CHRIST’S SUPREMACY OVER ALL CREATION

VERSE 15

ὅς ἐστιν εἰκὼν τοῦ θεοῦ τοῦ ἀοράτου

Ὅς (nom. sg. masc. of rel. pron. ὅς, ἥ, ὅ) refers to the “dearly loved Son” (v. 13); TNIV, “the Son is . . . . ” ᾽Εστιν is a timeless/atemporal present (cf. Z §372); either Jesus, as God’s Son, is eternally the outward projection of the Father, or after his incarnation Jesus remains forever God’s visible expression; cf. Dunn 89n16.

Εἰκών (-όνος, ἡ, image) is nom. after the vb. εἰμί, and is anar. because a pred. noun after εἰμί sometimes lacks the article (cf. 2 Cor 4:4). It is definite (“the image,” “the visible image” [NLT], “the visible representation” [Cassirer]) although anar. An εἰκών is a “likeness” or a “visible expression.” The degree of resemblance between the archetype and the copy must be determined by the word’s context but could range from a partial or superficial resemblance to a complete or essential likeness. Given 1:19 and 2:9, εἰκών here signifies that Jesus is an exact, as well as a visible, representation of God. See H. Kleinknecht, TDNT 2:388–90, 395–96; Turner, Words 225–27; and the full discussion in Wilson 129–33.

Τοῦ θεοῦ may be classified broadly as gen. of relationship (see BDF §162; T 212; Z §39: “general gen.”) or more narrowly as gen. of poss. (“the image of God” = the image that God has), but it could also be seen as an obj. gen. (Jesus “images” God). Τοῦ θεοῦ τοῦ ἀοράτου means the same as τοῦ ἀοράτου θεοῦ, “of the invisible God” (see BDF §270; T 185 on the position of attrib. adjs.). The adj. ἀοράτου (ἀόρατος, -ον, a two-termination adj.), which stands in contrast to εἰκών (“visible expression”), is used to describe not merely what has not been seen (= unseen) but also what cannot be seen by mortal sight (= invisible; as also in v. 16). The invisible God, who dwells in unapproachable light (1 Tim 6:16), is visibly expressed in his Son (cf. John 1:18; 12:45; 14:9).

πρωτότοκος πάσης κτίσεως

Like εἰκών, πρωτότοκος (-ον, a two-termination adj., “firstborn”; cf. the adj. πρωτοτόκος, -ον, “bearing for the first time”) is anar. but definite (see 1:15a). The “firstborn” was either the eldest child in a family or a person of preeminent rank. The use of this term to describe the Davidic king in Ps 88:28 (LXX) ( = Ps 89:27, EVV), “I will also appoint him my firstborn (πρωτότοκον), the most exalted of the kings of the earth,” indicates that it can denote supremacy in rank as well as priority in time. But whether the πρωτό- element in the word denotes time, rank, or both, the significance of the -τοκος element as indicating birth or origin (from τίκτω, give birth to) has been virtually lost except in ref. to lit. birth (Luke 2:7; cf. W. Michaelis, TDNT 6:878). See also P. T. O’Brien, DPL 302–3.

Κτίσις, -εως, ἡ, creation, creature. Πάσης κτίσεως could be distributive in sense, “every creature” (BDAG 573a, 782b) or “every created thing” (R 772, with hesitation); or collective, even though πάσης is anar., “the whole of creation” (T 199–200) or “all creation” (Barth-Blanke 1, 197; Dunn 83; Wilson 123). This gen. is either obj., “supreme over all creation,” “He it is who takes precedence over everything created” (Cassirer), “His is the primacy over all creation” (REB) (sim. Wallace 104, 128, who classifies this as a “gen. of subordination,” a category unknown to the standard grammars); or a gen. of comparison (for this use, see BDF §185; Moule 42; R 516; T 216), “prior to all creation,” with the superlative πρωτό- (“first”) having a comp. sense (“earlier [than]”; “begotten before all creation,” Barclay; see T 32; Turner, Insights 23–24 for such a usage). It could scarcely be partitive gen. (see on 1:12), “first(born) among all created things,” with πάσης κτίσεως denoting the whole of which the πρωτότοκος was the first part, since (1) v. 16a distinguishes Jesus from “all creation” when it affirms that “the whole universe” (τὰ πάντα) was created “in” him; (2) if Paul had believed that Jesus was the first of God’s creatures to be formed, the adj. πρωτόκτιστος or πρωτόγονος (“created first”) or πρωτόπλαστος (“formed first”) might have been expected instead of πρωτότοκος, and v. 16a would have continued “for all other things were created in him” ( ὅτι ἐν αὐτῷ ἐκτίσθη πάντα τὰ ἄλλα).

