I. Name

In a hymnic passage extolling Jesus Christ we read “for in (or: by) him all things in heaven and earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones (thronoi) or dominions or rulers and powers—all things have been created through him and for him” (Col. 1.16). Here the term ‘thrones’, like the other words, denotes heavenly beings. It occurs with this meaning only here in the Bible. The other words are found in similar lists (1 Cor. 15.24; Eph. 1.21; Eph. 3.10; Eph. 6.12; 1 Pet. 3.22); whilst …