And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church,
Parallel translations
- WEB He put all things in subjection under his feet, and gave him to be head over all things for the assembly,
- BSB And God put everything under His feet and made Him head over everything for the church,
- NKJV And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church,
- NASB And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and made Him head over all things to the church,
- NLT God has put all things under the authority of Christ and has made him head over all things for the benefit of the church.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
God placed everything under Christ's feet and made him head over all things for the church. It declares Christ's universal lordship exercised for his people's good.
Overview
Echoing Psalm 8 and Psalm 110, Paul declares that all things are subjected to Christ. Strikingly, God gave the cosmic Christ 'to be head over all things for the assembly' — his universal reign is exercised for the benefit of the church. Christ's supremacy and his care for his people are inseparable.
Cross-references & the web
Theme
- The Church"The church, which is his body."
Cross-references · 17
- Col 1:18And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.
- Col 2:10And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power:
- 1 Cor 15:25–27For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.
- Ps 8:6–8Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet:
- Heb 2:8Thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet. For in that he put all in subjection under him, he left nothing that is not put under him. But now we see not yet all things put under him.
- Col 2:19And not holding the Head, from which all the body by joints and bands having nourishment ministered, and knit together, increaseth with the increase of God.
- Eph 4:15–16But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:
- 1 Cor 11:3But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God.
- Eph 5:23For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body.
- Acts 20:28Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.
- Eph 3:21Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.
- Matt 16:18And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
- Gen 3:15And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.
- 1 Tim 3:15But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.
- Ps 91:13Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet.
- Col 1:8Who also declared unto us your love in the Spirit.
- Heb 12:22–24But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels,
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Christ at the center
Every spiritual blessing is 'in Christ,' the head over all things for the church, in whom Jew and Gentile are made one new man by his blood.
How Ephesians 1:22 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.