Colossians 1:18

1:18 He is the head of the body, the church, as well as the beginning, the firstborn ¹  from among the dead, so that he himself may become first in all things. ² 

Colossians 1:24

1:24 Now I rejoice in my sufferings for you, and I fill up in my physical body – for the sake of his body, the church – what is lacking in the sufferings of Christ.

Colossians 2:19

2:19 He has not held fast ³  to the head from whom the whole body, supported ⁴  and knit together through its ligaments and sinews, grows with a growth that is from God. ⁵ 

[1:18]  ¹ tn See the note on the term “firstborn” in 1:15. Here the reference to Jesus as the “firstborn from among the dead” seems to be arguing for a chronological priority, i.e., Jesus was the first to rise from the dead.

[1:18]  ² tn Grk “in order that he may become in all things, himself, first.”

[2:19]  ³ tn The Greek participle κρατῶν (kratwn) was translated as a finite verb to avoid an unusually long and pedantic sentence structure in English.

[2:19]  ⁴ tn See BDAG 387 s.v. ἐπιχορηγέω 3.

[2:19]  ⁵ tn The genitive τοῦ θεοῦ (tou qeou) has been translated as a genitive of source, “from God.”