GOD
AFTER HE SPOKE LONG AGO TO THE
FATHERS: polumerous kai polutropos
palai o theos:lalesas
(AAPMSN) en tois prophetais:
(Ge 3:15; 6:3; 6:13-22, 8:15-19; 9:1-17; 12:1-3, 12:2; 12:3, 26:2, 3, 4,
5; 28:12, 13, 14, 15; Ge 32:24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30; 46:2, 3, 4; Ex
3:1; Ex 3:2-22 Lk 24:27; Lk 24:44 Acts 28:23; 1Pe 1:10;1Pe 1:11 1Pe 1:12
2Pe 1:20, 21)
HEBREWS 1:4-14
JESUS IS
BETTER THAN THE ANGELS:
AS DEMONSTRATED
BY
SEVEN OT QUOTATIONS
(All taken
from the
Septuagint - LXX) |
|
HEBREWS |
OT QUOTE |
PROVES THAT... |
|
Hebrews 1:5 |
Psalms 2:7 |
Jesus is God's only begotten Son |
Hebrews 1:5
|
2Samuel 7:14 |
God is His Father
Jesus is the Son |
Hebrews 1:6
|
Psalms 97:7* |
Jesus is to be worshipped by
angels |
|
Hebrews 1:7 |
Psalms 104:4 |
Angels are His
Ministers |
|
Hebrews 1:8, 1:9 |
Psalms 45:6-7 |
Jesus Christ is God
Forever and ever |
|
Hebrews 1:10, 11,12 |
Psalms 102:25-27 |
Jesus is
Immutable and Eternal |
|
Hebrews 1:13 |
Psalms 110:1 |
Jesus is
Honored as
Victor over All |
|
*Psalm 97:7 - Some scholars favor this quotation as from Deut 32:43
which in the Greek (LXX)
reads "Rejoice, ye heavens, with him, and let all the angels
of God worship him". Either quote substantiates the writer's
main premise. |
In the past God spoke to our forefathers (NIV),
in time past (NKJV)
to our ancestors (NLT)
in
ancient days (WNT)
in olden times (Williams)
Referring to Hebrews it has said that
There is no portion of Scripture whose authorship is more disputed, nor
any of which the inspiration is more indisputable.
Irving Jensen says that...
The main theme of Hebrews may be
stated thus: The knowledge and assurance of how great this High Priest
Jesus is should lift the drifting believer from spiritual lethargy to
vital Christian maturity. Stated another way: The antidote for backsliding
is a growing personal knowledge of Jesus. (Jensen, I. L. Jensen's Survey
of the New Testament: Search and discover. Chicago: Moody Press)
KEY WORDS
IN HEBREWS
Key Words (see
notes on key words)
in Hebrews:
Angel - 13x in 12v - Heb
1:4, 5, 6, 7, (2x), He 1:13; 2:2, 5, 7, 9, 16; 12:22; 13:2
Better - 13x in 12v - Heb
1:4; 6:9; 7:19, 22; 8:6 (2x); He 9:23; 10:34; 11:4, 16, 35, 40; 12:24
Blood - 23x in 20v -
Heb 2:14; 9:7, He 9:12 (2x), He 9:13, 14, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22 (2x), He
9:25; 10:4, 19, 29; 11:28; 12:4, 24 (2x); He 13:11, 12, 20
Covenant - 21x in 18v - Heb 7:22; 8:6, 7, 8, 9 (2x), He 8:13;
9:1, 4 (2x), He 9:15 (2x), He 9:16, 17, 20; 10:16, 29; 12:24; 13:20
Eternal
- 6x in 6v - Heb 5:9; 6:2; 9:12, 14, 13:20
Faith - 33x in 31v - Heb
4:2; 6:1, 12; 10:22, 38, 39; 11:1, 3, 4 (2x), He 11:5, 6, 7 (2x), He 11:8,
