5.King James Version:the firstborn of every creature
6.New King James Version:the firstborn over all creation
7.21st Century King James Version:the firstborn of every creature
8.Amplified Bible:He is the Firstborn of all creation
9.New American Standard Bible:the firstborn of all creation
10.Todays New International Version:the firstborn over all creation
11.Youngs Literal Translation:first-born of all creation
12.English Standard Version:the firstborn of all creation
13.New International Version:the firstborn over all creation
以上各英文版本中為OVER者有6,10,13.其譯較像和合本,
而其餘為OF者則較像和合本修訂版,恢復本,天主教思高譯本
這是一節關乎耶穌基督是否有份於受造之物的重要經文(可能是討論耶穌的人性)但OVER和OF在英文中是完全不同的意思,OVER指超越....之上,而OF指在.....之中
想請問弟兄姊妹,這一節經文的真正涵義是什麼,基督就其完全的人性而言,是否有份於受造之物?(當然基督是創造者,有完全的神性)
尼西亞信經的英文譯本
We believe (I believe) in one God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible. And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, and born of the Father before all ages. (God of God), Light of Light, true God of true God. Begotten not made, consubstantial to the Father, by whom all things were made. Who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven. And was incarnate of the Holy Ghost and of the Virgin Mary and was made man; was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate, suffered and was buried; and the third day rose again according to the Scriptures. And ascended into heaven, sits at the right hand of the Father, and shall come again with glory to judge the living and the dead, of whose Kingdom there shall be no end. And (I believe) in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and Giver of life, who proceeds from the Father (and the Son), who together with the Father and the Son is to be adored and glorified, who spoke by the Prophets. And one holy, catholic, and apostolic Church. We confess (I confess) one baptism for the remission of sins. And we look for (I look for) the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. Amen
以下是亞他那修的<尼西亚信经护文 DEFENCE OF THE NICENE DEFINITION>關鍵段落的摘錄:
14.
“So is this passage simply pointless?” This is what they keep buzzing all round us, like a swarm of mosquitoes. Not at all; it is not pointless but is rather quite to the point. He is indeed said to be created also, but that is when he became a human being; for this is what properly belongs to (idion) being human. Such a meaning will be found to be well laid out in the sayings of the Scriptures by one who undertakes the reading of them not as if it were some subsidiary matter, but rather searches out the time and the persons and the purpose of what is written, and on this basis judges and contemplates what is read.[35] He will thus discover and come to knowledge of the time of this text: that, forever being Lord, he later, at the completion of the ages, became human; and being Son of God, he became also the son of Man.[36] Such a reader will also perceive the purpose: that, wishing to nullify our death, he took to himself a body from the virgin Many so that, having offered this as a sacrifice (thusian) for all to the Father, “he might set free us all who, through fear of death, had been subject to slavery our whole life long” (Heb 2:15). As to the person (prosopon), it is that of the Savior; but it is said when he takes a body and then says, “The Lord created me as a beginning of his ways for his works” (Prov 8:22). For just as it well befits the Son of God to be eternal and to be in the bosom of the Father, so also, upon becoming human, it is fitting for him to say, “The Lord created me”. Then it was that this as said of him. He also hungered and was thirsty,and enquired where Lazarus was laid, and suffered and rose. And just as when we hear that he is Lord and God and true light, we perceive him as being from the Father, so it is right that when we hear ‘created’ and ‘servant’ and ‘suffered’ not to refer these to the divinity, for they are out of place there, but rather to measure these statements in reference to the flesh which he bore for us. For these things properly belong (idia) to the flesh and the flesh is not another’s but is the Word’s.[37] If someone wishes to learn the benefit that results from this, he will discover that also: “For the Word became flesh” (Jn 1:14) in order that he may offer it for the sake of all and so that we receiveing from his Spirit may be enabled to be divinized. In no other way would we attain to this, if it were not that he himself put on our created body. For thus have we begun to be called “people of God” and people who are in Christ. But just as when we receive the Spirit we do not destroy our proper being (idian ousian), so also, when the Lord becomes a human being for our sakes and puts on a body, he is none the less God. He was not lessened by the covering of the body, but rather divinized it and made it immoral.[38]
关于这个人位,是属于救主的,但当说到祂取了身体的时候,“在耶和华造化的起头,在太初创造万物之先,就[造]了我。”(箴言8:22)
As to the person (prosopon), it is that of the Savior; but it is said when he takes a body and then says, “The Lord [created] me as a beginning of his ways for his works” (Prov 8:22).
“He could not have existed always if He had had a beginning, for the everlasting Word has no beginning, and God will never have an end. We do not say that the Father is Son, nor that the Son is Father; but that the Father is Father, and the Son of the Father Son. We confess that the Son is Power of the Father. We confess that the Word is Word of God the Father, and that beside Him there is no other. We believe the Word to be the true God, and Wisdom and Power. We affirm that He is truly the Son, yet not in the way in which others are said to be sons: for they are either gods by reason of their regeneration, or are called sons of God on account of their merit, and not on account of their being of one essence[489], as is the case with the Father and the Son. We confess an Only-begotten and a Firstborn; but that the Word is only-begotten, who ever was and is in the Father. [We use the word firstborn with respect to His human nature.] But He is superior (to man) in the new creation[490] (of the Resurrection), inasmuch as He is the Firstborn from the dead.
若他有一个起始,他的存在就不是永?的,因为永远的道没有起始,如同神没有开始一样。我们并不是说父是子,也不是子就是父;而是父就是父,子是父的子。我们承认子是父的能力。我们承认道是父神的道,在他之外,没有别的道。我们相信道就是真神,智慧和能力。我们坚持他真的是子,但不是如同其他人(译者:人类)被称为人的方式。因为他们或是因着重生,而是神(gods),或因着他们的善行被称为神的儿子,而不是因着如同父和子的那种本质间的关系。我们承认一位独生子和首生的。而这位道从过去直到如今都是在父里面。[我们使用首生的(Firstborn)乃是指他的人性而言。]然而他在(复活的)新造里乃是远超一切的(对于人)。就如同他是死人中的首生者一样。
"We use the word firstborn with respect to His human nature.(我们使用首生的(Firstborn)乃是指他的人性而言。)"的意思,大家可以自己琢磨!