
he is saying Jesus is ABOVE ALL CREATURES! why?
like the 'first born son of families of men' He is the HEIR of all! it's a figure of speech!
it mean pre-eminance, supreme position, not that He was created!
everything belongs to Him!
He is the ARCHITECT of all creation! LOGOS!
first, chief
Original Word: πρῶτος, η, ον
Part of Speech: Adjective
Transliteration: prótos
Phonetic Spelling: (pro'-tos)
Short Definition: first, before
Definition: first, before, principal, most important.
4413 prṓtos (an adjective, derived from
4253 /pró, "before, forward") – first (foremost).
4413 /prṓtos ("first, foremost") is the superlative form of
4253 /pró ("before") meaning "what comes first" (is "number one").
as for Jesus being the IMAGE of the invisible God (THEOS)...how can you reconcile THAT with the idea Jesus is created? is Jesus an entity The Pater decided to make that looks and acts just like Him?
1504 eikṓn (from
1503 /eíkō, "be like") – properly, "mirror-like representation," referring to what is very close in
resemblance (like a "high-definition" projection, as defined by the context).
Image (
1504 /eikṓn) then exactly reflects its
source (what it directly corresponds to). For example,
Christ is the very
image (
1504 /eikṓn,
supreme expression) of the Godhead (see 2 Cor 4:4; Col 1:15).
"
1504 (
eikṓn)
assumes a prototype, of which it not merely resembles, but from which
it is drawn" (R. Trench).
1504 (
eikṓn) then is more than a "shadow"; rather it is a
replication (F. F. Bruce,
Hebrews, 226; see also Lightfoot at Col 3:10 and 2:21).