Colossians 1:15–17 is central to the debate over Jesus' identity.
Most translations say:
“all things were created through him and for him.”
The New World Translation repeatedly says:
“all other things” were created through him.
Why?
The Greek phrase
The key expression is:
τὰ πάντα
ta panta
It normally means “all things,” “everything,” or “the whole,” depending on context.
The Greek clauses in Colossians 1 do not contain a separate word meaning “other.”
That basic fact is not controversial.
The question is whether “other” is contextually implied.
Why the Watchtower supplies it
Jehovah's Witness theology teaches that Jesus is the first created being.
Verse 15 calls Christ:
“the firstborn of all creation.”
Witnesses understand this as Jesus being the first member of the created class.
If so, verse 16 cannot mean Christ created absolutely all things, because Christ would have to create himself.
The NWT therefore reads:
by means of him all other things were created.
The added word makes the passage consistent with Watchtower Christology.
Can “all” sometimes mean “all other”?
Yes.
This concession matters.
If someone says:
“John is taller than everyone in his family,”
the meaning is obviously everyone else in his family.
Languages can leave the exception implicit.
The Greek word pas/panta can likewise be rendered “all other” when context clearly establishes that the subject belongs inside the comparison group.
So the criticism should not be:
“Adding ‘other’ is always impossible.”
The real question is whether Colossians establishes the needed comparison.
The context
Paul calls Christ:
“the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.”
Then he explains:
because in/by means of him all things were created in the heavens and on the earth.
The scope is expanded:
- visible;
- invisible;
- thrones;
- lordships;
- governments;
- authorities.
Then:
all things have been created through him and for him.
Then:
he is before all things.
The repeated universal language is striking.
Paul appears to place Christ on one side and the created totality on the other.
What does “firstborn” mean?
The Watchtower case depends heavily on prōtotokos.
Does “firstborn of all creation” necessarily mean “first creature created”?
No.
Biblical “firstborn” can denote rank and inheritance.
Psalm 89:27 says of the Davidic king:
“I will make him the firstborn, the highest of the kings of the earth.”
David was not chronologically the first king.
The parallel line explains the status:
highest.
Israel is also called God's firstborn despite not being the first nation chronologically.
Verse 16 explains verse 15
The logic of the sentence matters.
Christ is “firstborn of all creation” because all things were created in, through, and for him.
That naturally supports supremacy over creation rather than membership within creation.
“Through him and for him”
Paul does not merely say Christ helped.
Creation exists:
through him
and
for him.
That is extraordinarily elevated language in Jewish monotheistic context.
If Christ is a created angel, he is given a cosmic role over every other heavenly and earthly authority.
Watchtower theology can construct that reading, but the word “other” is doing substantial interpretive work.
The Watchtower's contextual defense
The current JW Study Bible explains that Greek “all” can in some contexts mean “all other.”
It compares 1 Corinthians 15:27, where God subjects “all things” under Christ but obviously is not himself subjected.
That is a real linguistic phenomenon.
But 1 Corinthians explicitly states the exception:
the One who subjected all things is not included.
Colossians does not say:
“all things, of course excluding Christ himself.”
The NWT supplies the exclusion from theology.
Why the addition matters
A translator may legitimately make implicit information explicit.
But this is unusually sensitive because whether Christ belongs to the created class is the theological question under dispute.
Compare:
“all things were created through him”
with:
“all other things were created through him.”
The second wording has already decided that Christ is a thing within creation.
That conclusion should be argued in a note, not smuggled in as though the Greek contained the word.
John 1:3 parallels the issue
John says:
“All things came into existence through him, and apart from him not even one thing came into existence.”
The New World Translation itself preserves this universal wording.
Again, the Word appears outside the category of things that came into existence through him.
The Watchtower must supply the conceptual exception from elsewhere.
“Firstborn from the dead”
Colossians 1:18 also calls Jesus:
“the firstborn from the dead.”
There chronological priority matters, but the text explains the goal:
“so that he might become the one who is first in all things.”
Firstborn language therefore clearly carries the idea of supremacy.
Paul is portraying Christ as preeminent in creation and new creation.
Does removing “other” prove the Trinity?
No.
Trinitarian theology still has to explain Christ's relation to the Father, monotheism, agency, and the meaning of firstborn.
One translation dispute should not carry the entire doctrine.
But the wording matters because readers deserve to see the Greek argument before a denominational interpretation is inserted into the sentence.
Earlier NWT editions and transparency
Earlier editions famously marked “other” typographically to indicate supplied wording.
Current editions use the phrase directly while study notes explain the reasoning.
The explanation is useful and should be read.
Yet transparency about the rationale does not make the supplied word lexically present.
It remains interpretive.
Conclusion
The Greek of Colossians 1:16–17 says:
all things.
It does not contain the word “other.”
Could “other” sometimes be implied in Greek?
Yes.
Does Colossians clearly require that implication?
No.
The context instead repeatedly emphasizes Christ's preeminence and universal relationship to creation.
The New World Translation's wording therefore reflects a prior theological conclusion:
Christ must be part of creation, so “all things” must mean “all other things.”
That interpretation should be defended separately.
It should not be confused with what the Greek text literally says.
Sources and further reading
- JW.org, Colossians 1 New World Translation Study Bible.
- Primary texts: Colossians 1:15–20; Psalm 89:27; Exodus 4:22; John 1:3; 1 Corinthians 15:27; Hebrews 1.
- BDAG, s.v. πᾶς and πρωτότοκος.