VERSE 16

ὅτι ἐν αὐτῷ ἐκτίσθη τὰ πάντα ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς

In BGk. ὅτι ranges in meaning from a weak “for” to a strong “because” (cf. T 318). Here (as a strong “because”) it introduces the reason for Christ’s priority over all creation: “because in him all things were created. ᾽Εκτίσθη (3 sg. aor. pass. indic. of κτίζω, create) refers to creation’s occurrence in the past, the constative aor. pointing to creation either as a single action or as a process or series of actions viewed as a whole. The vb. is sg. with a neut. pl. subj. (τὰ πάντα), but this general rule of CGk. is not always followed in BGk. (BDF §133; T 312–13; R 403–4). As opposed to πάντα, which means “all things,” “everything” in a distributive sense, τὰ πάντα means “all things collectively” (Lightfoot 149). This totality is here “all things in heaven and on earth,” and not exactly “the universe, namely, things in heaven and things on earth” (which would require τὰ πάντα τὰ ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς καὶ τὰ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς, as in TR; on this textual question, see Lightfoot 149–50).

The prep. phrase ἐν αὐτῷ may be instr. (“by him,” NASB², HCSB, ESV), comparable in sense with δἰ αὐτοῦ (“through him,” v. 16d; so BDF §219[1]; Zerwick, Analysis 448) or even causal (“because of”) (T 253; but cf. later Turner, Insights 124), but a locat. or local sense is to be preferred. “All things in heaven and on earth” were created in God’s beloved Son (v. 13), not in the sense that he was the preexistent or ideal archetype of creation but in the sense that creation occurred “in association with” Christ (BDAG 327d) or, better, “within the person of” Christ. In his person resided the creative energy that produced all of creation (Vincent 897; cf. R 587–88); in the work of creation God did not act apart from Christ. But Barth-Blanke 198 regards the ἐν as explained by the following διά and εἰς (v. 16d). For a chart indicating the frequency of prepositions in the NT and the predominance of ἐν, see Wallace (357), who rightly observes that “In general, the more common a preposition is, the more varied are its uses.”

τὰ ὁρατὰ καὶ τὰ ἀόρατα

`Ορατός, -ή, -όν, visible. For ἀόρατος see on v. 15. The neut. pl. of an adj. with the art. denotes a class (cf. BDF §263[4]): “things visible and things invisible.” It is possible that τὰ ὁρατά corresponds to ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς and τὰ ἀόρατα to ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς, so that there is a chiasmus (A–B–B–A): what is on earth is visible, what is in heaven is invisible. But it is more likely that we have here two different but partially overlapping classifications of reality—one by locality (earth—heaven), the other by essence (visible/invisible; cf. Lightfoot 149).

εἴτε θρόνοι εἴτε κυριότητες εἴτε ἀρχαὶ εἴτε ἐξουσίαι

“Things invisible” are now defined in a typical but not exhaustive list (“everything . . . including . . . , CEV; “invisible orders . . . such as . . . , Cassirer) of four classes of supernatural powers or spiritual beings, each class being introduced by the particle εἴτε, used here as a copulative (cf. T 333). By metonymy θρόνοι (“the enthroned,” BDAG 460c) are probably angelic occupants of heavenly thrones, although Wilson (141) suggests “all the powers of heaven, both good and evil,” while κυριότητες (nom. pl. of κυριότης, -ητος, ἡ, “ruling power/force, dominion”; cf. BDAG 579b), ἀρχαί (“rulers,” NRSV, HCSB, ESV; Wilson 123), and ἐξουσίαι (“authorities,” NASB², HCSB, ESV; Dunn 83) are supernatural potentates who exercise (respectively) “dominion,” “rule,” and “authority” in heavenly realms. Wilson, however, finds a twofold chiastic sequence here so that thrones and dominions belong to the invisible heavenly realm, while rulers and powers belong to the visible earthly realm (140). See further Turner, Words 28–32, 115–16, 348–49, 448–49; For Further Study 27, “Principalities and Powers in Paul (2:10, 15).

τὰ πάντα δἰ αὐτοῦ καὶ εἰς αὐτὸν ἔκτισταἴ

Εκτισται is 3 sg. pf. pass. indic. of κτίζω, create. Note the chiasmus: ἐκτίσθη (aor.) τὰ πάντα . . . τὰ πάντα . . . ἔκτισται (pf.). In nonliterary HGk., and to some extent in the NT, the distinction between the aor. and pf. tenses tends to become blurred so that we find both aoristic pfs. and perfective aors. (see Moulton 140–45; T 68–72, 81–85), but where the same vb. (here κτίζω) is used in successive sentences with the same subj. (τὰ πάντα) and in the same voice (pass.), we should probably distinguish between the tenses rather than attribute the change to stylistic variation (cf. ἐγένετο . . . γέγονεν, John 1:3). Turner proposes: “were once created (ἐκτίσθη) . . . have been created (and now exist) (ἔκτισται)” (Insights 125; sim. NRSV, NASB², TNIV; cf. BDF §342[1]; R 896). The pf. here emphasizes the state resulting from the past event of creation, pointing not to continuous acts of creation (true though such an idea may be in a limited sense) but to the permanent “createdness” of creation. All things have been created, and remain in their created existence, through Christ and for him. Thus “the whole universe” (REB) (τὰ πάντα, a synonym for πᾶσα κτίσις, v. 15 [Barth-Blanke 199]) has an ongoing relationship to Christ. ̓́Εκτισται is thus a prelude to συνέστηκεν (see comments on v. 17b).

