We begin with the following question:

Mattithyahu (Matthew) 16:13-15

When YAHUSHA came into the coasts of Qeycaryah Philippi, he asked את eth-his Talmidiym, saying: Whom do men say that I the Son of Adam am? 14 And they said: Some say that you are Yahuchanon the Immerser: some, Eliyahu; and others, Yirmeyahu, or one of the prophets. 15 He said unto them, But whom say ye that I am?

Many have answered the question differently, and disparate answers have, of course, created disparity among the believers in the fundamental theology governing that which we hold as truth.

One answer, which is still being proposed today, is best known in its doctrinal form as Arianism.  Arianism is defined by Google as “an influential heresy denying the divinity of Christ, originating with the Alexandrian priest Arius (circa 250– circa 336). Arianism maintained that the Son of God was created by the Father and was therefore neither coeternal with the Father, nor consubstantial.”  To call this a summary is an understatement, but it is a foundation upon which we can build an understanding.

Let’s take a look at a couple of verses which are relevant to this discussion.

Romaiym (Romans) 8:29

Consider first the Greek (Stephanus Textus Receptus):

οτι (In that) ους (who) προεγνω (foresaw) και (and) προωρισεν (predetermine) συμμορφους (conformable) της (of) εικονος (picture/image) του (of) υιου (son) αυτου (his) εις (in) το (the) ειναι (is) αυτον (his) πρωτοτοκον (first born) εν (among) πολλοις (many) αδελφοις (brethren)

In that he foresaw and predetermined את eth who was conformable of the image of his son, who is his first born among many brethren.

Of course, there are those who assume that the first born son being discussed here is HAMASHIACH, but is that so?

Shemot (Exodus) 4:21-23

And YAHUAH said unto Mosheh, When you go to return into Mitsrayim, see that you do all those wonders before Phar`oh, which I have put in your hand: but I will harden את eth-his heart, that he shall not let את eth-the people go. 22 And you shall say unto Phar`oh, Thus says YAHUAH, Yisra’el is my son, even my firstborn: 23 And I say unto you, Let את eth-my son go, that he may serve me: and if you refuse to let him go, behold, I will slay את eth-your son, even your firstborn.

Bemidbar (Numbers) 8:17-19

For all the firstborn of the children of Yisra’el are mine, both man and beast: on the day that I smote every firstborn in the land of Mitsrayim I sanctified them for myself. 18 And I have taken את eth-the Leviyiym for all the firstborn of the children of Yisra’el. 19 And I have given את eth-the Leviyiym as a gift to Aharon and to his sons from among the children of Yisra’el, to do את eth-the service of the children of Yisra’el in the Tabernacle of the assembly, and to make an atonement for the children of Yisra’el: that there be no plague among the children of Yisra’el, when the children of Yisra’el come nigh unto the sanctuary.

Yovheliym (Jubilees) 2:21

And I have chosen the seed of Ya`aqov from amongst all that I have seen, and have written him down as my firstborn son, and have sanctified him unto myself forever and ever; and I will teach them the Shabbath, that they may guard the Shabbath thereon from all work.

Yesha’yahu (Isaiah) 31:7-9

For thus says YAHUAH; Sing with gladness for Ya`aqov, and shout among the chief of the nations: publish ye, praise ye, and say, O YAHUAH, save את eth-your people, את eth the remnant of Yisra’el. 8 Behold, I will bring them from the north country, and gather them from the coasts of the earth, and with them the blind and the lame, the woman with child and her that travails with child together: a great company shall return thither. 9 They shall come with weeping, and with supplications will I lead them: I will cause them to walk by the rivers of waters in a straight way, wherein they shall not stumble: for I am a Father to Yisra’el, and Ephrayim is my firstborn.

