Revelation 3:14-22 - Indepthbible.org

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the creation of God: 3.15 'I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot.
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(...continued)
But just as we have earlier asked, why does the risen Lord so speak in this letter to the
Laodiceans? Is it because of their devotion to lesser gods--i.e., to the gods of prosperity, and
self-satisfaction? Certainly it means that the devastating criticism of the church at Laodicea is
one that cannot be safely ignored--since it comes from such an authoritative One, Whose
truthfulness cannot be questioned!
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The conjunction kai, kai, “and,” is interpolated into the original text just before the
definite article at this point by Sinaiticus and the Philoxenian Syriac. Whether read or not
makes no difference for the meaning of Revelation.
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The noun êôßóåùò, ktiseos, “of creation,” is changed to read evkklhsi,aj, ekklesias,
“of (the) church,” by the first writer of Sinaiticus. This singular reading is probably an attempt
by the author of Sinaiticus to avoid the possible “Arian” conclusions that can be drawn from
the original text, i.e., that Jesus is not truly divine, but a (first) creation of God. This variant
reading does change the meaning of the original text, making it say something quite different.
There is, however, little possibility that this reading was original. See the next footnote.
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What does this phrase mean, "the Beginning of the Creation of God"? Does it mean
that the risen Lord is the first of God's creatures? Or does it mean that He Himself began, He
was the "first Cause" of the divine creative works?
The noun avrch, arche means "beginning," as opposed to te,loj, telos, "end." It also
means the "beginning" in the sense of "origin." It is used for the "first-born" child in a family,
such as Reuben who was Jacob's "beginning" (Deuteronomy 21:17). It is used to mean "the
first cause," and is also used to mean "ruler," or "authority."
In the New Testament, avrch, arche most often means simply "beginning," the first
point in time, whether it has to do with creation, or the "start" of something, such as the
ministry of Jesus (Luke 1:2), or the time when one first became a follower of Jesus (1 John
2:24; 3:11; Hebrews 3:14; 5:12; 6:1).
Beasley-Murray comments that this statement in Revelation 3:14, “...while echoing
Proverbs 8:22 [‘YHWH brought Me (Wisdom) forth as the first of all His works, before His
deeds of old; I was appointed from eternity, from the beginning, before the world began..."
verses 22-23], it does so in the sense of the developed Christology which appears in the
hymn of Colossians 1:15-20. There Christ is described as ‘the first-born of all creation...the
beginning, the first-born from the dead...He is before all things, and in him all things hold
together.’ When John speaks of Christ as ‘the Beginning of God's creation,’ he means not the
first of God's creatures but, as the New English Bible renders the phrase, "the Prime Source
of all God's creation." (P. 104)
Compare John 1:3, "Through Him [the Word] all things were made; without Him
nothing was made that has been made." We agree with Beasley-Murray, and also with Swete
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