Δι᾽ αὐτοῦ (the α of διά is elided before an initial diphthong; cf. BDF §17) indicates the agency of Christ in creation. But since this prep. + gen. can express ultimate cause (e.g., Rom 11:36) as well as intermediate agency (pace Wallace 433), there may be no special emphasis here on Christ’s mediatorial or cooperative role in creation (Z §113; Harris 1182). It is perfectly legitimate, however, to see behind the passives ἐκτίσθη and ἔκτισται an allusion to God as Creator (thus O’Brien 45 and GNB), who acts in, through, and for Christ. Εἰς αὐτόν might mean “for him,” i.e., for his benefit or glory (thus equivalent to αὐτῷ), or it might mean “to him,” i.e., with him as the ultimate goal (τέλος) or, as Zerwick expresses it (in Aristotelian terminology), the “final cause” (Z §§109, 287). On this second view, there is now, and will be at the End, “a teleological convergence of reality on Christ” (Harris 1186; cf. Rev 22:13). For a discussion of the theology of Colossians under the rubric of Christology or “Christ as the Core of Reality,” see Barclay, Col. 79–92.

VERSE 17

καὶ αὐτός ἐστιν πρὸ πάντων

Although some NT uses of αὐτός anticipate MGk., where αὐτός means “he, this, that” and not “himself” (cf. BDF §277[3]; T 40), here and in v. 18a the wider context indicates that the word is clearly emphatic: “he himself” (NRSV; Dunn 83; Wilson 123) “he and no other” (cf. T 40; R 679). Among supernatural potentates Jesus has no rival for the lordship of the universe (v. 17a) and the church (v. 18a). On personal pronouns expressing emphasis, see Wallace 321 and n. 11.

Αυτος εστιν may be accented in two ways: as αὐτὸς ἔστιν, “he himself exists”; or as αὐτός ἐστιν, “he himself is,” where ἐστιν is a mere copula uniting subj. and pred. On this point of accentuation, see MH 203; R 233–34. Like πρωτότοκος in v. 15, πρό may denote time (“before”), status (“supreme over”), or both. Four options in translation emerge:

1. “He himself exists before all things” (temporally; sim. REB; R 234, 622 [“probably”], 679; Lightfoot 153–54). The pres. ἔστιν is used, rather than the impf. ἦν (“he existed,” Goodspeed, JB), because he continues to exist, and because, corresponding to the first pers. ἐγώ εἰμι (“I am”), αὐτὸς ἔστιν denotes Christ’s absolute existence (cf. John 8:58) and therefore indicates that his preexistence is not simply premundane but also eternal. Cf. Weymouth: “And HE IS before all things” (citing Exod 3:14; John 8:48).

2. “He himself exists in supremacy over all things.”

*3. “He himself is before all things” (temporally; Wilson 123, 143; sim. most EVV; O’Brien 47). Such preexistence would imply preeminence.

4. “He himself is supreme over all things” (sim. Barth-Blanke 204; W. Michaelis, TDNT 6:879). In this case ἐστιν denotes Christ’s timeless existence.

While πρό does not often denote precedence in importance (BDAG 864c cites Jas 5:12; 1 Pet 4:8), it would seem unwise to exclude here this notion of supremacy of status, given the use of πρωτότοκος in v. 15 and of πρωτεύων in v. 18. If, then, this clause expresses the dual concept of time and status (cf. Robertson, Pictures 479; Harris 1177, followed by Dunn 93n24), this ambiguity may be reproduced in Eng. with “he himself is before all things” or “he is prior to all” (Moffatt) or “he exists (ἔστιν) before everything” (NEB).

Πάντων could be masc., referring to the θρόνοι κτλ., but the use of τὰ πάντα in vv. 16 (twice), 17b, and 20 suggests it is neut. (“all things,” “everything”).

καὶ τὰ πάντα ἐν αὐτῷ συνέστηκεν

As in v. 16d, τὰ πάντα refers to “the universe” (BDAG 784b; R 773–74, “the sum of things”). As in v. 16a, ἐν αὐτῷ is locat. (“in him”) rather than instr. (“by him,” R 534; Weymouth has “in and through Him”). Συνέστηκεν is 3 sg. (with neut. pl. subj.) pf. act. indic. of συνίστημι, cohere, hold together; here an intrans. pf. with a pres. meaning. “In him all things hold together. What Christ has created he maintains in permanent order, stability, and productivity. He is the source of the unity (συν-, together) and cohesiveness or solidarity (συν-ίστημι, cohere) of the whole universe. But it is not impossible that συνίστημι denotes subsistence rather than coherence: “all things have their existence in him” (W. Kasch, TDNT 7:897). Commentators who regard v. 17 as transitional (see above, “Structure,” [3]) and therefore as dealing with both creation and redemption argue that this vb. indicates that both the physical universe and the Church owe their coherence to Christ, and that πρὸ πάντων (v. 17a) denotes his priority over the new creation as well as the old.