The California Collection/TheCaliforniaCollection.cdr/his105/protos.lzh/PROTOS.TXT

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EXP:PROTOTOKOS ("Firstborn"):  Its Meaning and Usage in the New Testament  by James White

   The Apostle Paul left us two great passages expressing his teaching
concerning the person of Christ in His pre-incarnate state: Philippians
2:5-7 and Colossians 1:15-17. It is interesting that both passages
provide quite a challenge to the translator, though their meaning
undoubtedly was clear to their original audiences. In the Colossians
passage, Paul describes the Lord Christ as "the image of the invisible
God, the first-born of all creation." (New American Standard Bible). He
then goes on to ascribe to Jesus the creation of "ta panta," all
things, i. e., the universe and all that is in it.(1)

   How, then, are we to understand Paul's use of the phrase, "first-
born"? What does this word tell us about Jesus Christ? How is it used
in the New Testament?

   The word under consideration is "prototokos." It is made up of two
words, "protos," meaning first,(2) and "tokos" from "tikto," "to give
birth."(3). There is little evidence that the word "prototokos" was
used extensively before the time of the Septuagint.(4) Its basic
meaning is the first one born, the first born child. However, it must
be examined in its context to determine its true meaning.

   "Usage in the Septuagint"

   The word "prototokos" is used approximately 130 times in the
Septuagint (LXX). About 70 of those instances will be found in the
genealogical lists of Genesis and Chronicles, and here it retains its
literal meaning of "first-born."(5) The Hebrew word "bekor" is
consistently translated by "prototokos" in the LXX. It must be
remembered that the "bekor," the first-born, was entitled to the double
portion (Deuteronomy 21:17), to the blessing (Genesis 27), and to
special treatment (Genesis 43:33).(6) An etymological study of "bekor"
reveals that it is not related in its root meaning to either the ideas
of "protos" or "tokos," and hence the meanings might have become
"detached altogether from the idea of birth or the whole question of
origin."(7)

   This idea of "prototokos" is seen clearly in the Old Testament. For
example, the Septuagint translators utilized "prototokos" in their
rendition of Exodus 4:22: "Then you shall say to Pharaoh, 'Thus says
the LORD, "Israel is My son, My first-born." ' " (LXX: "prototokos").
Obviously here the emphasis is on the primacy of Israel's relation to
God. Of all nations, Israel is chosen specially by God to occupy a
place of high honor and esteem. In 1 Chronicles 5:1-2 we read of
Reuben, the first-born of Israel, losing his birthright for his sin.
Here the idea of first-born carries with it much more than just
temporal ascendancy.

   In Jeremiah 31:9 the Scriptures record God as saying, "I am a father
to Israel, and Ephraim is My first-born." Passages such as this
provided a basis for the later Rabbinic interpretation that referred to
the nation of Israel as God's "first-born" in the special sense of
Israel's superiority and exaltation above the nations of the earth.
Seemingly the most significant passage is to be found at Psalm 89:27:
"I shall also make him My first-born, the highest of the kings of the
earth." This highly Messianic passage paves the way for a solid
understanding of the use of "prototokos" in the New Testament,
especially in relation to the Messiah, Jesus. In this passage, a clear
emphasis on the pre-eminence and superiority of the coming Messiah is
emphasized.

   "New Testament Usage"

   In the New Testament we find the word "prototokos" used a total of
eight times. Six of these instances are in the singular and refer to
the Lord Christ, two are in the plural form.(8) These passages are:
Luke 2:7, Romans 8:29, Colossians 1:15 and 1:18, Hebrews 1:6, 11:28,
12:23, and Revelation 1:5. The first passage, Luke 2:7 of the Christmas
narrative, refers to the basic meaning of the word as it is used in the
genealogy lists of the Old Testament. The other references, however,
take on a far greater meaning.

   In the New Testament usage, the emphasis is placed not on the
"tokos" but instead upon the "protos." The word stresses superiority
and priority rather than origin or birth. This can be seen as early as
the LXX usage, where it has been pointed out that Israel, as God's
first-born, certainly can not be seen as the first creation of God, but
rather His special choice and pre-eminent people. The Bauer, Arndt,
Gingrich, Danker Lexicon says, "This expression...is also used in some
instances where it is uncertain whether the force of the element
"-tokos" is still felt at all...Col. 1:15."(9)

   In Romans 8:29, the Lord Christ is described as "the first-born
among many brethren." These brethren are, of course, the glorified
Christians. Here the Lord's superiority and sovereignty over "the
brethren" is acknowledged, as well as His leadership in their
salvation. "As the brethren of Christ, all Christians will share his
destiny (c.f. Heb. 2:10-17), and Christ is the pre-eminent Son among
the sons of God (c.f. 1:3)."(10) In Hebrews 1:6 we read, "And when He
again brings the first-born into the world, He says, "And let all the
angels of God worship Him." Here the idea of pre-eminence is obvious,
as all of God's angels are instructed to worship Him, a privilege
rightly reserved only for God (Luke 4:8). The term "prototokos" is used
here as a title, and no idea of birth or origin is seen.

