"Col 1:15 Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:"
Colossians 1:13-19 Evangelical Heritage Version (EHV)
13 The Father rescued us from the domain of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, 14 in whom we have redemption,[a] the forgiveness of sins.
15 He is the image of the invisible God, the
firstborn over all creation, 16 for in him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, things seen and unseen, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities;
all things have been created through him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and all things hold together in him.
18 He is also the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning,
the firstborn from the dead, so that in all things he might have the highest rank. 19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him,
From the context of above, Jesus has preeminence over everything created and has the highest rank over everyone resurrected.
"
The first-born of every creature - I suppose this phrase to mean the same as that, Phi 2:9 : God hath given him a name which is above every name; he is as man at the head of all the creation of God; nor can he with any propriety be considered as a creature, having himself created all things, and existed before any thing was made. "
http://www.forananswer.org/Colossians/Col1_15.htm
Rev 3:14 beginning of the creation of God
New International Version
"To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God's creation.
Christian Standard Bible
"Write to the angel of the church in Laodicea: Thus says the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the originator of God's creation:
Contemporary English Version
This is what you must write to the angel of the church in Laodicea: I am the one called Amen! I am the faithful and true witness and the source of God's creation. Listen to what I say.
Good News Translation
"To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: "This is the message from the Amen, the faithful and true witness, who is the origin of all that God has created.
Holman Christian Standard Bible
"Write to the angel of the church in Laodicea: "The Amen, the faithful and true Witness, the Originator of God's creation says:
International Standard Version
"To the messenger of the church in Laodicea, write: 'The Amen, the witness who is faithful and true, the originator of God's creation, says this:
NET Bible
"To the angel of the church in Laodicea write the following: "This is the solemn pronouncement of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the originator of God's creation:
New Heart English Bible
"To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: "The Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the Head of God's creation, says these things:
Aramaic Bible in Plain English
“And to The Messenger of the assembly of the Laidiqians write: “Thus says The Eternal, The Trustworthy and True Witness, and The Source of The Creation of God:”
Young's Literal Translation
'And to the messenger of the assembly of the Laodiceans write: These things saith the Amen, the witness -- the faithful and true -- the chief of the creation of God;
GOD'S WORD® Translation
"To the messenger of the church in Laodicea, write: The amen, the witness who is faithful and true, the source of God's creation, says:
A better translation would be, "ruler, source, origin of the creation of God"
"
Delling in Kittel’s
Theological Dictionary Of The New Testament on page 479 made an important statement that needs to be kept in mind while looking at occurrences of
arch, “
arch always signifies “primacy,” whether in time “beginning,” principium or in rank: “power,” “dominion,” “office.” As a foundation, Rev. 3:14 needs to be put in the context of the entire book of Revelation. In 1:5, Jesus is called the (Ruler)
arcwn over the Earth’s Kings and the faithful witness. The parallelism is unmistakable. Notice also ‘the Faithful and True Witness and ‘the Faithful Witness.’
arcwn obviously overlaps in meaning with
arch as can be seen from a check of the standard lexicons. In 1:17, Jesus is “The First and The Last” as in 2:8 and 22:13. YHWH in the Old Testament has this name in Isaiah 44:6 and 48:12. In Rev. 5:13-14, a picture is given of “One sitting on the throne” and “to the Lamb” receiving worship. In 22:13, Jesus is given three names: The First and The Last, The Beginning and The End, and The Alpha and The Omega. This gives Jesus the same names of the Almighty as in 1:8 and 21:6. This is the high Christology of Revelation.
What we have in Rev. 3:14 are three event words which are titles for Jesus. The first title is
The Amen. This is most probably the same title of YHWH in Isaiah 65:16. His second title is “
The Faithful and True Witness.” His third title is “The
Ruler.” It could also mean ‘Source.’ Ruler or Source are both (event words) titles in this context. Beginning does not fit the immediate or the wider context. Mr. Stafford wants
arch to have a passive use. By doing this, he destroys the parallelism of the titles. I understand the genitive in Rev. 3:14 to be objective. Therefore, as D.B. Wallace stated in his grammar,
Greek Grammar Beyond The Basics, page 116, “the genitive substantive functions semantically as the
direct object of the verbal idea implicit in the head noun.”
In certain examples where beginning is a possibility, I think that we would find that more of an idea of ‘chief things’ would be more proper. For example, in Mark 1:1, ARCHE could mean ‘chief things’, ‘essentials’, or ‘summary.’ See Allen Wikgren in
JBL ARCHE TOU EUAGGELIOU pages 11-20 (need vol and date).
Another interesting point is that whenever
arch refers to a person, most of the time it has something to do with rule, dominion, or authority of some type(of course, only persons can be rulers). This is backed up from the LXX, New Testament, and secular usage. J.R. Mantey in
Depth Explorations In The New Testament on page 100 stated, “Outside the NT, we found the following ideas expressed by the word:
Beginning or
Source, eighty-seven times;
authority, forty times;
office, thirty-six times;
ruler or
commander, thirty-two times;
realm or
dominion, eighteen times. A few samplings of the usage as
ruler are: Plutarch,
Morals II.151F, “he held the greatest and the most perfect position as a
ruler.” In
Lives VIII,
Sertorius 10, “They were altogether lacking in a
commander of great reputation.” In
Morals V.75.E, “For it is not fitting for the
Ruler and Lord of all to listen to anyone.” In
Diodorus Siculus II Bk.3.5.1, “him the multitudes take for their
king.” In Philo,
Alleg. III.58, “for the sake of being a
ruler with governors”; 66, ”Amalek, the
ruler of nations.” Ruler in Rev. 3:14 also comports well with one of the most famous Messianic prophecies Isaiah 9:5-6 where the LXX uses
arch for Christ’s rule. I end with a quote from Louw & Nida’s
Greek-English Lexicon page 779, entry 89.16, “one who or that which constitutes an initial cause – ‘first cause, origin.’ H ARCHE THS KTISEOS TOU THOU ‘the origin of what God has created’ Rev. 3:14. It is also possible to understand
arch in Rev. 3:14 as meaning ‘ruler’ (see 37.56).”
http://www.forananswer.org/Rev/Rv3_14.htm
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firstborn of every creature[/QUOTE]
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