Jesus, The Firstborn

January 10, 2017

I know what I think of when I think of the word firstborn–first in birth order, but is that what the Bible means?

Exodus 4:22 uses the word firstborn for Israel, but how can it mean birth order when Israel was not the first nation that was “born”? Does firstborn have a different meaning? It would appears so by this verse. If Israel refers to the man and not then nation, Israel was the second born of Abraham, his son Jacob before God changed his name, Genesis 32:22-32.

 

Romans 8:29 translates firstborn from prototokos (G4416) which is a compound word from /prṓtos (4413), “first, pre-eminent” and /tíktō (5088), “bring forth”. The idea of rank comes into thought, and it opens a whole area where God has persistently spoken that He weighs a person not based on what he or she is, but who he or she is, meaning the motive, the position of the heart. The unseen part of our being that speaks loudly to God.