9, 11, 13, 17, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 33, 39; 12:2; 13:7
Faithful - 6x in 6v -
Heb 2:17; 3:2, 5, 6; 10:23; 11:11
Heaven
- 5x in 5v - Heb 9:24; 11:12; 12:23, 25, 26
Heavenly - 6x n 6v - Heb 3:1; 6:4; 8:5; 9:23; 11:16; 12:22
God - 71x in 66v - Heb
1:1, 6, 8, 9; 2:4, 9, 13, 17; 3:4, 12; 4:4, 9, 10, 12, 14; 5:1, 4, 10, 12;
6:1, 3, 5, 6, 7, 10, 13, 17, 18; 7:1, 3, 19, 25; 8:5, 10; 9:14, 20, 24;
10:7, 12, 21, 29, 31, 36; 11:3, 4, 5, 10, 16, 19, 25, 40; 12:2, 7, 15, 16,
22, 23, 28, 29; 13:4, 7, 15, 16, 20
Great
- 8x in 8v - Heb 2:3; 4:14; 7:4; 10:21, 32, 35; 12:1; 13:20
Greater - 6x in 6v - Heb 6:13, 16; 7:7, 23; 9:11; 11:26
Jesus
- 14x in 14v (see also Son) - Heb 2:9; 3:1; 4:14; 6:20; 7:22, 24;
10:10, 19; 12:2, 24; 13:8, 12, 20, 21
Let us - 13x in 12v - Heb 4:1, 11, 14, 16; 6:1; 10:22, 23, 24; 12:1
(2x), He 12:28; 13:13, 15
Perfect - 9x in 9v - Heb
2:10; 5:9; 7:19, 28; 9:9, 11; 10:1; 11:40; 12:23
Priest (High priest,
priesthood) - 36x in 33v - Heb 2:17; 3:1; 4:14, 15; 5:1, 5, 6, 10; 6:20;
7:1, 3, 5, 11, (2x), He 7:12, 14, 15, 17, 21 (2x), He 7:23, 24, 26, 27,
28; 8:1, 3, 4; 9:6, 7, 11, 25; 10:11, 21; 13:11
Sacrifice - 19x in 18v -
Heb 5:1, 3; 7:27; 8:3; 9:9, 23, 26; 10:1, 3, 5, 6, 8 (2x), He 10:11, 12,
26; 11:4; 13:15, 16
Sin (Sinners) - 54x in 49v - Heb 1:3; 2:12, 14, 17, 18; 3:13, 17;
4:6, 14, 15; 5:1, 2, 3, 11; 6:6, 13; 7:25, 26, 27 (2x), He 8:4, 12; 9:7,
10, 15, 26 (2x), He 9:28 (2x); He 10:1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 11, 12, 17, 18, 19,
21, 22, 26 (2x); Heb 11:11, 25; 12:1 (2x), He 12:3, 4, 16, 28; 13:3, 11
Son - 25x in 22v (not all
refer to God's Son) - Heb 1:2, 5 (2x), He 1:8; 2:6, 10; 3:6; 4:14; 5:5, 8;
6:6; 7:3, 5, 28; 10:29; 11:17, 21, 22, 24; 12:5 (2x), He 12:6, 7, (2x), He
12:8
Therefore - 24x in 24v
- Heb 1:9; 2:14, 17; 3:1, 7, 10; 4:1, 6, 11, 14, 16; 6:1; 7:25; 9:18, 23;
10:5, 19, 35; 11:12, 16; 12:1, 12, 28; 13:12
The
Verse
by Verse Notes
will take the position that Paul cannot be established as the author and
thus the author is treated as unknown to all except God. This is the only
New Testament epistle that does not begin like a first-century letter,
with a formal salutation and prayer. It does have an epistolatory ending.
The Greek translation of the Hebrew OT, the Septuagint (usually
abbreviated LXX) is the source of all the OT quotations from the Old
Testament, except two (He 10:30-note;
Heb 13:5-note).
Respected Christian theologian R C Sproul once said that
If
I were cast into prison and allowed but one book, it would be the Bible.
If I were allowed only one book of the Bible, it would be the Epistle to
the Hebrews...because it contains our most comprehensive discussion of the
redemption wrought for us in the sacrifice of Jesus.
