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17 He himself is before all things and all things are held together[a] in him.
18 He is the head of the body, the church, as well as the beginning, the firstborn[b] from the dead, so that he himself may become first in all things.[c]

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Footnotes

  1. Colossians 1:17 tn BDAG 973 s.v. συνίστημι B.3 suggests “continue, endure, exist, hold together” here.
  2. Colossians 1:18 tn See the note on the term “firstborn” in 1:15. Here the reference to Jesus as the “firstborn from the dead” seems to be arguing for a chronological priority, i.e., Jesus was the first to rise from the dead.
  3. Colossians 1:18 tn Grk “in order that he may become in all things, himself, first.”