Psalms 89:27

89:27 I will appoint him to be my firstborn son, ¹ 

the most exalted of the earth’s kings.

Matthew 12:50

12:50 For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is ²  my brother and sister and mother.”

Matthew 25:40

25:40 And the king will answer them, ³  ‘I tell you the truth, ⁴  just as you did it for one of the least of these brothers or sisters ⁵  of mine, you did it for me.’

John 20:17

20:17 Jesus replied, ⁶  “Do not touch me, for I have not yet ascended to my Father. Go to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”

Colossians 1:15-18

The Supremacy of Christ

1:15 ⁷ He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn ⁸  over all creation, ⁹ 

1:16 for all things in heaven and on earth were created by him – all things, whether visible or invisible, whether thrones or dominions, ¹⁰  whether principalities or powers – all things were created through him and for him.

1:17 He himself is before all things and all things are held together ¹¹  in him.

1:18 He is the head of the body, the church, as well as the beginning, the firstborn ¹²  from among the dead, so that he himself may become first in all things. ¹³ 

Hebrews 1:5-6

The Son Is Superior to Angels

1:5 For to which of the angels did God ¹⁴  ever say, “You are my son! Today I have fathered you”? ¹⁵  And in another place ¹⁶  he says, ¹⁷  “I will be his father and he will be my son.” ¹⁸  1:6 But when he again brings ¹⁹  his firstborn into the world, he says, “Let all the angels of God worship him!” ²⁰ 

Hebrews 2:11-15

2:11 For indeed he who makes holy and those being made holy all have the same origin, ²¹  and so ²²  he is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters, ²³  2:12 saying, “I will proclaim your name to my brothers; ²⁴  in the midst of the assembly I will praise you.” ²⁵  2:13 Again he says, ²⁶  “I will be confident in him,” and again, “Here I am, ²⁷  with ²⁸  the children God has given me.” ²⁹  2:14 Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, he likewise shared in ³⁰  their humanity, ³¹  so that through death he could destroy ³²  the one who holds the power of death (that is, the devil), 2:15 and set free those who were held in slavery all their lives by their fear of death.

Revelation 1:5-6

1:5 and from Jesus Christ – the faithful ³³  witness, ³⁴  the firstborn from among the dead, the ruler over the kings of the earth. To the one who loves us and has set us free ³⁵  from our sins at the cost of ³⁶  his own blood 1:6 and has appointed ³⁷  us as a kingdom, ³⁸  as priests ³⁹  serving his God and Father – to him be the glory and the power for ever and ever! ⁴⁰  Amen.

[89:27]  ¹ sn The firstborn son typically had special status and received special privileges.

[12:50]  ² tn The pleonastic pronoun αὐτός (autos, “he”) which precedes this verb has not been translated.

[25:40]  ³ tn Grk “answering, the king will say to them.” This is somewhat redundant and has been simplified in the translation.

[25:40]  ⁴ tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”

[25:40]  ⁵ tn Grk “brothers,” but the Greek word may be used for “brothers and sisters” (cf. BDAG 18 s.v. ἀδελφός 1, where considerable nonbiblical evidence for the plural ἀδελφοί [adelfoi] meaning “brothers and sisters” is cited). In this context Jesus is ultimately speaking of his “followers” (whether men or women, adults or children), but the familial connotation of “brothers and sisters” is also important to retain here.

[20:17]  ⁶ tn Grk “Jesus said to her.”

[1:15]  ⁷ sn This passage has been typeset as poetry because many scholars regard this passage as poetic or hymnic. These terms are used broadly to refer to the genre of writing, not to the content. There are two broad criteria for determining if a passage is poetic or hymnic: “(a) stylistic: a certain rhythmical lilt when the passages are read aloud, the presence of parallelismus membrorum (i.e., an arrangement into couplets), the semblance of some metre, and the presence of rhetorical devices such as alliteration, chiasmus, and antithesis; and (b) linguistic: an unusual vocabulary, particularly the presence of theological terms, which is different from the surrounding context” (P. T. O’Brien, Philippians [NIGTC], 188-89). Classifying a passage as hymnic or poetic is important because understanding this genre can provide keys to interpretation. However, not all scholars agree that the above criteria are present in this passage, so the decision to typeset it as poetry should be viewed as a tentative decision about its genre.

