Colossians 1:18 BSB

Colossians 1:18

And He is the head of the body, the church; He is the beginning and firstborn from among the dead, so that in all things He may have preeminence.

BSB

Parallel translations (2) ▾

ASV

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.

KJV

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.

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Commentary

4 voices

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible (1832)

He is the head of the body - What the apostle has said in the two preceding verses refers to the Divine nature of Jesus Christ; he now proceeds to speak of his human nature, and to show how highly that is exalted beyond all created things, and how, in that, he is head of the Church - the author and dispenser of light, life, and salvation, to the Christian world; or, in other words, that from him, as the man in whom the fullness of the Godhead bodily dwelt, all the mercy and salvation of the Gospel system is to be received.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)

So that forgiveness is the beginning of redemption, as the resurrection is the completion of it. Who is - By describing the glory of Christ, and his preeminence over the highest angels, the apostle here lays a foundation for the reproof of all worshippers of angels.

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

All our hopes and joys take their rise from him who is the author of our salvation. Not that he was the first who ever rose from the dead, but the first and only one who rose by his own power, and was declared to be the Son of God, and Lord of all things. And he is the head of the resurrection, and has given us an example and evidence of our resurrection from the dead.

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

Charles Spurgeon

1834–1892

The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 839: “The Head of the Church” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition) (1868)

As if to show us that this title of "Head of the Church" is to be held in highest esteem, it is here placed in connection with the loftiest honors of our Lord Jesus. In the same breath the Son of God is styled "the image of the invisible God," "the first-born of every creature," the Creator of all existence, and then, "the head of the body, the church."

Voices on this verse

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Original language & word study

22 tagged words

Original	Transliteration	Meaning	Word study
καὶ	kai	And	G2532 →
αὐτός	autos	He himself	G846 →
ἐστιν	estin	is	G1510 →
ἡ	hē	the	G3588 →
κεφαλὴ	kephalē	head	G2776 →
τοῦ	tou	of the	G3588 →
σώματος	sōmatos	body	G4983 →
τῆς	tēs	the	G3588 →
ἐκκλησίας·	ekklēsias	church;	G1577 →
ὅς	hos	who	G3739 →
ἐστιν	estin	is	G1510 →
ἀρχή,	archē	beginning,	G746 →
πρωτότοκος	prōtotokos	firstborn	G4416 →
ἐκ	ek	out from	G1537 →
τῶν	tōn	the	G3588 →
νεκρῶν,	nekrōn	dead,	G3498 →
ἵνα	ina	so that	G2443 →
γένηται	genētai	may be	G1096 →
ἐν	en	in	G1722 →
πᾶσιν	pasin	all things	G3956 →
αὐτὸς	autos	He himself	G846 →
πρωτεύων·	prōteuōn	holding preeminence;	G4409 →

Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread: the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.

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
Matthew 28:18
Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me.
leads to
- John 3:35
  The Father loves the Son and has placed all things in His hands.
- 1 Peter 3:22
  who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers subject to Him.
- Matthew 11:27
  All things have been entrusted to Me by My Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses…
- Ephesians 1:20–22
  which He exerted in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly realms,
- Hebrews 2:8
  and placed everything under his feet.” When God subjected all things to him, He left nothing outside of his control. Yet at present we do not see everything subject to him.
Through
Revelation 1:5
and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him who loves us and has released us from our sins by…
leads to
- Psalms 89:27
  I will indeed appoint him as My firstborn, the highest of the kings of the earth.
- Hebrews 9:14
  how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself unblemished to God, purify our consciences from works of death, so that we may serve the living God!
- 1 John 1:7
  But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.