Tehilliym (Psalm) 89:15-37

Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound: they shall walk, O YAHUAH, in the light of your countenance. 16 In your name shall they rejoice all the day: and in your righteousness shall they be exalted. 17 For you are the glory of their strength: and in your favour our horn shall be exalted. 18 For YAHUAH is our defence; and the Holy One of Yisra’el is our King. 19 Then you spoke in vision to your qodeshiy, and said, I have laid help upon one that is mighty; I have exalted one chosen out of the people. 20 I have found David my servant; with my holy oil have I anointed him: 21 With whom my hand shall be established: my arm also shall strengthen him. 22 The enemy shall not exact upon him; nor the son of wickedness afflict him. 23 And I will beat down his foes before his face, and plague them that hate him. 24 But my faithfulness and my mercy shall be with him: and in my name shall his horn be exalted. 25 I will set his hand also in the sea, and his right hand in the rivers. 26 He shall cry unto me: You are my Father, my EL, and the Rock of my yeshu`ah. 27 Also I will make him my firstborn, higher than the kings of the earth. 28 My mercy will I guard for him forevermore, and my covenant shall stand fast with him. 29 His seed also will I make to endure forever, and his throne as the days of heaven. 30 If his children forsake my Torah, and walk not in my judgments; 31 If they break my statutes, and guard not my commandments; 32 Then will I visit their transgression with the rod, and their iniquity with stripes. 33 Nevertheless my lovingkindness will I not utterly take from him, nor suffer my faithfulness to fail. 34 My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips. 35 Once have I sworn by my holiness that I will not lie unto David. 36 His seed shall endure forever, and his throne as the sun before me. 37 It shall be established forever as the moon, and as a faithful witness in heaven. Celah.

The term firstborn is the word choice from the Hebrew bekor (בְּכוֺר) (Strong's 1060).  While it is true that the word bekor does means firstborn, by implication, it also means the eldest. Contrast this with the Greek, where this word firstborn has been translated from πρωτοτοκος (prototokos) (Strong's 4416) which means specifically the first-born or first-begotten.

We see that the book of Yovheliym gives us the most applicable understanding; that it is the seed of Ya`aqov that is chosen, and that this seed is what is written down as the firstborn son.  We can understand then, that the firstborn son is in fact the house of Yisra’el (beit Yisra’el or beit Yashar’el). 

Now consider anew this statement in Romaiym (Romans) 8:29

In that he foresaw and predetermined את eth who was conformable of the image of his son, who is his first born among many brethren.

If we accept the premise that the son being referred to here is the beit Yisra’el, then we can see that this statement indicates a foreseeing and a predetermining of those who are conformable to the image of the beit Yisra’el, who is declared to be his first born, and who is declared to be his first born among many brethren, or, in the words of Mosheh, among the many of those who sojourned with him.  Bemidbar (Numbers) 9:14.

Something new and something different appears in Qolasiym (Colossians), however. Chapter 1 of this Cepher Qolasiym brings forth the mystery that is both the head and the body of HAMASHIACH, but it also gives us this statement:

Qolasiym (Colossians) 1:12-20

Giving thanks unto the Father, which has made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the qodeshiym in light: 13 Who has delivered us from the power of darkness, and has translated us into the Kingdom of his את eth-yachiyd: 14 In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins: 15 Who is the image of the invisible YAH, the firstborn of every creature: 16 For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: 17 And he is before all things, and by him all things consist. 18 And he is the head of the body, the called out assembly: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence. 19 For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell; 20 And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.

Here is where the rubber meets the road and brings up a wide variance with the many understandings of the metaphysics of creation.  Before we address the issue of this phrase “the firstborn of every creature”, let us look at the preliminary context. 

First, before anything, we are partakers of the inheritance of the qodeshi (the “saints”) in light.   What is he talking about?  Well, consider the words of the Besorah Yahuchanon:

Yahuchanon (John) 1:3-5

All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was made. 4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men. 5 And the light shines in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.

So, we have this idea that life was contained in him – he which made all things, and that the life which was contained in him was the light of men.  It is this light which shines in darkness, and the darkness does not comprehend it. 

