God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world. And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much better than the angels, as He has inherited a more excellent name than they.
fathers - forefathers
in many portions and in many ways - in many parts of Israel's history and in various ways (through laws, institutions, ceremonies, kings, judges, prophets)
"In the Greek text, the order of the words is, 'At sundry times and in divers manners God spake.' The Greek places his words at the beginning of a sentence for emphasis. Therefore, the main idea in the writer's mind here is not that God spake, but that it was at sundry times and in divers manners that He spake. He is not combating the denial of a revelation, but is preparing the reader for the truth that God now, after the preliminary revelations, gives a final word in the revelation of His Son.
In the giving of the First Testament truth, God did not speak once for all, but in separate revelations, each of which set forth only part of His will...At the beginning of the revelation, the presentation was elementary. Later it appealed to a more developed spiritual sense. Again, the revelation differed according to the faithfulness or the unfaithfulness of Israel.
"...The First Testament revelation was progressive. All could not be revealed at once because all could not be understood at once. Thus the revelation was given in many parts. In addition to this, it was given in different modes. It was given in the form of law, prophecy, history, psalm, sign, type, parable. Expositor's* says that the people of Israel 'were like men listening to a clock striking the hour, always getting nearer the truth but obliged to wait til the whole is heard." (Kenneth S. Wuest)
"When we allow the Bible to speak for itself with respect to 'sundry times and diverse manners' we do in fact find that God has not always done things the same way and has dispensed His grace toward man in diverse manners." (T. D. McLean in Hebrews)
in these last days - the last days of the First Covenant
has spoken to us in His Son - "The revelation God gave in His Son, consisted not merely in what was said, as in the case of the prophets, but in what the Son was, not merely in what He (the Son) said. In other words, it was not primarily, nor finally, a revelation through words, but through a Personality. It was a revelation made by One who in all that He is and all that He does and says, reveals the Father." (Kenneth S. Wuest)
the world - literally the ages, including time, space, and the material world
radiance - flood of resplendent light. The word means "an outshining," not a reflection. A radiance, effulgence, used of light beaming from a luminous body. Its verbal form means "to flash forth." Vincent* says the meaning is that "the Son is the out-raying of the divine glory, exhibiting in Himself the glory and majesty of the divine Being." He quotes Weiss saying that "God lets His glory issue from Himself, so that there arises thereby a light-being like Himself."
the exact representation - of God's essence or nature (strong assertions of the deity of Christ)
upholds all things by the word of His power - maintains and sustains - While the word implies the idea of sustaining, it also includes in itself the idea of movement. It speaks of the act of sustaining something that is in constant movement. This act has to do, not only with sustaining the weight of the universe, but also with maintaining its coherence and carrying on its development (Col 1:17). The universe was called into being by the Word of God (Heb 11:3), and is sustained by the same Word.
sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high - The picture of Christ being seated indicates the finished character of His once-for-all sacrifice for sin (Heb 10:10,12), and the right hand indicates the place of honor that He occupies.
What is the theme of this chapter?
The theme of the first four verses is Christ is superior to the prophets — "The Son is superior to the prophets because He is the brightness of God's glory." (Kenneth S. Wuest) — whereas the theme of the rest of the chapter is Christ is superior to the angels in His divine person.
*The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll, M.A., LLD.
* Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament.
fathers - forefathers
in many portions and in many ways - in many parts of Israel's history and in various ways (through laws, institutions, ceremonies, kings, judges, prophets)
"In the Greek text, the order of the words is, 'At sundry times and in divers manners God spake.' The Greek places his words at the beginning of a sentence for emphasis. Therefore, the main idea in the writer's mind here is not that God spake, but that it was at sundry times and in divers manners that He spake. He is not combating the denial of a revelation, but is preparing the reader for the truth that God now, after the preliminary revelations, gives a final word in the revelation of His Son.
In the giving of the First Testament truth, God did not speak once for all, but in separate revelations, each of which set forth only part of His will...At the beginning of the revelation, the presentation was elementary. Later it appealed to a more developed spiritual sense. Again, the revelation differed according to the faithfulness or the unfaithfulness of Israel.
"...The First Testament revelation was progressive. All could not be revealed at once because all could not be understood at once. Thus the revelation was given in many parts. In addition to this, it was given in different modes. It was given in the form of law, prophecy, history, psalm, sign, type, parable. Expositor's* says that the people of Israel 'were like men listening to a clock striking the hour, always getting nearer the truth but obliged to wait til the whole is heard." (Kenneth S. Wuest)
"When we allow the Bible to speak for itself with respect to 'sundry times and diverse manners' we do in fact find that God has not always done things the same way and has dispensed His grace toward man in diverse manners." (T. D. McLean in Hebrews)
in these last days - the last days of the First Covenant
has spoken to us in His Son - "The revelation God gave in His Son, consisted not merely in what was said, as in the case of the prophets, but in what the Son was, not merely in what He (the Son) said. In other words, it was not primarily, nor finally, a revelation through words, but through a Personality. It was a revelation made by One who in all that He is and all that He does and says, reveals the Father." (Kenneth S. Wuest)
the world - literally the ages, including time, space, and the material world
radiance - flood of resplendent light. The word means "an outshining," not a reflection. A radiance, effulgence, used of light beaming from a luminous body. Its verbal form means "to flash forth." Vincent* says the meaning is that "the Son is the out-raying of the divine glory, exhibiting in Himself the glory and majesty of the divine Being." He quotes Weiss saying that "God lets His glory issue from Himself, so that there arises thereby a light-being like Himself."
the exact representation - of God's essence or nature (strong assertions of the deity of Christ)
upholds all things by the word of His power - maintains and sustains - While the word implies the idea of sustaining, it also includes in itself the idea of movement. It speaks of the act of sustaining something that is in constant movement. This act has to do, not only with sustaining the weight of the universe, but also with maintaining its coherence and carrying on its development (Col 1:17). The universe was called into being by the Word of God (Heb 11:3), and is sustained by the same Word.
sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high - The picture of Christ being seated indicates the finished character of His once-for-all sacrifice for sin (Heb 10:10,12), and the right hand indicates the place of honor that He occupies.
What is the theme of this chapter?
The theme of the first four verses is Christ is superior to the prophets — "The Son is superior to the prophets because He is the brightness of God's glory." (Kenneth S. Wuest) — whereas the theme of the rest of the chapter is Christ is superior to the angels in His divine person.
*The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll, M.A., LLD.
* Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament.
No comments:
Post a Comment