I.
The Introductory Features to the Book of Hebrews ()
A.
The Old Revelation and the New Revelation ()
1.
The divine author begins with a magnificent introduction in which he brings out something of the greatness of Jesus and His saving work. He goes on to point out that Jesus is better than the angels and thus leads into the first main section of the letter. In the Greek, these four verses are a single, powerful sentence that shows the difference between the old revelation, which is fragmentary and spoken through prophets, and the new, which is complete and comes from One who has all the dignity of being the Son of God.
2.
() It is significant that the subject of the first verb is "God," for God is constantly before the divine author (used sixty-eight times in the book). Right at the beginning, then, we are confronted with the reality of God and the fact that He has been active. The first divine activity commented on is that God has spoken in a variety of ways. He spoke to Moses in the burning bush (), to Elijah in a still, small voice (), to Isaiah in a vision in the temple (), to Hosea in his family circumstances (), and to Amos in a basket of summer fruit (). God at times conveyed His message through visions and dreams, through angels, through Urim and Thummim, through symbols, through natural events, etc. He appeared in various locations in Old Testament times, such as Ur of the Chaldees, Haran, Canaan, Egypt, and Babylon. Revelation by God was never monotonous activity that took place in the same way. God used variety.
a.
(; ; ; ; ) The revelation the writer is speaking of has its roots deep "long ago" (). He is referring to what God did in days of old, in the time of "the fathers." This expression is normally used in the New Testament of the patriarchs, but here the contrast to "us" in shows that the term "fathers" is a shorthand way of referring to Old Testament believers in general. "In the prophets" uses the Greek preposition en; thus God was "in" the prophets as His interpreters. They were God's messengers, inspired by His Spirit. The construction used here is parallel to that in verse : God was in Christ and before that He was in the prophets, using them as His voice. The "prophets" here probably means more than the canonical prophets and may include patriarchs (people like Abraham).
3.
(; ) "In these last days" is more literally "on the last of these days" — an expression that often refers in some way to the days of the messiah. Here it means that, in Jesus, the Messianic Age has appeared. Jesus is more than simply the last in a long line of prophets. He has inaugurated a new age altogether.
a.
In Jesus there is both continuity and discontinuity. See b. below for the latter. The continuity comes out when we are told that God "has spoken to us in His Son" (vs. ). The verb "spoken" is from the same verb used in verse (“spoke”). The earlier revelation is continuous with the later revelation; the same God has spoken in both. The old prepares the way for the new, a truth that will be brought out again and again in this book.
b.
The discontinuity is seen in the reference to the Son. It is noteworthy that in the Greek there is no article with "Son" (i.e., there is nothing corresponding to NASV's "His"). It is anarthrous (which means “no article”). In essence, the writer is saying God “has spoken to us in His Son” — "in One who has the quality of being Son." The Son's essential nature is stressed. This stands in contrast to "the prophets" in the preceding verse. The consummation of the revelatory process took place when God spoke not in the prophets but in His very Son. Throughout the letter we shall often meet such thoughts, as the writer shows that in Jesus Christ we have such a divine person and such divine activity that there can be no going back from Him.
4.
This emphasis on the Son leads to a series of seven propositions about Him in verses 2 and 3:
a.
First, God "appointed" Him "heir of all things" (). There is a stress on the divine will as active. In the term "heir" there is no thought of entering into possession through the death of a testator. In the New Testament, this word and its cognates are often used in a sense much like "get possession of," without reference to any specific way of acquiring the property in question. "Heir of all things," then, is a title of dignity and shows that Christ has the supreme place in all the mighty universe. () His exaltation to the highest place in heaven after His work on earth was done did not mark some new dignity but His reentry to His rightful place.
b.
(; ; ) The second truth about the Son is that "through" Him God "made the world" (). God is the Creator, but as is said elsewhere in the New Testament, He performed the work of creation through the Son. He spoke and the Son created what He described. "The world" (Greek aiónas) (lit., "the ages") has a temporal sense (relating to the world). While the universe may well be the world in mind as that which was "made," it is the universe as the sum of the periods of time. This word may be hinting at the temporal nature of all material things.
c.
