The Meaning of “Firstborn”

Colossians 1:15 states that Christ is the “firstborn of every creature.”  Paul’s use of “firstborn” [prototokos] here does not mean that he thought Christ was a created being.  Psalm 89:27 states that the Father would make His firstborn “higher than the kings of the earth.”  In other words, Paul is stressing Jesus’ Messianic priority and sovereignty over all creation (“the kings of the earth”).

Prototokos is the combination of two Greek words, protos (“first”) and tokos (“bringing forth; offspring”1).  All other creatures (verses 16 and 17) are also the offspring of God, but Christ is exalted as the Son of God above all as heir of all things.  The expression does not mean that He is begotten before all creatures, rather it is that He sustains the highest rank (as well as time) over all creation.

The superlative, protos, is an adjective that indicates a degree of intensity and quality (cf. 1:18).  The Old Testament meaning of the firstborn would be that Christ is the heir to the created universe.  Christ is the preeminent and sovereign One over all creation in His relation (“image”) to the Father.  The Davidic King as God’s firstborn son (2 Sam. 7:12-16) carries on the Old Testament background of Israel’s earliest history whereby God advances His promise of salvation through the coming Messiah by choosing One as His own firstborn son (irregardless of birth order2) and covenanting with the firstborn.

The “firstborn” concept that Jesus is a created being (e.g. the eldest in Jehovah’s family of sons) is inaccurate.  The term does not mean birth order when it involves covenant and redemptive privilege, for the simple reason that none of the patriarchs carried the covenantally significant birthright that belonged to a firstborn son in the sense of birth order.  The patriarchs were firstborn only in the birth right sense.  Ultimately, the firstborn son who held the birth right in the covenantal-redemptive sense was Christ.  Thus, Jesus is the “firstborn” who brings the hopes and promises of the nation to realization.  He is the firstborn who redeems the world (Ex. 4:22).  He is the firstborn who rules His kingdom (all creation) as the Son of David (Ps. 89:27; 2 Sam. 7:12-14).  All previous history points to Him and waited for Him.3  The “firstborn” is the promised Messiah of Israel who rules and reigns over His creation.  When Paul calls Jesus the “firstborn” in Colossians he was declaring Jesus to be the prophesied Messiah.

“Who is…the firstborn of every creature” (Col. 1:15).  The Jewish “firstborn” son occupied a superior role in the family, especially as the primary heir, receiving two thirds of the family estate.  As the Son of God, Jesus Christ is entitled to all the rights of a firstborn, having first place in everything, and preeminence over all creation.

1 William D. Mounce, The Analytical Lexicon to the Greek New Testament (Grand Rapids:  Zondervan, 1993), p. 452.

2 Peter T. O’ Brien, Colossians, Philemon, Word Biblical Commentary (Waco:  Word Books, 1982), p. 44.

3 R.C. Lucas, The Message of Colossians & Philemon (Downers Grove:  InterVarsity Press, 1980), pp. 50-51.