Stedman comments that
The epistle to the Hebrews begins as dramatically as a rocket shot to the
moon. In one paragraph, the writer breathtakingly transports his readers
from the familiar ground of Old Testament prophetic
writings, through the incarnation of the Son (who is at once creator, heir
and sustainer of all things and the fullest possible manifestation of
deity), past the purifying sacrifice of the cross to the exaltation of
Jesus on the ultimate seat of power in the universe. It is a paragraph
daring in its claims and clearly designed to arrest the reader's attention
and compel a further hearing. (Hebrews
1:1-3 Greater Than the Prophets)
God
(2316)
(Theos) No other NT Epistle comes to the point as quickly as this
one.
There is no attempt to prove God’s
existence. It is simply a self-evident given. Without
benefit of salutation or introduction, the writer plunges into setting
forth the superlative glories of the Lord Jesus Christ. These first four
verses comprise one majestic sentence in the Greek text and read like the
opening of a formal Greek oration rather than the customary "greetings" of
a letter and are among the four most important Christological passages in
Scripture (cf.
Jn 1:1; , 2:7, 2:8, 2:9, 2:10, 2:11;
Col 1:15, 16, 17, 19, 19, 20-
see notes
Co 1:15; 16; 17; 18; 19 20;
Php 2:6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11-see notes
Philippians 2:6;
2:7;
2:8;
2:9;
2:10;
2:11)
Hebrews begins like Genesis and John with
God.
It is significant that the subject of the first verb is God,
for
God
is constantly before us in this epistle, used some 68 times or an average
of about once every 73 words throughout the epistle and few NT books speak
of
God
so often. Right at the beginning, then, we are confronted with the reality
of
God
and the fact that he has been active in man's story. How deftly the author
unveils the Trinity as active in the revelation of Scripture, here God
the Father
introduced as having spoken in time past, later noting
God the Son
(He
2:3-note)
and finally
God the Holy Spirit
(He 3:7-note)
After this long opening Greek
sentence, the author immediately begins quoting Scripture in the remainder
of this chapter.
Spoke
(2980)
(laleo
[word study]) which originally referred to the
chattering of birds or prattling of children and evolved in use to the
highest form of speech, the thrice holy God choosing language
as His primary medium of communication to fallen, sinful mankind.
As Francis Schaeffer's book puts
it
He Is There And He Is Not
Silent.
Pink
comments that
Deity
is not speechless. The true and living God, unlike the idols of the
heathen, is no dumb Being. The God of Scripture, unlike that absolute
and impersonal "first Cause" of philosophers and evolutionists, is not
silent.
Speak (spoke, spoken, speaking) is clearly a
key word in Hebrews (Click 18 occurrences in
Hebrews in NAS). Note that God took
the initiative to speak in the past and at the last!
This "special
revelation" contrasts with "natural revelation"
described by Paul as
that which is known about God is evident within (all men) for God made it evident to them. For since the creation
of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine
nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been
made, so that they are without excuse." (Ro 1:19, 20-see notes
Ro 1:19;
20)
David parallels this
thought in Psalm 19 writing that
the heavens are
telling of the glory of God and their expanse is declaring the work of His
hands. Day to day pours forth speech, and night to night reveals
knowledge." (Ps 19:1, 2-note)
Long
ago
(3819)
(palai)
means in the past, of olden times, long before now or of old. "Long
ago" is a time phrase
which in context refers to the time prior to Messiah's first coming and
contrasts to the "last
days" inaugurated at His
incarnation. The OT revelation is thus no novelty but has its roots deep
in the past.
Guzik notes that
Hebrews has 29
quotations and 53 allusions to the Old Testament, for a total of 82
references. Significantly, Hebrews does not refer even once to the
books of the Apocrypha. (Hebrews
1)
The writer's emphasis on the Old Testament at
the inception of this epistle would be especially meaningful to a Jewish
audience trained up in the truths taught by the Law and the prophets.
Paul reminded
Timothy to
continue in the things you have learned...from
childhood you have known the sacred writings (Old Testament
Scriptures) which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to
salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus." (see notes
2Ti 3:14;
15)
Barnes adds that since
the object of
the (author of Hebrews) was to show the superior claims of the
gospel, and to lead them from putting confidence in the rites instituted
in accordance with the directions of the Old Testament, it was of
essential importance that he should admit that their belief of the
inspiration of the prophets was well founded.