[1:15]  ⁸ tn The Greek term πρωτότοκος (prwtotokos) could refer either to first in order of time, such as a first born child, or it could refer to one who is preeminent in rank. M. J. Harris, Colossians and Philemon (EGGNT), 43, expresses the meaning of the word well: “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.” In Col 1:15 the emphasis is on the priority of Jesus’ rank as over and above creation (cf. 1:16 and the “for” clause referring to Jesus as Creator).

[1:15]  ⁹ tn The genitive construction πάσης κτίσεως (pash" ktisew") is a genitive of subordination and is therefore translated as “over all creation.” See ExSyn 103-4.

[1:16]  ¹⁰ tn BDAG 579 s.v. κυριότης 3 suggests “bearers of the ruling powers, dominions” here.

[1:17]  ¹¹ tn BDAG 973 s.v. συνίστημι B.3 suggests “continue, endure, exist, hold together” here.

[1:18]  ¹² 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]  ¹³ tn Grk “in order that he may become in all things, himself, first.”

[1:5]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[1:5]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “I have begotten you.”

[1:5]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “And again,” quoting another OT passage.

[1:5]  ¹⁷ tn The words “he says” are not in the Greek text but are supplied to make a complete English sentence. In the Greek text this is a continuation of the previous sentence, but English does not normally employ such long and complex sentences.

[1:5]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “I will be a father to him and he will be a son to me.”

[1:6]  ¹⁹ tn Or “And again when he brings.” The translation adopted in the text looks forward to Christ’s second coming to earth. Some take “again” to introduce the quotation (as in 1:5) and understand this as Christ’s first coming, but this view does not fit well with Heb 2:7. Others understand it as his exaltation/ascension to heaven, but this takes the phrase “into the world” in an unlikely way.

[1:6]  ²⁰ sn A quotation combining themes from Deut 32:43 and Ps 97:7.

[2:11]  ²¹ tn Grk “are all from one.”

[2:11]  ²² tn Grk “for which reason.”

[2:11]  ²³ tn Grk “brothers,” but the Greek word may be used for “brothers and sisters” as here (cf. BDAG 18 s.v. ἀδελφός 1, where considerable nonbiblical evidence for the plural ἀδελφοί [adelfoi] meaning “brothers and sisters” is cited). The context here also indicates both men and women are in view; note especially the collective τὰ παιδία (ta paidia) in v. 14.

[2:12]  ²⁴ tn Here, because of its occurrence in an OT quotation, τοῖς ἀδελφοῖς (tois adelfois) has been translated simply as “brothers” rather than “brothers and sisters” (see the note on the latter phrase in the previous verse).

[2:12]  ²⁵ sn A quotation from Ps 22:22.

[2:13]  ²⁶ tn Grk “and again,” as a continuation of the preceding.

[2:13]  ²⁷ tn Grk “behold, I,” but this construction often means “here is/there is” (cf. BDAG 468 s.v. ἰδού 2).

[2:13]  ²⁸ tn Grk “and.”

[2:13]  ²⁹ sn A quotation from Isa 8:17-18.

[2:14]  ³⁰ tn Or “partook of” (this is a different word than the one in v. 14a).

[2:14]  ³¹ tn Grk “the same.”

[2:14]  ³² tn Or “break the power of,” “reduce to nothing.”

