Colossians 1:18
And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.
KJV
καὶ αὐτός ἐστιν ἡ κεφαλὴ τοῦ σώματος, τῆς ἐκκλησίας· ὅς ἐστιν ἀρχή, πρωτότοκος ἐκ τῶν νεκρῶν, ἵνα γένηται ἐν πᾶσιν αὐτὸς πρωτεύων,
Greek NT
Et ipse est caput corporis Ecclesiæ, qui est principium, primogenitus ex mortuis : ut sit in omnibus ipse primatum tenens :
Vulgate
And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.
ASV
And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things he may hold the primacy:
Douay-Rheims
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In the original Greek
17 distinct Greek words appear in this verse.
Textual variants
1 variant unit attested by manuscript witnesses and modern critical editions.
- ἐστιν — SBLGNT
- ἐστιν — Tregelles, Reader's GNT (NA27), Robinson-Pierpont
- + ἡ — Westcott-Hort
Themes
Doctrines that cite this verse
Historic Christian voices
27 passages from patristic writers, Reformers, and church catechisms citing this verse.
§504Jesus is conceived by the Holy Spirit in the Virgin Mary's womb because he is the New Adam, who inaugurates the new creation: "The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven."162 From his conception, Christ's humanity is filled with the Holy Spirit, for God "gives him the Spirit without measure."163 From "his fullness" as the head of redeemed hum…
§753In Scripture, we find a host of interrelated images and figures through which Revelation speaks of the inexhaustible mystery of the Church. the images taken from the Old Testament are variations on a profound theme: the People of God. In the New Testament, all these images find a new center because Christ has become the head of this people, which henceforth is his Body.144 Arou…
§792Christ "is the head of the body, the Church."225 He is the principle of creation and redemption. Raised to the Father's glory, "in everything he (is) preeminent,"226 especially in the Church, through whom he extends his reign over all things.
The thirty æons are not typified by the fact that Christ was baptized in His thirtieth year: He did not suffer in the twelfth month after His baptism, but was more than fifty years old when He died. 1. I have shown that the number thirty fails them in every respect; too few æons, as they represent them, being at one time found within the Pleroma, and then again too many [to cor…
That one God formed all things in the world, by means of the Word and the Holy Spirit: and that although He is to us in this life invisible and incomprehensible, nevertheless He is not unknown; inasmuch as His works do declare Him, and His Word has shown that in many modes He may be seen and known. 1. As regards His greatness, therefore, it is not possible to know God, for it i…
1. There is nothing worse, nothing more shameful, than gluttony; it makes the mind gross, and the soul carnal; it blinds, and permits not to see clearly. Observe, for instance, how this is the case with the Jews; for because they were intent upon gluttony, entirely occupied with worldly things, and without any spiritual thoughts, though Christ leads them on by ten thousand sayi…
§14That the Church is a body is frequently asserted in the Sacred Scriptures. "Christ," says the Apostle, "is the Head of the Body of the Church."[13] If the Church is a body, it must be an unbroken unity, according to those words of Paul: "Though many we are one body in Christ."[14] But it is not enough that the Body of the Church should be an unbroken unity; it must also be some…
§34That this Mystical Body which is the Church should be called Christ's is proved in the second place from the fact that He must be universally acknowledged as its actual Head. "He," as St. Paul says, "is the Head of the Body, the Church." [43] He is the Head from whom the whole body perfectly organized, "groweth and maketh increase unto the edifying of itself." [44]
§36However for the good of all We wish to touch on this point briefly. And first of all it is clear that the Son of God and of the Blessed Virgin is to be called the head of the Church by reason of His singular pre-eminence. For the Head is in the highest place. But who is in a higher place than Christ God, who as the Word of the Eternal Father must be acknowledged to be the "firs…
§34This truth, which God reveals to us in Jesus Christ, is not opposed to the truths which philosophy perceives. On the contrary, the two modes of knowledge lead to truth in all its fullness. The unity of truth is a fundamental premise of human reasoning, as the principle of non-contradiction makes clear. Revelation renders this unity certain, showing that the God of creation is a…
Jesus Christ, who was of the seed of David, and was also of Mary; who was truly born, and did eat and drink. He was truly persecuted under Pontius Pilate; He was truly crucified, and truly died, in the sight of beings in heaven, and on earth, and under the earth. He was also truly raised from the dead, His Father quickening Him.