The
fathers
(3962)
(pater) refers to the Old
Testament forefathers and is contrast
to
us in the next verse.
The fathers
would have been a term familiar to Jewish reader as illustrated by Paul's
address to the synagogue in Perga where he said
we preach to you the good news of
the promise made to
the fathers that God has
fulfilled this promise to our children in that He raised up Jesus, as it
is also written in the second Psalm, 'THOU ART MY SON; TODAY I HAVE
BEGOTTEN THEE." (Acts 13:32
33).
Later to the Romans
Paul writes
Christ has become a servant to the
circumcision (Jews) on behalf of the truth of God to confirm the
promises given to
the fathers"
(Ro 15:8)
(The 9 other similar uses of the phrase the fathers
in the NT - Luke 1:17; John 6:58; 7:22; Acts 13:32; Ro 9:5; 11:28; 15:8;
Heb 1:1; 2Pet 3:4)
IN THE PROPHETS IN MANY
PORTIONS AND IN MANY WAYS: en tois prophetais polumeros kai polutropos:
(Nu 12:6, 7, 8;12:7, 12:8 Joel 2:28) (Lk 1:55;Lk 1:72 Jn 7:22; Acts 13:32)
through the prophets at many times and in various ways," (NIV)
at sundry times
and in divers manners" (KJV)
God spoke in
partial and various ways" (NAB)
gave our
forefathers many different glimpses of the truth in the words of the
prophets" (Phillips)
In
many parts and in different ways" (Wuest)
At many
moments in the past and by many means," (NJB)
in many separate
revelations [ each of which set forth a portion of the Truth] and in
different ways" (Amp)
in many distinct messages and by
various methods" (WNT)
in fragmentary and
varied fashion" (ISV)
by divers portions and
in divers manners" (ASV)
In many parts
[or, Bit by bit] and in various ways " (ALT)
it was bit by
bit and in many different ways" (Williams)
By
scattered bits and pieces!" (College Press NIV Commentary)
in
many fragments and in many fashions"
(K Hughes)
The author in this statement sets his seal upon the
Divine inspiration and authority of the Old Testament Scriptures.
Stedman
provides an excellent
overview writing that
The author intends to present a series
of arguments for the superiority of Jesus over all rival claims to
allegiance which his readers were feeling and hearing. Their attention was
easily diverted off in other directions, just as our attention is easily
distracted today. They, like us, were being tempted, frightened or
pressured into following other voices and serving other masters. In
Hebrews 1-7, he examines these rival authorities and reveals their
inadequacies. None was, in itself, a false or fraudulent voice. Each was
ordained by God and proper in its intended place. Each had served the
people of God well in the past, and no teaching or expectation was wrong
at the time it was given. But now the final word, the ultimate revelation
from God toward which all the other voices had pointed, had come. To this
supreme voice the author directs his readers' attention, and ours, by
contrasting this final word with the past utterances.
First, there were the prophets,
God's ancient spokesmen (Hebrews 1:1-3); then the angels, Israel's
guardians (Hebrews 1:4-2:18); then Israel's great leader, Moses (Hebrews 3:1-4:7);
Israel's godly general, Joshua (Hebrews 4:8-13); and finally the founder of
Israel's priesthood, Aaron (Hebrews 4:14-7:28). Each was a voice from
Israel's past that needed to be heard but that was woefully inadequate if
followed alone. It was clearly a case of the good being the enemy of the
best. Eclipsing all these, as the rising sun eclipses the light of the
stars, is the figure of Jesus, God's Son, creator and heir of all things."
(Hebrews
1:1-3 Greater Than the Prophets)
(bolding added)
In
the prophets
(4396)
(prophetes
from pró = before or forth + phemí = tell) is literally one who speaks forth and as used in
Scripture refers to one who is
divinely inspired to communicate God’s will to His people and to disclose
the future to them (Dt 18:18).