The third proposition about the Son is that he is "the radiance of [God's] glory" (). The word translated "radiance", meaning a shining forth because of brightness within, may also mean "reflection," a shining forth because of brightness from without. Jesus is thus spoken of either as the outshining of the brightness of God's glory, or as the reflection of that glory. In both cases we see the glory of God in Jesus, and we see it as it really is. () "Glory" (Greek dóxas), sometimes used of literal brightness, is more commonly used in the New Testament of the radiance associated with God and with heavenly beings in general. (; ) It sometimes indicates the presence of God, and, to the extent that human beings are able to apprehend it, the revelation of God's majesty.
d.
"The exact representation of [God’s] nature" () is the fourth of the statements about the Son. "Exact representation" originally denoted an instrument for engraving and then a mark stamped on that instrument. Hence it came to be used of the impress of a die and of the impression on coins. It could also be used figuratively of God as making us in His own image. Here the writer is saying that the Son is an exact representation of God. The Son is such a revelation of the Father that when we see Jesus, we see what God's real being is.
e.
"Upholds all things by the word of His power" (), the fifth characteristic of the Son, does not picture Christ as holding up the universe like the Greek god atlas, but as carrying it along and bearing it onward toward the fulfillment of the divine plan. The concept is dynamic, not static. "All things" is the 11 totality, the universe considered as a whole. Nothing is excluded from the scope of the Son's upholding activity. And He does this by His powerful Word. (; ) "Word" (logos) is thought of as active and powerful — the same Word that created the universe; "powerful" is often used to describe literal physical power.
f.
With the sixth statement about the Son (“He had made purification of sins”), the divine author comes to what is for him the heart of the matter. The thing that gripped him most was that the very Son of God had come to deal with the problem of human sin. The divine author sees Him as a High Priest, who offers up the sacrifice that really put sin away. The divine author has an unusual number of ways of referring to what Christ has done for us (e.g., see ; ; ; ). From such passages, the divine author sees Jesus as having accomplished a many-sided salvation. Whatever had to be done about sin He has done.
(1)
() The word "purification" is most often used in the New Testament of ritual cleansing, but here it refers to the removal of sin (cf. also ) with its defiling aspect. Sin stains, but Christ has effected a complete cleansing of sin at Calvary. In this letter, sin appears as the power that deceives people and leads them to destruction. Only the sacrifice of Jesus Christ could remove it and its penalty. In Him and Him alone are sins really dealt with.
g.
The seventh in the series of statements about the Son is that when His work of purification was ended, "He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high " (). Sitting is the posture of rest, and the right-hand position is the place of honor. Sitting at God's right hand, then, is a way of saying that Christ's saving work is done and that He is now in the place of highest honor. "Majesty" means "greatness." (; ) Here it is obviously a title for God Himself, who dwells in heaven.
5.
() "Having become as much better" is again somewhat unexpected (cf. "appointed," vs. ). The writer has made some strong statements about the excellence of Christ's person, and so we should expect Him to describe Christ as eternally better than the angels rather than "becoming" better to them. But the writer says it this way because he was thinking of what the Son did in becoming human and putting away the sins of humanity. Of course, the Son was also eternally superior to the angels. That, however, is not what is in mind here. It was because He had put away sins that He sat down on the throne in the place of highest honor, and it is in this aspect that He is seen as inheriting a more excellent name than any angel.
a.
"Better” is one of the divine author's favorite words (see ; ; ; ; ; ; ). This strong emphasis on what is "better" arises from the divine author's deep conviction that Jesus Christ is "better" and that He has accomplished something "better" than anyone or anything else.
b.
Another word that appears frequently in this letter is "angel." (; ; ; ) While the term can be used of a human messenger, sometimes sent by God, in the overwhelming number of cases it means a spirit being from the other world. In many cases, the idea of a “messenger” remains. Sometimes, however, the thought is simply that of beings intermediate between God and human beings. It also may be used of evil beings, but references to godly angels are much more common.
c.
In antiquity, "the name" meant much more than it does today. We use a name as little more than a distinguishing mark or label to differentiate one person from other people. But in the world of the New Testament the name concisely sums up all that a person is. One's whole character was somehow implied in the name. Opinions differ as to what is meant here by "the name." Some take this to mean that in His whole character and personality Christ was superior to any angel. Others think the reference is simply to the name "Son," which is a better name than "angel" because it denotes superiority in character and personality. Either interpretation is possible.