He says, the beginning of God’s creation: perhaps the Arians’
anti-Christ workshop would light upon this saying, as though the Son were
described by these words as a creature. But let us not take notice of their
unholy words. We must examine whether any such description occurs in another
text, so that one might be able to form a judgment by comparing similar terms.
(3) The wise apostle, writing to the Colossians, talks of the Son “who is the
first-fruit” and “the first-born of all creation,” certainly not “the first-created.”
And the prophet says, “From the womb before the morning-star I begot you,”
certainly not “I created you.” (Oecumenius, Commentary on the
Apocalypse [trans. John N. Suggit; The Fathers of the Church 112; Washington,
D.C.: The Catholic University of America Press, 2006], 50; cf. Brant
Gardner on 1 Nephi 13:24-28 and a Note on Psalm 110:3 in the MT and LXX)