# What Does “Firstborn of All Creation” Mean?

> The New World Translation’s study note says Colossians 1:15 means Jesus is the first creature Jehovah made. In Scripture “firstborn” is also the title of the heir who ranks first, and the next verse says all things were created in him.

- Canonical: https://apologetics.wiki/jehovahs-witnesses/what-does-firstborn-of-all-creation-mean
- Religions: Jehovah's Witnesses
- Denominations: none
- Beliefs: none
- Tags: jehovahs-witnesses, christology, scripture
- Updated: 2026-10-07
- Author: [Paul Ambrose](https://apologetics.wiki/author/hi-its-paul) ([GitHub](https://github.com/hi-its-paul))


> The Study Edition defines “firstborn of all creation” as “the first creation by Jehovah God,” and then tells the reader why the next verse must say “all other things.” Both sentences should be on the table.

## The question

[Colossians 1:15](/bible/colossians/1/15) calls the Son “the firstborn of every creature,” or, in the New World Translation, “the firstborn of all creation.” Does that mean he was created first? [Revelation 3:14](/bible/revelation/3/14) calls him “the beginning of the creation of God.” Jehovah’s Witnesses say yes. The title is where that answer is usually opened.

## What Jehovah’s Witnesses teach

The study note on [Colossians 1:15](https://www.jw.org/en/library/bible/study-bible/books/colossians/1/#v51001015) [(1)](#ref-1) says:

> the firstborn of all creation: That is, the first creation by Jehovah God.

It knows the other reading and rejects it:

> Some who claim that Jesus was not created say that “firstborn” here means one who is preeminent in rank, not part of the creation, and they render the phrase “the firstborn over all creation.” While it is true that Jesus is preeminent in relation to all other creatures, there is no basis for the assertion that the term “firstborn” here takes on a meaning other than its usual one.

The “usual one,” the note says, is “the one born first in order of time, such as a firstborn child.” It points to [Revelation 3:14](/bible/revelation/3/14) as confirmation: Jesus is “the beginning of the creation by God.”

The [New World Translation of Colossians 1:15–17](https://www.jw.org/en/library/bible/study-bible/books/colossians/1/#v51001015) [(2)](#ref-2) then reads “all other things” in the next verse, so that the firstborn stands outside the “all things” he is said to create. That added word is discussed in [Is Jesus the Creator or a creature?](/jehovahs-witnesses/is-jesus-the-creator-or-a-creature). The note on verse 15 is the reason the Society gives for it.

The [New World Translation of Revelation 3:14](https://www.jw.org/en/library/bible/study-bible/books/revelation/3/#v66003014) [(3)](#ref-3) says: “These are the things that the Amen says, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation by God.”

## The texts

[Colossians 1:15–18](/bible/colossians/1) [(6)](#ref-6) in the King James Version: “Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: 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: And he is before all things, and by him all things consist. And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.”

The [New World Translation of Colossians 1:18](https://www.jw.org/en/library/bible/study-bible/books/colossians/1/#v51001018) [(2)](#ref-2) says: “He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might become the one who is first in all things.”

“Firstborn” is not only a birth-order word in the Society’s own Old Testament. The [New World Translation of Exodus 4:22](https://www.jw.org/en/library/bible/study-bible/books/exodus/4/#v2004022) [(4)](#ref-4) has Jehovah say, “Israel is my son, my firstborn.” Israel was not the first nation to exist. The [New World Translation of Psalm 89:27](https://www.jw.org/en/library/bible/study-bible/books/psalms/89/#v19089027) [(5)](#ref-5) says of David, “And I will place him as firstborn, The highest of the kings of the earth.” David was the youngest of Jesse’s sons. God places him as firstborn. The line explains the title: highest of the kings.

[Revelation 3:14](/bible/revelation/3/14) [(7)](#ref-7) is the other text the note uses. The King James Version says “the beginning of the creation of God.” The same book calls God “the beginning and the end” ([Revelation 21:6](/bible/revelation/21/6)) and uses “beginning” of the Son again at [Colossians 1:18](/bible/colossians/1/18), where the New World Translation’s own purpose clause is “so that he might become the one who is first in all things.”

## A Christian response

“Firstborn of all creation” is the title of the heir who stands over creation, not the label of the first object inside it. The Study Edition is right that “firstborn” often means the child born first. It is also right that some readers take the phrase as rank. What it denies is that the word can carry rank here. [Psalm 89:27](/bible/psalms/89/27) [(9)](#ref-9) and [Exodus 4:22](/bible/exodus/4/22) [(8)](#ref-8), in the translation Witnesses use, are the evidence that it can. David is placed as firstborn. Israel is called firstborn. Neither is the oldest thing in the set.

The sentence in Colossians does not stop at the title. It gives the reason: “for by him were all things created.” The firstborn is firstborn because all things were created in him, through him, and for him, and because he is before all things. A creature can be before other creatures. He cannot be before all things if he is one of the things. The study note on verse 16 admits that “all things,” literally, “could give the impression that Jesus was not created but was the Creator himself.” That is the impression verse 15’s “for” is there to create. Jesus is the Creator. He is not the first creature.

[Colossians 1:18](/bible/colossians/1/18) uses the same word again: firstborn from the dead. The Study Edition is right that Jesus is the first to be raised to die no more. The purpose clause in the Society’s own English is rank: “so that he might become the one who is first in all things.” Paul can use “firstborn” for priority in the same paragraph where he also uses it for resurrection order. The note’s claim that the word has no room for preeminence at verse 15 has to explain verse 18’s “so that.”