   In both Colossians 1:18 and Revelation 1:5, Christ Jesus is called
the first-born of the dead (or "from" the dead). These would refer
especially to the leadership of Christ in bringing about the
resurrection of the dead and inauguration of a new, eternal life. Some
think that Colossians 1:15-20 is an ancient Christian hymn, and the
Greek words "prototokos" and "proteouon" are a play on sound.(11)

   The greatest amount of discussion and exegesis has centered around
Paul's use of "prototokos pases ktiseos" of Christ in Colossians 1:15.
The early Church Fathers argued it, and modern scholars have spent more
time discussing this use than all seven other instances combined.

   In commenting on this passage, Kenneth Wuest said:

   The Greek word implied two things, priority to all creation and
sovereignty over all creation. In the first meaning we see the absolute
pre-existence of the Logos. Since our Lord existed before all created
things, He must be uncreated. Since He is uncreated, He is eternal.
Since He is eternal, He is God. Since He is God, He cannot be one of
the emanations from deity of which the Gnostic speaks...In the second
meaning we see that He is the natural ruler, the acknowledged head of
God's household...He is Lord of creation.(12)

   It seems the eminent Greek scholar J. B. Lightfoot was behind at
least the outline of Wuest's comments, as he provides much the same
information in his commentary on the usage of "prototokos" in
Colossians 1:15. He would opt for interpreting the phrase in which the
word appears as a genitive of relation.(13) He sees a definite
connection between Paul's use of "prototokos" here and its LXX usage at
Psalm 89:27. He discusses both the aspects of priority to all creation
as well as sovereignty over all creation. Lightfoot quotes one Rabbi
Bechai, who gives us an example of how some of the Jewish Rabbis viewed
"prototokos." R. Bechai described God as the primogenitus mundi, i.e.,
"hos estin prototokos tou kosmou" as translated into Greek. Certainly
R. Bechai did not mean that God had a beginning or origin, but that He
was supreme over all the world. Hence Lightfoot says, "God's
first-born, is the natural ruler, the acknowledged head, of God's
household."(14)

   "The Expositor's Greek Testament" defines "prototokos" in this way:

   ..."prototokos" in its primary sense expresses temporal priority,
and then, on account of the privileges of the firstborn, it gains the
further sense of dominion.(15)

   R. M. Clark put it succinctly: <continued>

   "Prototokos", first-born...The original meaning of the word is
giving birth for the first time. Later it came to mean the first-born
or first in rank. This is the N. T. meaning. In the N. T. the "-tokos"
element is clearly implied only in Luke 2:7, in other places it tends
to recede into the background.(16)

   The "Linguistic Key to the Greek New Testament" by Fritz Reinecker
and Cleon Rogers, distills down the scholastic information and says,
"The word emphasizes the preexistence and uniqueness of Christ as well
as His superiority over creation. The term does not indicate that
Christ was a creation or a created being."(17)

   "Contextual Considerations"

   The context of Colossians 1:15, and the phrase in which we encounter
"prototokos" should weigh heavily in our interpretation of the word.
Many would disagree with the interpretation and above definition due to
the connection of "prototokos" with "pases ktiseos."

   These would interpret this phrase as being a partitive genitive,
making the "prototokos" a part of creation, a created thing, rather
than superior over all things. It is admitted that this could be
construed as a partitive genitive, but "this is excluded by the
context, which sharply distinguishes between the Son and "ta panta,"
and for this idea Paul would probably have used "protoktistos.""(18)
The well-known scholar, A. T. Robertson, wrote:

   The use of this word does not show what Arius argued that Paul
regarded Christ as a creature like "all creation ("pases ktiseos"...)
It is rather the comparative (superlative) force of "protos" that is
used...Paul is here refuting the Gnostics who pictured Christ as one of
the aeons by placing Him before "all creation" (angels and men)...Paul
takes both words to help express the deity of Jesus Christ in his
relation to the Father as "eikon" (Image) and to the universe as
"prototokos" (First-born).(19)

   It does sound strange to the mind accustomed to reading Paul to
imagine him thinking of the One Whom he called "kurios," Lord, as a
creature - a mere creation. For no matter how exalted or glorified a
creature might be, it is still as far removed from the glory of God
Almighty as can be imagined.

   One of the most telling contextual clues to Paul's use of
"prototokos" is the ascription of the creation of all things to Christ
in the following two verses. The phrase used in these verse, "ta
panta," is quite revealing. Paul used this term as a synonym for the
universe and all it contains. It has been well said, "In Him "ta panta"
were created. From this it follows that the Son cannot be a creature,
for creation is exhausted by the "all things" which were created in
Him."(20)

   Hence it is seen that the great majority of modern scholarship sees
"prototokos" in the New Testament pointing to the superiority of the
Christ above and over all creation. This is not only the background of
the word from the Old Testament, but it is also demanded by the
contexts in which it is found. Only Colossians 1:15 could be seen to
allow any other kind of interpretation whatsoever, and this passage
safeguards itself through the immediate context, by ascribing to the
"prototokos" all creation.

