teaching/sermons/col-1-15-20/commentaries/tim_reads_colossians.md

Tim's adapted translations of Col 1:15–20

Tim reads the hymn aloud in two BP podcast episodes, and the renderings differ — same translator, two takes. Useful side-by-side reference for the "write it down" practice (../write_it_down.md).

Tim's own framing of why his read sounds different:

"It's not formatted as poetry in most English translations. I've discovered it's not good." — [podcast:theme-god-e18-who-did-paul-think-jesus-was]

"Sheesh. There's no way to truly explain this poem. You just sit with it. ... Put your ear up to the buzz of the hive of a poem. ... Go get out Colossians 1:15–20, memorize it and spend a long time pondering it. It says more than even the words themselves can communicate." — [podcast:theme-god-e18-who-did-paul-think-jesus-was]

Version A — [podcast:firstborn-creation] ("The Firstborn of Creation")

Tim's continuous read-through, after telling Jon, "I find poetry hard to just listen to on its own for the first time, because the point is you're supposed to hear it many, many times and sing it."

"It's a poem about the son who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For in him, all things were created in the heavens and on the earth, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities, all things have been created through him and to him or for him. And he is before all things and in him, all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the assembly, the church. Who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead so that he might have first place in all things? For in him, God was pleased that all of the fullness would dwell and through him to reconcile all things to himself, things on earth and things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of his cross." — [podcast:firstborn-creation]

Distinctives of Version A:

Version B — [podcast:theme-god-e18-who-did-paul-think-jesus-was] ("Who Did Paul Think Jesus Was?")

Read across a back-and-forth with Jon, in the BP "God" series. Reconstructed in sequence:

"Jesus is the image, he is the exact human who participates in God's own identity and rule, the firstborn of all creation, for by means of him, all things are created. ... by means of him, all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible thrones, dominions, rulers or authorities. ... For all things have been created through him and to himself, or for himself. ... He is before all things, and in him, all things hold together. He's the head of the body, the church, he is the beginning, the firstborn from among the dead ones. ... so that he might have first place in everything. ... For in him, it was the Father's good pleasure for all of his fullness to dwell. ... And through him to reconcile all things to himself. ... Having made peace through the cross with things on Earth or things in heaven." — [podcast:theme-god-e18-who-did-paul-think-jesus-was]

Distinctives of Version B:

Side-by-side of the most-distinct phrases

Greek Version A (firstborn-creation) Version B (theme-god-e18)
εἰκὼν τοῦ θεοῦ τοῦ ἀοράτου image of the invisible God image of the invisible God
πρωτότοκος πάσης κτίσεως firstborn of all creation firstborn of all creation
ἐν αὐτῷ ἐκτίσθη τὰ πάντα in him, all things were created by means of him, all things are/were created
θρόνοι κυριότητες ἀρχαὶ ἐξουσίαι thrones or powers or rulers or authorities thrones, dominions, rulers or authorities
δι' αὐτοῦ καὶ εἰς αὐτὸν through him and to him or for him through him and to himself, or for himself
πρὸ πάντων before all things before all things
ἐν αὐτῷ τὰ πάντα συνέστηκεν in him, all things hold together in him, all things hold together
ἡ κεφαλὴ τοῦ σώματος, τῆς ἐκκλησίας head of the body, the assembly, the church head of the body, the church
πρωτότοκος ἐκ τῶν νεκρῶν firstborn from the dead firstborn from among the dead ones
ἐν πᾶσιν αὐτὸς πρωτεύων first place in all things first place in everything
εὐδόκησεν πᾶν τὸ πλήρωμα κατοικῆσαι God was pleased that all of the fullness would dwell the Father's good pleasure for all of his fullness to dwell
ἀποκαταλλάξαι τὰ πάντα εἰς αὐτόν reconcile all things to himself reconcile all things to himself
εἰρηνοποιήσας διὰ τοῦ αἵματος τοῦ σταυροῦ αὐτοῦ having made peace through the blood of his cross having made peace through the cross

What the variation tells you

Three things worth noticing across the two reads:

  1. Tim is genuinely working with the Greek, not picking a published translation. The choices migrate ("in him" → "by means of him", "powers" → "dominions") — the kind of drift only a translator-not-an-editor produces. He is reading prōtotokos in Version B with the firstfruits-from-dead-people sharpening Paul's resurrection claim.

  2. Version B is interpretively bolder. "Father's good pleasure" (filling the implicit subject of eudokēsen) and "firstborn from among the dead ones" both add interpretive weight beyond the Greek surface. Version A's "the assembly, the church" hedges; Version B drops the hedge.

  3. The omission of "blood" in Version B's last line is notable. Whether deliberate or a slip in the read, it shifts the climax from blood of his cross (sacrificial) to the cross (instrument-as-event). The hymn's grammar holds both, and Tim seems to read both.

For your own write-it-down practice (../write_it_down.md), the side-by-side is pulpit-useful — the variation shows where the Greek is under-specified and where translators must commit to a reading. Whatever you choose to read aloud on May 31 is itself an act of interpretation.

Pointers