Psalm 2:7
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
7 I will proclaim the decree of the Lord,
he said to me, “You are my son;
today I have begotten you.(A)
Psalm 110:2-3
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
2 The scepter of your might:
the Lord extends your strong scepter from Zion.
Have dominion over your enemies!
3 Yours is princely power from the day of your birth.
In holy splendor before the daystar,
like dew I begot you.(A)
2 Samuel 7:9
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
9 I was with you wherever you went, and I cut down all your enemies before you. And I will make your name like that of the greatest on earth.(A)
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2 Samuel 7:14
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
14 I will be a father to him, and he shall be a son to me. If he does wrong, I will reprove him with a human rod and with human punishments;(A)
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Colossians 1:15
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
II. The Preeminence of Christ
His Person and Work
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- 1:15–20 As the poetic arrangement indicates, these lines are probably an early Christian hymn, known to the Colossians and taken up into the letter from liturgical use (cf. Phil 2:6–11; 1 Tm 3:16). They present Christ as the mediator of creation (Col 1:15–18a) and of redemption (Col 1:18b–20). There is a parallelism between firstborn of all creation (Col 1:15) and firstborn from the dead (Col 1:18). While many of the phrases were at home in Greek philosophical use and even in gnosticism, the basic ideas also reflect Old Testament themes about Wisdom found in Prv 8:22–31; Wis 7:22–8:1; and Sir 1:4. See also notes on what is possibly a hymn in Jn 1:1–18.
- 1:15 Image: cf. Gn 1:27. Whereas the man and the woman were originally created in the image and likeness of God (see also Gn 1:26), Christ as image (2 Cor 4:4) of the invisible God (Jn 1:18) now shares this new nature in baptism with those redeemed (cf. Col 3:10–11).
Colossians 1:18
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
18 He is the head of the body, the church.[a]
He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead,
that in all things he himself might be preeminent.(A)
Footnotes
- 1:18 Church: such a reference seemingly belongs under “redemption” in the following lines, not under the “creation” section of the hymn. Stoic thought sometimes referred to the world as “the body of Zeus.” Pauline usage is to speak of the church as the body of Christ (1 Cor 12:12–27; Rom 12:4–5). Some think that the author of Colossians has inserted the reference to the church here so as to define “head of the body” in Paul’s customary way. See Col 1:24. Preeminent: when Christ was raised by God as firstborn from the dead (cf. Acts 26:23; Rev 1:5), he was placed over the community, the church, that he had brought into being, but he is also indicated as crown of the whole new creation, over all things. His further role is to reconcile all things (Col 1:20) for God or possibly “to himself.”
Revelation 1:5
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
5 and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead and ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who loves us and has freed us[a] from our sins by his blood,(A)
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