These are Who, What, Where, Why, When, How questions to help you lead a group through an inductive study of Hebrews. Note that the 5W/H Questions focus on observation of the text. The better you become at carefully observing the text, the more accurate will be your Interpretation.
Hebrews 1:1 God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways,
HOW is this epistle’s opening different from most NT epistles (including Paul’s)? Begins with GOD. ALL 13 of Paul’s epistles begin with “PAUL…” (Only Genesis and John begin with focus on GOD)
WHAT is first time phrase/word? AFTER (just to make sure they observe it)
WHAT is the next time phrase? LONG AGO
WHAT does LONG AGO mean or imply? In context = OT
WHO did the prophets address? The fathers.
WHO are the FATHERS & WHAT is the implication? OT Jewish fathers. Supports target audience is Jewish.
(TEST YOUR SKILL @ observation) What is a KEY WORD in Heb 1:1-2? IN = 5 times.
(EXTRA CREDIT) WHEN did God first speak in Bible? Genesis 1:3 – “Let there be light”
WHAT kind of revelation does this (God speaking) describe (natural or special)? Special revelation
WHAT does the first IN signify? In other words, WHAT does it mean that God spoke IN the prophets? Spirit of God inspired their writings – GOOD XR = 2Pe 1:21 for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.
WHAT does IN MANY PORTIONS (ESV, NIV = “at many times”) describe? God spoke at different times over an extended period of time.
HOW coherent or interrelated were God’s words despite being spoken over "many times"? Coherent, not contradictory or confusing. (WHAT doctrine regarding revelation does this support? Verbal plenary inspiration = every word divinely inspired for it to be so coherent over time).
WHAT does IN MANY WAYS signify? WHAT are some examples of the WAYS? Elijah in a still, small voice, Moses in the burning bush, etc, Also includes different genres – historical books, poetry, prophecy, etc
Hebrews 1:2 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.
WHAT is the obvious time phrase? Last days
WHEN (WHAT) is the Last Days? (LAST = eschatos gives us eschatology = study of last things) In context = when God has spoken in His Son. He began to speak thru His Son when His Son was incarnate (Jn 8:38). MOST commentaries feel it is the time that began at His First & ends at His Second Coming.
WHAT is the tense of the verb HAS SPOKEN & how does this relate to divine revelation? aorist tense Past tense = completed action emphasizing finality & completeness. No more Biblical revelation. Canon is closed.
WHAT does this teach about Jesus’ SUPERIORITY TO THE PROPHETS OT men who were revered by the Jews? The prophets received only fragmentary revelation, but in the Son is full and final revelation
WHAT does it mean that God HAS SPOKEN in His Son? HOW would you explain that to someone? When He was on earth He spoke the Words His Father gave Him to speak (Jn 8:28).
WHAT about those people who say they have “NEW revelation”? They don’t! They are false.
HOW does God speak today? Through His Word illuminated by His Spirit but He does not give new revelation.
WHAT was the Son’s inheritance? EVERYTHING!
HOW might that affect us? We are heirs also and fellow heirs with Christ in Ro 8:17!
WHAT did the Father do through the Son? Made the world (LITERALLY = made the ages = upshot is He created BOTH matter & time!)
WHAT does this tell us about who was involved in creation? Father and Son were involved (cf Spirit Ge 1:2)
WHAT parallel truth did we learn in Colossians 1:15-18? (READ SCRIPTURE)
Hebrews 1:3 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,
WHAT is the first description of Jesus in Heb 1:3? apaugasma – OUTSHINING, EFFULGENCE – Better than RSV = “He is the reflection of God's glory.” The moon reflects the sun. But here the Son is not a reflection but an outshining. The Son has intrinsic glory!
WHAT is this describing? WHAT is radiance? Jesus is the very manifestation of God or as Nicene Creed says "GOD OF GOD, LIGHT OF LIGHT, VERY GOD OF VERY GOD."
WHAT is glory (doxa)? A proper opinion – the manifestation of all the divine attributes of God are seen in Jesus
WHO do you see when you see Jesus? God the Father
HOW do John 14:9+ help explain this truth? (READ Jn 14:9).
WHAT is the second description of Jesus in Heb 1:3?
WHAT is exact representation? charakter - A die presses its exact image into the coin, so the coin shows what the die is like. In the same way, Jesus shows us what God is like.
WHAT is the 3RD description of Jesus in Heb 1:3? Upholds (present tense = continually) ALL (how many/much?) things by the word (rhema = spoken word) of His power (dunamis) cf Lk 1:37ASV "For no word (rhema) from God shall be void of power (adunateo)
WHAT does Jesus do with His creation? Upholds it continually!
