Colossians 1:15, 18

[Keith]

Can I get a literal translation of Colossians 1:15, 18? The English translations of the all three Greek manuscript families have "first born" here. I suspect that this may be something of a "lost in the translation" issue. However, the word (or phrase) is also found in Matthew 1:25 and Hebrews 12:23 and seems to literally mean (in the those two verses) firstborn as in the sense of "order of birth", not necessarily preeminence of order.

Yet, in the Colossians passages, if we take this word to mean "order of birth" rather than "preeminent" then heresy will soon follow. Would do you guys say.

Keith