Colossians 1:15 BSB

Colossians 1:15

The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.

BSB

Parallel translations (2) ▾

ASV

who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation;

KJV

Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:

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Commentary

1 voice

Athanasius of Alexandria

296–373

Discourses Against the Arians 2.63 (373)

Not then because He was from the Father was He called `First-born,' but because in Him the creation came to be; and as before the creation He was the Son, through whom was the creation, so also before He was called the First-born of the whole creation, not the less was the Word Himself with God and the Word was God. But this also not understanding, these irreligious men go about saying, `If He is First-born of all creation, it is plain that He too is one of the creation.'

Voices on this verse

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Original language & word study

10 tagged words

Original	Transliteration	Meaning	Word study
ὅς	hos	[He]	G3739 →
ἐστιν	estin	is	G1510 →
εἰκὼν	eikōn	[the] image	G1504 →
τοῦ	tou	of the	G3588 →
θεοῦ	theou	God	G2316 →
τοῦ	tou	<the>	G3588 →
ἀοράτου,	aoratou	invisible,	G517 →
πρωτότοκος	prōtotokos	[the] firstborn	G4416 →
πάσης	pasēs	over all	G3956 →
κτίσεως·	ktiseōs	creation;	G2937 →

The walk

The walk8

Where the connections lead

Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.

Through
John 1:1
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
leads to
- Genesis 1:1
  In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
- John 17:5
  And now, Father, glorify Me in Your presence with the glory I had with You before the world existed.
- Revelation 19:13
  He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and His name is The Word of God.
- Colossians 1:17
  He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.
- John 1:14
  The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the one and only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
Through
2 Corinthians 4:4
The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers so they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
leads to
- John 12:40
  “He has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts, so that they cannot see with their eyes, and understand with their hearts, and turn, and I would heal them.”
- Acts 26:18
  to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those sanctified…
- 2 Corinthians 3:14
  But their minds were closed. For to this day the same veil remains at the reading of the old covenant. It has not been lifted, because only in Christ can it be removed.