Discovery BoxHebrews 1:2 
Context1:2 in these last days he has spoken to us in a son, 1 whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he created the world. 2
Hebrews 2:2
Context2:2 For if the message spoken through angels 3 proved to be so firm that every violation 4 or disobedience received its just penalty,
Hebrews 3:5
Context3:5 Now Moses was faithful in all God’s 5 house 6 as a servant, to testify to the things that would be spoken.
Hebrews 4:4
Context4:4 For he has spoken somewhere about the seventh day in this way: “And God rested on the seventh day from all his works,” 7
Hebrews 7:13
Context7:13 Yet the one these things are spoken about belongs to 8 a different tribe, and no one from that tribe 9 has ever officiated at the altar.
1 tn The Greek puts an emphasis on the quality of God’s final revelation. As such, it is more than an indefinite notion (“a son”) though less than a definite one (“the son”), for this final revelation is not just through any son of God, nor is the emphasis specifically on the person himself. Rather, the focus here is on the nature of the vehicle of God’s revelation: He is no mere spokesman (or prophet) for God, nor is he merely a heavenly messenger (or angel); instead, this final revelation comes through one who is intimately acquainted with the heavenly Father in a way that only a family member could be. There is, however, no exact equivalent in English (“in son” is hardly good English style).
sn The phrase in a son is the fulcrum of Heb 1:1-4. It concludes the contrast of God’s old and new revelation and introduces a series of seven descriptions of the Son. These descriptions show why he is the ultimate revelation of God.
2 tn Grk “the ages.” The temporal (ages) came to be used of the spatial (what exists in those time periods). See Heb 11:3 for the same usage.
3 sn The message spoken through angels refers to the OT law, which according to Jewish tradition was mediated to Moses through angels (cf. Deut 33:2; Ps 68:17-18; Acts 7:38, 53; Gal 3:19; and Jub. 1:27, 29; Josephus, Ant. 15.5.3 [15.136]).
4 tn Grk “through angels became valid and every violation.”
5 tn Grk “his”; in the translation the referent (God) has been specified for clarity.
6 sn A quotation from Num 12:7.
7 sn A quotation from Gen 2:2.
8 tn Grk “shares in.”
9 tn Grk “from which no one.”