[1:5]  ³³ tn Or “Jesus Christ – the faithful one, the witness…” Some take ὁ πιστός (Jo pistos) as a second substantive in relation to ὁ μάρτυς (Jo martus). In the present translation, however, ὁ πιστός was taken as an adjective in attributive position to ὁ μάρτυς. The idea of martyrdom and faithfulness are intimately connected. See BDAG 820 s.v. πιστός 1.a.α: “ὁ μάρτυς μου ὁ πιστός μου Rv 2:13 (μάρτυς 3); in this ‘book of martyrs’ Christ is ὁ μάρτυς ὁ πιστὸς (καὶ ὁ ἀληθινός) 1:5; 3:14; cp. 19:11 (the combination of ἀληθινός and πιστός in the last two passages is like 3 Macc 2:11). Cp. Rv 17:14.”

[1:5]  ³⁴ sn The Greek term translated witness can mean both “witness” and “martyr.”

[1:5]  ³⁵ tc The reading “set free” (λύσαντι, lusanti) has better ms support (̹⁸ א A C 1611 2050 2329 2351 Ï^A sy) than its rival, λούσαντι (lousanti, “washed”; found in P 1006 1841 1854 2053 2062 Ï^K lat bo). Internally, it seems that the reading “washed” could have arisen in at least one of three ways: (1) as an error of hearing (both “released” and “washed” are pronounced similarly in Greek); (2) an error of sight (both “released” and “washed” look very similar – a difference of only one letter – which could have resulted in a simple error during the copying of a ms); (3) through scribal inability to appreciate that the Hebrew preposition ב can be used with a noun to indicate the price paid for something. Since the author of Revelation is influenced significantly by a Semitic form of Greek (e.g., 13:10), and since the Hebrew preposition “in” (ב) can indicate the price paid for something, and is often translated with the preposition “in” (ἐν, en) in the LXX, the author may have tried to communicate by the use of ἐν the idea of a price paid for something. That is, John was trying to say that Christ delivered us at the price of his own blood. This whole process, however, may have been lost on a later scribe, who being unfamiliar with Hebrew, found the expression “delivered in his blood” too difficult, and noticing the obvious similarities between λύσαντι and λούσαντι, assumed an error and then proceeded to change the text to “washed in his blood” – a thought more tolerable in his mind. Both readings, of course, are true to scripture; the current question is what the author wrote in this verse.

[1:5]  ³⁶ tn The style here is somewhat Semitic, with the use of the ἐν (en) + the dative to mean “at the price of.” The addition of “own” in the English is stylistic and is an attempt to bring out the personal nature of the statement and the sacrificial aspect of Jesus’ death – a frequent refrain in the Apocalypse.

[1:6]  ³⁷ tn The verb ποιέω (poiew) can indicate appointment or assignment rather than simply “make” or “do.” See Mark 3:14 (L&N 37.106).

[1:6]  ³⁸ tn See BDAG 168 s.v. βασιλεία 1.a for the idea of “he made us a kingdom,” which was translated as “he appointed us (to be or function) as a kingdom” (see the note on the word “appointed” earlier in the verse).

[1:6]  ³⁹ tn Grk “a kingdom, priests.” The term ἱερεῖς (Jiereis) is either in apposition to βασιλείαν (basileian) or as a second complement to the object “us” (ἡμᾶς, Jhmas). The translation retains this ambiguity.

[1:6]  ⁴⁰ tc Both the longer reading τῶν αἰώνων (twn aiwnwn, “to the ages of the ages” or, more idiomatically, “for ever and ever”; found in א C Ï) and the shorter (“for ever”; found in ̹⁸ A P 2050 pc bo) have good ms support. The author uses the longer expression (εἰς [τοὺς] αἰῶνας [τῶν] αἰώνων, ei" [tou"] aiwna" [twn] aiwnwn) in every other instance of αἰών in Revelation, twelve passages in all (1:18; 4:9, 10; 5:13; 7:12; 10:6; 11:15; 14:11; 15:7; 19:3; 20:10; 22:5). Thus, on the one hand, the style of the author is consistent, while on the other hand, the scribes may have been familiar with such a stylistic feature, causing them to add the words here. The issues are more complex than can be presented here; the longer reading, however, is probably original (the shorter reading arising from accidental omission of the genitive phrase due to similarity with the preceding words).