[Revelation 3:14](/bible/revelation/3/14) calls him “the beginning,” which can mean the one who begins a thing as its source, or the first item in a series. The note takes the second. The letter itself has just come from the one who holds the churches, and the same Christ is “the beginning” in Colossians 1:18 so that he might be first in all things. “Beginning of the creation of God” fits the one by whom creation came to be. It is a hard fit for a creature, unless “other” is added in the next chapter of the argument. Who holds the title “the Alpha and the Omega,” which Revelation pairs with “the beginning and the end,” is [its own question](/jehovahs-witnesses/who-is-the-alpha-and-omega).

## Common follow-ups

**The note says six of eight uses of the Greek word refer to Jesus, and the usual meaning is temporal.** Count the uses. Then read [Psalm 89:27](/bible/psalms/89/27), which the note’s “usual meaning” does not cover, and [Colossians 1:18](/bible/colossians/1/18), where the Society’s translation already draws a line from “firstborn from the dead” to being first in all things. Temporal priority in the resurrection is real. It is not the only work the word does in this paragraph.

**“Of all creation” means he belongs to the creation, the way “firstborn of Pharaoh” belongs to Pharaoh’s house.** The genitive can mean that. It can also mark the sphere over which he is first, which is why some translators say “over all creation.” The decision is not settled by the genitive alone. It is settled by the “for” that follows: all things were created by him. The Study Edition’s answer is to change “all things” to “all other things,” and to say so in the note.

**Proverbs 8 says wisdom was produced at the beginning.** That chapter is often brought into this conversation. This page does not hang the argument on it. Colossians 1:15–18 already says why the Son is firstborn, in the next clause.

## Keep reading

- [Is Jesus the Creator or a creature?](/jehovahs-witnesses/is-jesus-the-creator-or-a-creature)
- [John 1 and the Word](/jehovahs-witnesses/john-1-and-the-word)
- [Who is the Alpha and the Omega?](/jehovahs-witnesses/who-is-the-alpha-and-omega)

## Sources
Numbered to match the HTML References list. Item 1 is `#ref-1` under `#references`. Scripture links to the King James Version on this site.

1. [New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures, Study note on Colossians 1:15, “the firstborn of all creation” (Study Edition)](https://www.jw.org/en/library/bible/study-bible/books/colossians/1/#v51001015) (Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society.)
2. [New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures, Colossians 1:15–18 (2013 revision)](https://www.jw.org/en/library/bible/study-bible/books/colossians/1/#v51001015-v51001018)
3. [New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures, Revelation 3:14 (2013 revision)](https://www.jw.org/en/library/bible/study-bible/books/revelation/3/#v66003014)
4. [New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures, Exodus 4:22 (2013 revision)](https://www.jw.org/en/library/bible/study-bible/books/exodus/4/#v2004022)
5. [New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures, Psalm 89:27 (2013 revision)](https://www.jw.org/en/library/bible/study-bible/books/psalms/89/#v19089027)
6. [Letter to the Colossians, 1:15–18](https://apologetics.wiki/bible/colossians/1). King James Version
7. [Revelation, 3:14](https://apologetics.wiki/bible/revelation/3/14). King James Version
8. [Book of Exodus, 4:22](https://apologetics.wiki/bible/exodus/4/22). King James Version
9. [Book of Psalms, 89:27](https://apologetics.wiki/bible/psalms/89/27). King James Version

## See also
- [Does “Jehovah” Belong in the New Testament?](https://apologetics.wiki/jehovahs-witnesses/does-jehovah-belong-in-the-new-testament) — The New World Translation uses the name Jehovah 237 times in the New Testament. The Study Edition’s note on Acts 7:60 says the Greek manuscripts read “Lord.”
- [Is Jesus Michael the Archangel?](https://apologetics.wiki/jehovahs-witnesses/is-jesus-michael-the-archangel) — Insight on the Scriptures identifies Michael the archangel with Jesus. Hebrews 1 sets the Son over every angel and has God command the angels to bow to him.
- [Is Jesus the Creator or a Creature?](https://apologetics.wiki/jehovahs-witnesses/is-jesus-the-creator-or-a-creature) — Jehovah’s Witnesses say a literal reading of Colossians 1:16 would make Jesus the Creator, so the New World Translation adds “other.” John 1:3 and Hebrews 1:10–12 do not leave him outside creation as a creature.
- [John 1 and the Word](https://apologetics.wiki/jehovahs-witnesses/john-1-and-the-word) — Why the New World Translation reads John 1:1 as “a god,” what the Study Edition’s note says about a qualitative theos, and why Nicene Christians still say the Word was God.
- [Should Jesus Be Worshipped, or Only Given Obeisance?](https://apologetics.wiki/jehovahs-witnesses/should-jesus-be-worshipped) — The New World Translation uses “worship” for Jehovah and “do obeisance” for Jesus, though its own interlinear shows one Greek verb. Hebrews 1:6, Matthew 28, and Revelation 5 give the Son the honor angels refuse.

## History
[View history on GitHub](https://github.com/Apologetics-Wiki/apologetics-wiki/commits/main/src/content/articles/what-does-firstborn-of-all-creation-mean.md)