HOW? By His spoken Word (rhema) = it has intrinsic power (Heb 4:12 it is "living and active")
WHAT attribute of Jesus? Omnipotence
HOW does this compare with Col 1:17+? “in Him ALL things hold together”
QUOTE - Consider the dilemma of the nuclear physicist when he finally looks in utter amazement at the pattern he had now drawn of the oxygen nucleus.... For here are eight positively charged protons closely associated together within the confines of this tiny nucleus. With them are eight neutrons—a total of sixteen particles—eight positively charged, eight with no charge.Earlier physicists had discovered that like charges of electricity and like magnetic poles repel each other, and unlike charges or magnetic poles attract each other. And the entire history of electrical phenomena and electrical equipment had been built up on these principles known as Coulomb's law of electrostatic force and the law of magnetism. What was wrong? What holds the nucleus together? Why doesn't it fly apart? And therefore, why do not all atoms fly apart?
APPLICATION - HOW can we apply this truth to our life when it feels like it is falling apart?
WHAT is the 4TH description of Jesus in Heb 1:3?
WHAT does made purification of sins refer to? (Note verb is past tense, completed act) The Cross (It is finished = tetelestai)
WHY did He sit at the right hand of the Majesty? Father honored the Son - Work of redemption finished – Father “highly exalted Him and bestowed on Him the Name that is above every name”
Php 2:9 (IF YOU HAVE TIME MIGHT READ Phil 2:5-11 and ask what does “FORM” mean = morphe = emphasizes external is same as internal – speaks of nature THUS Php 2:6 = “FORM of God” = nature of God or FULLY GOD & in Php 2:7 “FORM of a bond-servant” = FULLY MAN)
WHAT does the verb “SIT” imply? Work of redemption finished èLevitical priests could not sit down when they offered the blood sacrifice on the Mercy Seat in the Holy of holies because there was no chair & mainly because the work of atonement was never accomplished with the blood of bulls and goats!
Hebrews 1:4 having become as much better than the angels, as He has inherited a more excellent name than they.
WHAT is the comparison between? Jesus & angels
(HARDER QUESTION – MAY WAIT UNTIL CHAPTER 2) WHEN did He become better than the angels (CHECK CONTEXT = SAT DOWN AT RIGHT HAND…)? In context when He was exalted, He became better. For a little while He was lower than the angels (Heb 2:9) – that is for 30+ years as a Man He was a little lower explaining why He then became “much better than the angels.”
WHY is Jesus better than the angels? Inherited a more excellent Name.
Hebrews 1:5 FOR to which of the angels did He ever say, “YOU ARE MY SON, TODAY I HAVE BEGOTTEN YOU” (Ps 2:7)? And again, “I WILL BE A FATHER TO HIM AND HE SHALL BE A SON TO ME (2Sa 7:14)”
WHAT is the term of explanation? For
WHAT is the writer explaining? Why Jesus has more excellent Name than the angels
WHO is “HE” in these passages? The Father (Same in Heb 1:5, 6, 7, implied in Heb 1:8)
WHAT does the writer appeal to in order to support his argument that Jesus has a MORE EXCELLENT NAME? OT Scriptures
HOW can you tell which parts of the text are OT quotations? All caps but only in the NASB
WHAT is he quoting? From Psalm 2 and from 2Sa 7:14
WHO is speaking in these quotes? God
WHAT is the first argument that Jesus has a more excellent name than angels? God calls Jesus SON, His only Son – God never calls an individual angel SON!
WHAT is next related argument? God reiterates He is Father and Jesus is His Son (quoting Davidic Covenant) Implication is God never says He is Father of angels.
Hebrews 1:6 And when He again brings the firstborn into the world, He says, “AND LET ALL THE ANGELS OF GOD WORSHIP HIM.” (Ps 97:7, a few favor Dt 32:43)
WHAT does this passage from Ps 97:7 prove? God COMMANDS Jesus to be worshipped by angels. Angels are not to be worshipped = Revelation 19:10 - And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said to me, "Do not do that; I am a fellow servant of yours and your brethren who hold the testimony of Jesus; worship God. For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy."
WHAT is FIRSTBORN and how do the cults misinterpret this, e.g., Jehovah’s Witnesses who teach Jesus was the first to be born? READ Col 1:15, then Col 1:16. First born is not about TIME but about POSITION! The pre-eminent one! Remember Esau was “firstborn” but Jacob got the inheritance.
TEACHING POINT ABOUT HOW TRANSLATIONS CAN LEAD TO DIFFERENT INTERPRETATIONS – Regarding placement of “AGAIN”. KJV = "And AGAIN, when he bringeth in the first begotten into the world" This suggests 1st Coming. Note – ESV is like KJV “And AGAIN, when He brings the firstborn into the world.” NAS suggests 2nd Coming.