I glorify God, even Jesus Christ, who has given you such wisdom. For I have observed that ye are perfected in an immovable faith, as if ye were nailed to the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, both in the flesh and in the spirit, and are established in love through the blood of Christ, being fully persuaded with respect to our Lord, that He was truly of the seed of David according…
60. And that creature and offspring are not the same, but differ from each other in nature and the signification of the words, the Lord Himself shows even in the Proverbs. For having said, 'The Lord created me a beginning of His ways;' He has added, 'But before all the hills He begot me.' If then the Word were by nature and in His Essence a creature, and there were no differenc…
64. And I think that the irreligious men themselves will be shamed from such a thought; for if the case stands not as we have said, but they will rule it that He is 'First-born of the whole creation' as in essence— a creature among creatures, let them reflect that they will be conceiving Him as brother and fellow of the things without reason and life. For of the whole creation …
Christ is the Light of nations. Because this is so, this Sacred Synod gathered together in the Holy Spirit eagerly desires, by proclaiming the Gospel to every creature, to bring the light of Christ to all men, a light brightly visible on the countenance of the Church. Since the Church is in Christ like a sacrament or as a sign and instrument both of a very closely knit union wi…
All who regard another head or seek another foundation than Christ are not the Church but are adversaries of God. In the faith of Christ, Christians are His members; these members cannot do anything without the head. It follows from this that all who live in the head are members and children of God, and that is the Church or communion of the saints, the bride of Christ.
Q. Why the next words: and is seated at the right hand of God? A. Christ ascended to heaven, there to show that he is head of his church, and that the Father rules all things through him.
Q. What do you believe concerning the holy catholic church? A. I believe that the Son of God through his Spirit and Word, out of the entire human race, from the beginning of the world to its end, gathers, protects, and preserves for himself a community chosen for eternal life and united in true faith. And of this community I am and always will be a living member.
Since there is always but one God, one Mediator between God and man, and one Shepherd of the whole flock, one Head of this body, one Spirit, one salvation, one faith, one Testament or covenant: it follows necessarily that there is only one Church, which we therefore call the catholic Church, because it is universal and is diffused through all parts and quarters of the world, an…
We believe also in the resurrection of the dead. For there will be in truth, there will be, a resurrection of the dead, and by resurrection we mean resurrection of bodies. 1 Corinthians 15:35-44 For resurrection is the second state of that which has fallen. For the souls are immortal, and hence how can they rise again? For if they define death as the separation of soul and body…
We believe that what is called, or rather is, the Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church, containeth generally all the faithful in Christ, those who, having already departed, are in the Church Triumphant, and those still living and militant on earth, the Church Militant. And since the Church Militant is composed of men, it is subject to have those in its communion who are stumbling…
The Springfield Presbytery, having sat with gravity during its brief existence and observing that bodies religious may decay and die as well as bodies natural, chose to prepare its last will and testament. This satirical document dissolved the Presbytery itself after only nine months, declaring that human ecclesiastical structures tend to usurp the authority that belongs to Chr…
Cross-references
- 1Cor 11:3 — But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God.
- 1Cor 11:3 — But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God.
- 1Cor 12:12 — For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ.
- 1Cor 12:27 — Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular.
- 1Cor 15:20 — But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.
- 1Cor 15:20 — But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.
- 1Cor 15:25 — For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.
- Acts 26:23 — That Christ should suffer, and that he should be the first that should rise from the dead, and should shew light unto the people, and to the Gentiles.
- Acts 26:23 — That Christ should suffer, and that he should be the first that should rise from the dead, and should shew light unto the people, and to the Gentiles.
- Col 1:24 — Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church:
- Col 1:24 — Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church:
- Col 2:10 — And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power:
- Eph 1:10 — That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him:
- Eph 1:22 — And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church,
- Eph 1:22 — And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church,
- Eph 1:23 — Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.
- Eph 4:15 — But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:
- Eph 4:15 — But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:
- Eph 5:23 — For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body.
- Eph 5:23 — For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body.
- Heb 1:4 — Being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.
- Heb 1:5 — For unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee? And again, I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son?
- Heb 1:6 — And again, when he bringeth in the firstbegotten into the world, he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him.
- Heb 3:3 — For this man was counted worthy of more glory than Moses, inasmuch as he who hath builded the house hath more honour than the house.
- John 1:1 — In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
- John 1:16 — And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace.
- John 1:27 — He it is, who coming after me is preferred before me, whose shoe’s latchet I am not worthy to unloose.
- John 3:29 — He that hath the bride is the bridegroom: but the friend of the bridegroom, which standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice: this my joy therefore is fulfilled.
- John 3:30 — He must increase, but I must decrease.
- John 3:34 — For he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God: for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him.
- John 11:25 — Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:
- Matt 2:6 — And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel.
- Matt 3:16 — And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him:
- Matt 16:18 — And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
- Matt 23:8 — But be not ye called Rabbi: for one is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren.
- Matt 28:18 — And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.
- Phil 2:9 — Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:
- Ps 45:7 — Thou lovest righteousness, and hatest wickedness: therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.
- Ps 68:18 — Thou hast ascended on high, thou hast led captivity captive: thou hast received gifts for men; yea, for the rebellious also, that the LORD God might dwell among them.
- Ps 89:27 — Also I will make him my firstborn, higher than the kings of the earth.