BDAG at Rv 3:14 - Christ was the first creation now probable
One of the McKays
musicke at ozemail.com.au
Tue Jan 23 06:12:07 EST 2001
Wes said:
Since "beginning" is the unmarked meaning of ARCH,
> we should look for signals from the near context that would warrant us to
> adopt a different sense than the unmarked one (i.e. "beginning").
I agree. I have never felt comfortable with "ruler" as the meaning here.
I don't see why it can't mean "beginning"as in Colossians 1:18
I would understand the meaning of "beginning" in verse 18 of Colossians 1 to
be informed by the content of verse 16, where we are told Christ created all
things, so that I would understand "beginning" to have the sense of
"source."
There is a similar idea, I think, in John 1:1-3, where we are also told that
Christ created all things.
In Revelation 3:14, then, the idea of Christ as the beginning or source of
God's creation seems to fit the context perfectly well.
David McKay
musicke at ozemail.com.au
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