MacArthur
adds that
A prophet is one who speaks to men for God; a
priest is one who speaks to God for men. The priest takes man’s
problems to God; the prophet takes God’s message to men. Both, if
they are true, are commissioned by God, but their ministries are quite
different. The book of Hebrews has a great deal to say about priests,
but its opening verse speaks of prophets. The Holy Spirit
establishes the divine authorship of the Old Testament, its accuracy and
its authority, through the fact that it was given to and delivered by
God’s prophets." For example the "LORD said to Moses, "See,
I make you as God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron shall be your
prophet." (Ex 7:1)
(MacArthur,
John: Hebrews. Moody Press
or
Logos)
Thus, the prophets
were the mouthpieces of God and their words were not the production of
their own spirit, but came from the Holy Spirit as emphasized by Peter who
wrote that
"no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but
men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God." (see note
1 Peter 1:21)
The prophet John the
Baptist quoting another prophet Isaiah explaining that he was but
a voice of One who is crying out in the
wilderness (Jn 1:23)
The One giving the message was God, John being His voice,
a vessel for honor, sanctified, useful to the Master, prepared for every
good work. (see note
2 Timothy 2:21)
The prophets
received their call or appointment directly from God, and some like
Jeremiah (Jer 1:5)
or John the Baptist (Jn 1:13
14
15),
were called before birth. Although not all that God had spoken through the
prophets was predictive prophecy, this aspect of God's revelation is one
of the strongest evidences that the Bible is divinely inspired.
Barclay adds that
it is no part of
the purpose of the writer to the Hebrews to belittle the prophets; it is
his aim to establish the supremacy of Jesus Christ. He is not saying that
there is a break between the Old Testament revelation and that of the New
Testament; he is stressing the fact that there is continuity , but
continuity that ends in consummation."
The KJV translates
this phrase as by the prophets but the Greek is
literally in
the prophets.
Kenneth Wuest
explains that in
is
"the preposition
en
- Used here in the locative case...the locative of sphere. That is,
the writers of the First Testament constituted the sphere within which God
spoke. He spoke exclusively through them and through no other men,
so far as the written revelation is concerned. This preposition is used
also in the instrumental case. Then the writers would be looked
upon as the instruments in God’s hands by which the First Testament
Scriptures were written down."
(Wuest,
K. S. Wuest's Word Studies from the Greek New Testament: Eerdmans
or
Logos)
(Bolding added)
OT Scriptures
documenting that God spoke long ago...
God spoke to Adam and told him that
the Savior would come from the Seed of the woman (Ge 3:15).
God spoke to Abraham and told him that the Savior would come from his Seed
(Ge 12:3, 18:18, 22:18).
God spoke to Jacob and told him that the Savior would come through the
tribe of Judah (Gen 49:10).
God spoke to David and told him that the Savior would be born of his house
(2Sam 7:16).
God spoke to Micah and told him that the Savior would be born at Bethlehem
(Mic 5:2).
God spoke to Isaiah and told him that the Savior would be born of a virgin
(Isa 7:14).
See also topic -
Messianic
Prophecies
John Calvin
writes
That you may, therefore, understand the full import of this
passage,
the following arrangement shall be given —
GOD SPAKE
Formerly by the Prophets
Now by the Son;
Then to the Fathers
But now to us;
Then at various times
Now as at the end of the times.
Many portions
(4181)
(polumeros from polús
= many + méros = part) is literally "many parts". It
means part by part, fragmentarily. In context means that God spoke
a word here and there, now and then,
some at one time, some at another, to some a few words, to others many.
The speech of God is not unbroken chatter but episodes of speech
punctuating seasons of silence. This phrase is first in the Greek
construction for emphasis (emphatic position) and refers to the
incremental and progressive revelation (Genesis gives some
truth, Exodus some more truth, etc) in which God disclosed Himself in
portions of truth at different times until the appearance of the Son, Who
Himself is the consummation of Truth (Jn 1:17, 14:6),
the fulfillment of the Law and Prophets (Mt 5:17-note).
The prophetic revelation was fragmentary, piece by piece in 39 OT books
delivered over some 1500 years by forty-plus writers, each contributing "portions"
of divine revelation, none in themselves complete.
Pink
adds that
The Old
Testament revelation was but the refracted rays, not the light unbroken
and complete. As illustrations of this we may refer to the gradual making
known of the Divine character through His different titles (Click
Names of God), or to the prophesies concerning the
coming Messiah. It was 'here a little and there a little.'"
