τῆς ἐκκλησίας· ὅς ἐστιν ἀρχή, πρωτότοκος
τῆς ἐκκλησίας] in apposition with τοῦ σώματος: comp. i. 24 τοῦ σώματος
αὐτοῦ, ὅ ἐστιν ἡ ἐκκλησία, Eph. i. 23.
ἀρχή] ‘_the origin_, _the beginning_.’ The term is here applied to the
Incarnate Christ in relation to the Church, because it is applicable to
the Eternal Word in relation to the Universe, Rev. iii. 14 ἡ ἀρχὴ τῆς
κτίσεως τοῦ Θεοῦ. The parallelism of the two relations is kept in view
throughout. The word ἀρχή here involves two ideas: (1) Priority in time;
Christ was the first-fruits of the dead, ἀπαρχή (1 Cor. xv. 20, 23): (2)
Originating power; Christ was also the source of life, Acts iii. 14 ὁ
ἀρχηγὸς τῆς ζωῆς; comp. Acts v. 31, Heb. ii. 10. He is not merely the
_principium principiatum_ but the _principium principians_ (see Trench
_Epistles to the Seven Churches_ p. 183 sq.). He rose first from the
dead, that others might rise through Him.
The word ἀρχή, like πρῶτος (see the note on Phil. i. 5), being absolute
in itself, does not require the definite article. Indeed the article is
most commonly omitted where ἀρχή occurs as a predicate, as will appear
from several examples to be gathered from the extracts in Plut. _Mor._
p. 875 sq., Stob. _Ecl. Phys._ i. 10. 12 sq. Comp. also Aristot. _Met._
x. 7, p. 1064, τὸ θεῖον ... ἂν εἴη πρώτη καὶ κυριωτάτη ἀρχή, Onatas in
Stob. _Ecl. Phys._ i. 2. 39 αὐτὸς γὰρ [θεὸς] ἀρχὰ καὶ πρᾶτον, Tatian.
_ad Græc._ 4 Θεὸς ... μόνος ἄναρχος ὢν καὶ αὐτὸς ὑπάρχων τῶν ὅλων ἀρχή,
Clem. Alex. _Strom._ iv. 25, p. 638, ὁ Θεὸς δὲ ἄναρχος, ἀρχὴ τῶν ὅλων
παντελής, ἀρχῆς ποιητικός, Method. _de Creat._ 3 (p. 100, ed. Jahn)
πάσης ἀρετῆς ἀρχὴν καὶ πηγὴν ... ἡγῇ τὸν Θεόν, pseudo-Dionys. _de Div.
Nom._ v. § 6 ἀρχὴ γάρ ἐστι τῶν ὄντων, § 10 πάντων οὖν ἀρχὴ καὶ τελευτὴ
τῶν ὄντων ὁ προών.
The text is read with the definite article, ἡ ἀρχή, in one or two
excellent authorities at least; but the obvious motive which would lead
a scribe to aim at greater distinctness renders the reading suspicious.
πρωτότοκος] Comp. Rev. i. 5 ὁ πρωτότοκος τῶν νεκρῶν καὶ ὁ ἄρχων τῶν
βασιλέων τῆς γῆς. His resurrection from the dead is His title to the
headship of the Church; for ‘the power of His resurrection’ (Phil. iii.
10) is the life of the Church. Such passages as Gen. xlix. 3, Deut. xxi.
17, where the πρωτότοκος is called ἀρχὴ τέκνων and superior privileges
are claimed for him as such, must necessarily be only very faint and
partial illustrations of the connexion between ἀρχὴ and πρωτότοκος here,
where the subject-matter and the whole context point to a fuller meaning
of the words. The words πρωτότοκος ἐκ τῶν νεκρῶν here correspond to
πρωτότοκος πάσης κτίσεως ver. 15, so that the parallelism between
Christ’s relations to the Universe and to the Church is thus emphasized.
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