   "Patristic Usage"

   Another clear clue as to the meaning of "prototokos" in the days of
the New Testament is the manner in which the early church Fathers used
and interpreted it. Since these Fathers spoke and read Greek, and lived
in the same culture to which Paul and the Apostles wrote their letters,
their interpretation and understanding of "prototokos" is important.
How did they understand the Pauline passage at Colossians 1:15?

   Justin Martyr, in his "Dialogue with Trypho," wrote, "...so that we
know Him to be the first-begotten of God, and to be before all
creatures:"(21) Notice that Justin was very careful to make sure that
his readers knew that Christ was "before all creatures." It should also
be recalled that at this early time, the Fathers were not exceedingly
interested in discussing the relationship between the Father and the
Son, due to the absence of a great deal of Christological heresy in the
Church.

   The most complete discussion of "prototokos" in the early Fathers
comes a number of years after Justin, in the writings of Tertullian as
he battled the early heretic Marcion. Here are his comments:

   If Christ is not "the first-begotten before every creature," as that
"Word of God by whom all things were made, and without whom nothing was
made;" if "all things were" not "in Him created, whether in heaven or
on earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones or dominions,
or principalities, or powers;" if "all things were" not "created by Him
and for Him" (for these truths Marcion ought not to allow concerning
Him), then the apostle could not have so positively laid it down, that
"He is before all." For how is He before all, if He is not before all
things? How, again, is He before all things, if He is not "the
first-born of every creature" - if He is not the Word of the
Creator?(22)

   A later Church Father, Dionysius of Rome, said this:

   Oh reckless and rash men! was then "the first-born of every
creature" something made?...Finally, any one may read in many parts of
the divine utterances that the Son is said to have been begotten, but
never that He was made.(23)

   Lightfoot gives a list of the Fathers that support this view, and
says, "All the fathers of the second and third centuries without
exception, so far as I have noticed, correctly refer it to the Eternal
Word and not to the Incarnate Christ, to the Deity and not to the
humanity of our Lord."(24) It was only after the Arians latched onto
this verse to attempt to teach their doctrines that the Church leaders
began to change their exegesis of this passage.

   We have seen that the use of "prototokos" in the Septuagint, in the
New Testament, and in later Patristic writings refers to 1) the
first-born, as in Luke 2:7, and, 2) the one who is pre-eminent and
sovereign, always in relation to the Lord Jesus Christ. Truly, the Lord
of Glory is the Sovereign of all the Universe, the First-born of all
Creation.

   Footnotes: 1. A. T. Robertson, Word Pictures in the New Testament,
(Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1931), 4:478. See also, W. Robertson
Nicoll, The Expositor's Greek Testament, (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans
Publishing Company, 1983), 3:502-503. 2. F. W. Gingrich, "Leads from a
Lexicon," Bible Translator, 10 (January 1959) :84 also mentions that
protos can also mean "of greatest importance, rather than first." 3.
Walter Bauer, A Greek English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other
Early Christian Literature, 2nd ed., (Chicago: University of Chicago
Press, 1979) p. 816. 4. Gerhard Kittel and Gerhard Friedrich,
Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, trans. Geoffrey W.
Bromiley (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1982),
6:872. 5. Ibid. 6. R. Laird Harris, Gleason L. Archer, Bruce K. Waltke,
Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament, (Chicago: Moody Press, 1980)
2:109. 7. Ibid., p. 873. 8. Moulton, Geden, Moulton, Concordance to the
Greek Testament, (Edinburgh: T & T Clark, 1978) p. 875. 9. Walter
Bauer, A Greek English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early
Christian Literature, p. 726. 10. Dale Moody, "Romans," The Broadman
Bible Commentary, (Nashville: Broadman Press, 1970) 10:223. 11. Ibid.
12. Kenneth Wuest, Wuest's Word Studies in the Greek New Testament,
(Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1981) Ephesians and
Colossians: p. 183. 13. J. B. Lightfoot, Saint Paul's Epistles to the
Colossians and to Philemon, (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House,
1978) p. 148. 14. Ibid., p. 147. 15. W. Robertson Nicoll, ed., The
Expositor's Greek Testament, p. 502. 16. R. M. Clark, "Words Relating
to the Lord Jesus Christ," Bible Translator, 13 (April 1962) :84. 17.
Fritz Reinecker, Cleon Rogers, Linguistic Key to the Greek New
Testament. (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1982). p. 567.
18. Nicoll, The Expositor's Greek Testament, p. 502. 19. Robertson,
Word Pictures in the Greek New Testament, p. 478. 20. Nicoll, The
Expositor's Greek Testament, p. 503. 21. Alexander Roberts, James
Donaldson, ed. The Ante-Nicene Fathers, 10 vols. (Grand Rapids: Wm. B.
Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1981) 1:249. 22.