Lange’s Commentary on the Holy Scriptures has served as a standard reference for more than a century. The subtitle “Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical” aptly describes the three-pronged approach to the biblical text. This translated version of the German text is often considered by many to be superior to the original.
“Alford seems to include both views; ‘not only first-born, of His mother in the world, but first-begotten of His Father before the worlds—He holds the rank, as compared with every created thing, of first-born in dignity.’” (Page 21)
“It denotes likeness to and equality with the invisible God (Jno. 1:18; 1 Tim. 6:18), who cannot be perceived absolutely without a Mediator and a revelation, hence is invisible to angels and the redeemed (Heb. 12:14).” (Page 20)
“The use of earthly things is not forbidden, but we are bidden, in the right use of the earthly to mind and seek heavenly things.” (Page 61)
“It is the calm of the soul resting on the consciousness of having a reconciled God and Father, in Christ the Saviour.” (Page 70)
“Ver. 15. Who is.—‘Is,’ not ‘was’ or ‘became;’ hence we have here defined, not what He became at His appearing in the flesh, but what He is, and is personally (τοῦ υἱοῦ—ὅς). [Undoubtedly the subject of the whole passage is ‘the Son of God’s love’ (ver. 13); and this subject must be taken in its widest and most complex relations, whether as Creator or Redeemer, the immediate context defining the precise nature of the reference (Ellicott). Meyer very justly remarks: ‘It must be noted that Paul is viewing Christ according to His present Being, i. e., according to His present and permanent status of exaltation, and hence he expresses not what Christ was, but what He is.’” (Page 20)