The Watchtower denies Jesus is God and so want to make Him a created being. One proof text they use to try and support this is, they point toColossians 1:15 and the word “firstborn.” In this way, they wish to show that Jesus was born. As we’ll see, this doesn’t stand up under close examination.
“Firstborn” doesn’t always mean the first one born.
Genesis 41:51-52 (NWT)
Joseph named the firstborn Ma·nasʹseh,*+ for he said, “God has made me forget all my trouble and all the house of my father.” 52 And he named the second one Eʹphra·im,*+ for he said, “God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction.”+
Jeremiah 31:9 (NWT)
They will come weeping.+I will lead them as they beg for favor.I will guide them to streams* of water,+On a level path that will not make them stumble.For I am a Father to Israel, and Eʹphra·im is my firstborn.”+
So, though Manasseh was the first one born, Ephraim became the firstborn, the preeminent one of the family, the one who was first in all things.
Colossians 1:15-18 (NWT) “He is the image of the invisible God,+ the firstborn of all creation; 16 because by means of him all other things were created in the heavens and on the earth, the things visible and the things invisible, whether they are thrones or lordships or governments or authorities. All other things have been created through him+ and for him. 17 Also, he is before all other things,+ and by means of him all other things were made to exist, 18 and he is the head of the body, the congregation. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might become the one who is first in all things;”
“Firstborn” does not mean the first one born in Colossians, either. In context, Jesus is the preeminent One. He was not the first one raised from the dead, for instance. He raised people from the dead Himself long before He was risen. The term, “firstborn,” then, means not the first one born but the preeminent one, the first in all things as it says in Col. 1:18.
As a side note, the word, “other” underlined in the text above, does not appear in the Greek. It is a word inserted by the NWT translators to make the reader believe Jesus was one of the “things” created.
A good translation does not insert words to change the meaning of a passage. A good translation presents a good representation of the original languages and lets the chips fall where they may. Inserting one’s beliefs into a translation is what a cult would do. You can see that the word, “other” does not appear in the Greek as shown here in the English under the Greek in the Kingdom Interlinear Translation quote:
“15 who is image of the God the invisible, firstborn of all creation, 16 because in him it was created the all things in the heavens and upon the earth, the things visible and the things invisible, whether thrones or lordships or governments or authorities; the all things through him and into him it has been created; 17 and he is before all things and the all things in him it has stood together, 18 and he is the head of the body of the ecclesia; who is the beginning, firstborn out of the dead ones in order that might become in all things he holding the first place,”
A good translator would never attempt to insert their beliefs into the text but draw them from the text.
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