Hebrews 1:1-3 God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets,… For the phrase " express image " there is a single word in the original, a word transferred and familiar in our own language, viz., character. It is formed from a word signifying to sharpen, then to scratch or furrow with a sharp instrument, to write, to engrave. Our term, therefore, means a writing or engraving, and in this sense we often use it. So, also, as a form is engraven on a seal, and then stamped upon wax, the word indicates a figure enstamped upon wax or soft metal. The figure impressed is precisely like the graving which determines it. The word accordingly signifies likeness. Then, from the notion of likeness, it extends to that of sameness, so that we say of one's combined qualities, they constitute his character, and more emphatically the character is the man. It is the man revealed and known. The Son of God is, then, the revelation of the person of God. And to this term person, in the language of the New Testament, we do not attach the later metaphysical notion. It is simply equivalent to "self." We have now the whole thought in this pregnant phrase: Jesus Christ is God's very Self revealed and known. He could say of Himself truly, as He said, "He that seeth Me seeth Him that sent Me." (J. R. Duryea, D. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, |
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