Hebrews 1:7 And of the angels He says, “WHO MAKES HIS ANGELS WINDS, AND HIS MINISTERS A FLAME OF FIRE.” (Ps 104:4) (
WHY is the Son superior to the angels? (1) He made (created) them (2) they are His possession = “HIS angels” and (3) they serve Him not vice versa
HOW should winds and fire be interpreted – literal/figurative? Most take figurative – fast like wind/destructive like fire. A few writers in past have said angels can be turned into wind, but most do not agree today.
Hebrews 1:8 But of the Son He says, “YOUR THRONE, O GOD, IS FOREVER AND EVER, AND THE RIGHTEOUS SCEPTER IS THE SCEPTER OF HIS KINGDOM.
WHY is the Son superior? God says…
(1) He has a throne – no angel ever described with a throne (angels are in the throne room but never seated on the throne). Speaks of Jesus’ authority and sovereignty
(2) The Father definitively calls the Son “GOD”NOTE: Jehovah’s Witnesses mistranslate Hebrews 1:8 as “God is your throne forever and ever" and thus obscuring the truth of the text that Jesus is God!
Robert Bowman comments that to Jehovah's Witnesses' knowingly mistranslate Hebrews 1:8 - "The second way in which the New World Translation (NWT) has systematically abused the Divine Names or titles is its handling of texts in which Jesus is called God. In nine Bible texts Jesus is definitely called God (Isa 9:6, Jn 1:1, 18, Jn 20:28, Ro 9:5, Titus 2:13, Hebrews 1:8, 2Pe 1:1, 1 Jn 5:20, possibly also Acts 20:28). Of these, the New World Translation translates four so that Jesus is NOT CALLED GOD AT ALL (Ro 9:5, Titus 2:13, Hebrews 1:8, 2 Peter 1:1) and two so that He is "a god" or "god" (little "g") (John 1:1, 18). The remaining 3 texts are not mistranslated, but are interpreted so that either Jesus is not called God at all or He is called God only in some lesser sense. In short, the NWT translates texts that call Jesus God in such a way as to keep the text from making that identification." (BORROW Understanding Jehovah's Witnesses : why they read the Bible the way they do)
WHAT was Jesus’ own claim in Jn 10:30-33 (READ) and WHAT was the response? Oneness with God therefore claiming deity which Jews recognized by attempting to stone Him!
(IF YOU HAVE TIME) WHAT does Isaiah 9:6 teach about the Son? He is “Mighty God”!
Hebrews 1:9 “YOU HAVE LOVED RIGHTEOUSNESS AND HATED LAWLESSNESS; THEREFORE GOD, YOUR GOD, HAS ANOINTED YOU WITH THE OIL OF GLADNESS ABOVE YOUR COMPANIONS.”
WHY the “therefore”? Bc Jesus loved righteousness and hated lawlessness
WHO is “GOD, YOUR GOD”? The Father
WHO are the companions Jesus is over? In context = angels
Hebrews 1:10 And, “YOU, LORD, IN THE BEGINNING LAID THE FOUNDATION OF THE EARTH, AND THE HEAVENS ARE THE WORKS OF YOUR HANDS; (Ps 102:25-27 quoted in Heb 1:10,11,12)
WHY is Jesus superior to the angels in this verse? He is Creator
Hebrews 1:11 THEY WILL PERISH, BUT YOU REMAIN; AND THEY ALL WILL BECOME OLD LIKE A GARMENT,
WHAT happens to creation? WHAT’s the term of comparison/simile? “like a garment”
WHAT is “but” contrasting? Jesus will “REMAIN”
Hebrews 1:12 AND LIKE A MANTLE YOU WILL ROLL THEM UP; LIKE A GARMENT THEY WILL ALSO BE CHANGED. BUT YOU ARE THE SAME, AND YOUR YEARS WILL NOT COME TO AN END.”
WHAT will the Son do to His creation? Discard it and change it (new heaven, new earth)
WHAT else do we learn about the Son? Immutable, eternal
Hebrews 1:13 But to which of the angels has He ever said, “SIT AT MY RIGHT HAND, UNTIL I MAKE YOUR ENEMIES A FOOTSTOOL FOR YOUR FEET”? (Ps 110:1)
WHAT is the description of Jesus? At right hand of His Father – place of authority and as victor over all.
Hebrews 1:14 Are they not all ministering spirits, sent out to render service for the sake of those who will inherit salvation?
WHAT are angels? Ministering spirits
WHO sends them out? God/Jesus
TO WHOM do they render service? believers
WHAT are some examples of render service? Angel shut lion’s mouth in Daniel, etc.