And as for this light, consider the words of Mosheh:

Bere’shiyth (Genesis) 1:3

And ELOHIYM said, Let there be light: and there was light.

But is that really what is being said in the Hebrew?  Let’s take a look:

(Vay’amar) ויאמר (ELOHIYM) אלהים (ya’hayah) יהי (or) אור (vay’ya’hayah) ויהי (or) אור     

A literal translation yields the following:

And says ELOHIYM: I, I AM light and I, I AM light.

Some of you may recognize this operative term in this phrase which is the word hayah.  Consider Shemot (Exodus) 3:14 where the phrase a’ha’yah asher a’ha’yah (אהיה) (אשׁר) (אהיה) appears. 

Of course, some may wish to distinguish this hayah (יהי) from that ha’yah (אהיה), claiming that the hayah which appears in Bere’shiyth 1:3 is from the root havah / huah (הוה), which of course means breathes life.  If this is the case, then our passage reads as follows:

And says ELOHIYM: I breathe light and I breathe light.

Either way, we end up with the same equation, that light in the heavens is the light in creation, but that there is a duality.  This duality must necessarily translate to answer the question: whom say ye that I am? For again, the aleph demonstrates that the yod in creation sits at the right hand of the yod who sits in eternity, divided by the nail (vav). 

The critical question is then: does Bere’shiyth (Genesis) 3 indicate in the Hebrew that YAH created light?  The answer is no.  Instead, the Hebrew indicates that the light was coexistent with YAH – in the first instance, the claim being I, I AM light.  To paraphrase Sha’ul: The Father has made us partakers of the inheritance in light. 

Now, in Qolasiym (Colossians) 1:13 we find this: Who has delivered us from the power of darkness, and has translated us into the Kingdom of his את eth-yachiyd:

Most texts do not use the phrase his את eth-yachiyd, but rather his beloved son. We, of course, elected to use the Hebrew here, in relationship to the discussion of Yitshaq who was first called the את eth-yachiyd in respect to his impending sacrifice.  It is important, because many texts used the phrase only begotten son in interpreting this phrase, when it is clear that Avraham had already fathered Ishma’el.  The את eth-yachiyd means the beloved one.

So, we now come to the operative phrase:

Qolasiym (Colossians) 1:15

Who is the image of the invisible YAH, the firstborn of every creature:

Perhaps it would help in understanding this phrase if we were to word it in accord with the Hebrew from which the concept was drawn: Who is the image of the invisible YAH, the elder of every creature.

However, there is another issue in the semantics of this particular phrase: Who is the firstborn of every creature?  Is it the את eth-yachiyd, or is it the invisible YAH?  In fact, isn’t it most likely that the image of the invisible YAH is the firstborn of every creature?

This begs the question, does it not: exactly what is the image of the invisible YAH? 

Yahuchanon (John) 14:9-11

YAHUSHA said unto him: Have I been so long time with you, and yet have you not known me, Philip? He that has seen me has seen the Father; and how say you then, show us the Father? 10 Believe you not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? The words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwells in me, he does the works. 11 Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works' sake.

We have seen that at the very beginning, YAH declared himself to be the light, and we can conclude that no matter how you interpret the phrase, the light was coexistent with YAH in the beginning of things. 

As for the image of the invisible YAH, this passage in Qolasiym (Colossians) turns out to be quite revealing as I have discussed in these previous blogs:

https://www.cepher.net/blog.aspx?post=2498&title=On+QOLASIYM:+Chapter+1+-+Part+One

https://www.cepher.net/blog.aspx?post=2499&title=On+QOLASIYM:+Chapter+1+-+Part+Two

https://www.cepher.net/blog.aspx?post=2500&title=On+QOLASIYM:+Chapter+1+-+Part+Three

https://www.cepher.net/blog.aspx?post=2501&title=On+QOLASIYM:+Chapter+1+-+Part+Four