If is as if God had spoken in a spectrum of pure variegated lights in the
Old Testament and that the arrival of Jesus was like a "prism" Who
collects all these bands of pure light and focuses them into one final,
perfect and pure beam.
Peter alludes
to the fragmentary nature of the OT revelation adding that even the
prophets who
prophesied of the grace that would come...made careful search and inquiry,
seeking to know what person or time the Spirit of Christ within them was
indicating as He predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories to
follow." (see notes
1 Peter 1:10;
1:11)
Jamieson comments
All was not
revealed to each one prophet; but one received one portion of revelation,
and another another. To Noah the quarter of the world to which Messiah
should belong was revealed; to Abraham, the nation; to Jacob, the tribe;
to David and Isaiah, the family; to Micah, the town of nativity; to
Daniel, the exact time; to Malachi, the coming of His forerunner, and His
second advent; through Jonah, His burial and resurrection; through Isaiah
and Hosea, His resurrection. Each only knew in part; but when that which
was perfect came in Messiah, that which was in part was done away" (1Cor
13:12).
F B Meyer
puts it this way
No one
prophet could speak out all the truth. Each was entrusted with one or two
syllables in the mighty sentences of God's speech. At the best the view
caught of God, and given to men through the prophets, though true, was
partial and limited. But in Jesus there is nothing of this piecemeal
revelation. "In Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily." He
hath revealed the Father. Whosoever hath seen him hath seen God; and to
hear his words is to get the full-orbed revelation of the Infinite. (Hebrews
1:3-4: The Dignity of Christ)
In
many ways
(4187)
(polutropos
from polús = many + trópos = a manner) points to the
different media and modes through which God disclosed His word, including
dream, direct voice, signs, angelic visitations and even in different ways
to different men. He spoke to Moses in the burning bush (Ex 3:2ff), to
Elijah in a still, small voice (1Ki 19:12), to Isaiah in a vision in the
temple (Isa 6:1ff), to Hosea in his family circumstances (Hos 1:2), and to
Amos in a basket of summer fruit (Am 8:1).
Many ways
also alludes to the different OT literary types including law, history,
poetry, allegory, prophecy, etc. The writer's main point in this section
is to emphasize that all OT revelation was God speaking to man, albeit in
a manner that was fragmentary and occasional, lacking fullness and
finality.
Pink
observes that
we may see here an illustration of the sovereignty of God: He did not
act uniformly or confine Himself to any one method of speaking to the
fathers. He spake by way of promise and prediction, by types and symbols,
by commandments and precepts, by warnings and exhortations."
Expositor’s adds that the people of Israel “were like men listening to
a clock striking the hour, always getting nearer the truth but obliged to
wait till the whole is heard.”
MacArthur adds that
We must, of course, clearly understand that the Old Testament was not in
any way erroneous (2Ti 3:16, 17-
note). But there was in it a development, of spiritual light and of moral
standards, until God’s truth was refined and finalized in the New
Testament. The distinction is not in the validity of the revelation—its
rightness or wrongness—but in the completeness of it and the time of it.
Just as children are first taught letters, then words, and then sentences,
so God gave His revelation. It began with the “picture book” of types
and ceremonies and prophecies and progressed to final completion in Jesus
Christ and His New Testament...The Old Testament is only a part of God’s
truth, but it is not partially His truth. It is not His complete truth,
but it is completely His truth. It is God’s revelation, His progressive
revelation preparing His people for the coming of His Son, Jesus Christ.
(MacArthur,
John: Hebrews. Moody Press
or
Logos)
Isaac Watts expresses the thoughts of verse 1-2 in hymn:
God, Who in various methods told
His mind and will to saints of old,
Sent down His Son, with truth and grace,
To teach us in these latter days.
Our nation reads the written Word,
That book of life, that sure record:
The bright inheritance of heav’n
Is by the sweet conveyance giv’n.
God’s kindest thoughts are here expressed,
Able to make us wise and bless’d;
The doctrines are divinely true,
Fit for reproof and comfort, too.
Play "God
Who in Various Methods Told"