Biblical Hebrew Forum

[peter_kirk AT SIL.ORG]

Rolf ended his long posting as follows:

"...the only natural rendition would be "the firstborn of all 
creation"."

The problem is, that is not a natural rendition in modern English. For 
a start, we would use "oldest child" rather than "firstborn". But 
suppose we do look at this phrase, apart from the context, as Rolf 
suggests. In English, it certainly does not mean "the first part to be 
created of all creation". It probably suggests that the one referred 
to is the child, the oldest one, of "all creation". The only other 
sensible meaning is to take "firstborn" in the sense of Psalm 89:28 as 
"one in authority over", broadly equivalent to KEFALH in Col 1:18 
where the genitive, as in the English "head of", implies authority 
over. But there is no way that Rolf's English rendering makes Jesus a 
part of creation; either he has authority over it, or he is born of 
it.

Peter Kirk