Colossians 1:18
And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.
Study Note
Study Note
The declaration that Christ 'is the head of the body, the church' and 'the beginning, the firstborn from the dead' — so that 'in all things he might have the preeminence' — links ecclesiology directly to christology and eschatology in a single verse. The term 'firstborn from the dead' (prōtotokos ek tōn nekrōn) makes the resurrection the basis of Christ's new-creation headship, paralleling the cosmological firstborn of verse 15 with a soteriological title. The image of Christ as head of the body draws on Stoic cosmological language about the Logos as the rational principle governing the universe, but radically personalizes it by rooting it in the particular history of the crucified and risen Jesus. Ephesians 1:22-23 and 4:15-16 develop this metaphor into a full ecclesiology of mutual dependence between head and body.
Other Translations
And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.
And himself is the head of the body--the assembly--who is a beginning, a first-born out of the dead, that he might become in all <FI>things<Fi> --himself--first,
And he is the head of the body, the church: the starting point of all things, the first to come again from the dead; so that in all things he might have the chief place.
Cross References
Thou art fairer than the children of men: grace is poured into thy lips: therefore God hath blessed thee for …
Thine arrows are sharp in the heart of the king’s enemies; whereby the people fall under thee.
Also I will make him my firstborn, higher than the kings of the earth.
My beloved is white and ruddy, the chiefest among ten thousand.
Behold, my servant shall deal prudently, he shall be exalted and extolled, and be very high.
But be not ye called Rabbi: for one is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren.
And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace.
He it is, who coming after me is preferred before me, whose shoe’s latchet I am not worthy to unloose.