Chapter One
Heb. 1:1. God, who at sundry times and in diverse manners spoke in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,
Since they, that is the Jews, were exhausted by calamities and considered themselves abandoned by God and not deemed worthy of the same care from Him that their fathers had been deemed worthy of, the apostle shows the opposite: you, he says, have received greater grace than they. To them He sent prophets, but to you His own Son. What then do his words mean: "at sundry times and in diverse manners"? This is instead of: in various ways and in many forms. "I," God said, "have spoken to the prophets and multiplied visions" (Hos. 12:10). Why then should you be indignant and faint-hearted, if you have been deemed worthy of incomparably more?
Heb. 1:2. in these last days has spoken to us in the Son,
And by this he further encourages them, saying: the end is near. For one exhausted by struggle finds some rest when he hears of the end of the struggle. He also implies something else by the words "in these last days." When, he says, no time remained for correction, when we were being punished, when we had despaired, when spiritual gifts had diminished, then we received something greater. "In the Son" means: through the Son. Note, this is against those who say that the preposition "in" applies only to the Holy Spirit. Why then did he not say: Christ "spoke" to us? Partly because they were weak and could not yet hear about Christ; partly to show by this that the Old and New Testaments are the work of one and the same God. Pay attention also to the word "to us." Here he unites and places on equal footing with the disciples both them and himself. Although He did not speak to them but to the apostles, and through them to the rest, he nevertheless elevates the matter and shows that He spoke to them as well, and this is for consolation.
Heb. 1:2. Whom He appointed heir of all things,
That is, He made Him Lord of the whole world. No longer is Jacob the Lord's portion, but all. He said "heir," showing by this both the truth of the sonship and the inalienability of the lordship. How then did He make Him Lord? According to His humanity, as it says also in the second psalm: "Ask of Me, and I will give You the nations for Your inheritance" (Ps. 2:8). Of what lordship does he speak here? Of lordship over those who submit voluntarily, that is, freely. For this lordship was given to the Son, as man, when He was acknowledged by all. But authority by nature and authority over those who submit unwillingly He possessed before all ages, as it is also said: "all things serve You" (Ps. 118:91).
Heb. 1:2. through Whom He also made the ages.
Having spoken of the Son's flesh, which was formed in time, the apostle at last raises you to the height of His pre-eternal Divinity. Where are those who say: there was a time when He was not? He Himself created the ages; how then were there ages when He was not? Since the Father is the cause of the Son, it is rightly said that He is also the cause of all that came into being through the Son. Therefore the apostle says: through Him. For the Father is the one who acts, because He begot the Son who is the Creator. Here Sabellius is also struck down, since two persons are spoken of. Paul of Samosata also receives a mortal blow, he who calls the Son not eternal but having His beginning from Mary. This passage also defeats Arius, though not too strongly: he ascribes to the expression "through Whom" the meaning of a certain assistance, calling the Son a helper to the Father. But the words that follow in order strike down Arius as well.
Heb. 1:3. He, being the radiance of glory
He ascended to the very height of the laudatory discourse about the Son, and calls Him "the radiance of glory," so that you may know that He is from Him—impassibly, without diminishment or degradation, of one and the same essence, that is, Light from Light. For He illumined our souls as well, and He Himself revealed the Father. Therefore He also said: "I am the light of the world" (Jn. 8:12), because together with Him He shone from eternity; for the radiance shines simultaneously with the one radiating. And the sun is never seen apart from its radiance, and the Father is inconceivable without the Son. Therefore, when you hear the Arians saying that if the Son is from the Father, then He must be after Him, say to them that the radiance is also from the sun, yet not after it, for the sun and the radiance exist at the same time.
Heb. 1:3. And the express image of His person
Having said "radiance," and through this having shown the consubstantiality and co-eternity of the Son with the Father, again, since radiance is not self-subsistent, the apostle removes from this example an inappropriate thought, lest you side with Marcellus and Sabellius, who say that the Son cannot exist in His own hypostasis alongside the Father. For this reason he also says: "and the express image (χαρακτήρ) of His hypostasis"; this means: just as the Father is self-subsistent and has need of no one for His perfection, so also is the Son. After having shown the perfect likeness in all things, by these words the apostle also shows the distinct image (χαρακτήρα) of the archetype. For the image is something other in comparison with the archetype, as existing by itself, although resembling the original to the point of indistinguishability. Gregory of Nyssa says: just as through "radiance" he showed the commonality of the Son with the Father, so through "image" he showed their equality. For the mind that has grasped the greatness of the hypostasis can, through the visible image, in any case also measure the hypostasis. For the image does not exceed the hypostasis, lest it be without hypostasis to the extent that it exceeds; nor is the hypostasis greater than the image: otherwise that portion would be unrepresented. Having likewise said in another place that the Son exists "in the form (ἐν μορφῇ) of God" (Phil. 2:6), the apostle gives us to understand this very same thing, namely, that μορφή signifies the hypostasis, while χαρακτήρ signifies the Lord contemplated in that form (ἐν μορφῇ). In any case, the apostle shows the equality of the Son with the Father. For in the form μορφή is perceived the greatness of the Father, in no way exceeding that form, since indeed it would be formless and unsightly — that which would project beyond the form — and to think such a thing of the Father is unfitting. But if the greatness of the Father is such as the form — μορφή — is, and the express image — χαρακτήρ — is equal to the form — μορφή, then the express image — χαρακτήρ — also has the same greatness as that which is perceived in the form — μορφή — of God.
Heb. 1:3. and upholding all things by the word of His power,
Previously you dwelt on the expression "through Whom" (δι᾿ οὗ) and considered the Son to be, as it were, a helper to the Father; listen now, if you can understand, how Paul here ascribes authority to the Son. He did not say "upholding by power," but "by the word of His power," that is, by a word full of power, demonstrating His might. For just as you say that the Father said, "Let there be light. And there was light" (Gen. 1:3), so also the Son upholds all things by His word, that is, He governs all things and sustains all things. And it is far greater than bringing everything into being to preserve things that are in conflict with one another and tending to revert into non-existence. He did not say "governing," but "upholding"—this metaphor is borrowed from those who move something and turn it with a single finger. Such a great and extraordinary weight of creation He bears as nothing, by His almighty word alone. For the word of God is not powerless, as it is with us. After so many heresies refuted at the very beginning of the epistle, how do some dare to reject it as though it did not belong to Paul, on the grounds that its style differs from the style of his other epistles? They must be convinced that the loftiness of thought and their irresistible force belong to none other than Paul, who has Christ speaking in him. But if they are troubled by the style of speech, let them learn that Paul wrote this epistle in the Hebrew language, since he was addressing Hebrews; and it was translated into Greek, as some think, by Luke, or, as others suppose, by Clement, whose style it does indeed more closely preserve. Therefore, those who take this epistle away from Paul commit, so to speak, an error similar to taking Paul away from Christ.
Heb. 1:3. having by Himself purged our sins,
Having spoken of the greatness of the Divinity of the Word, he speaks also of His care for mankind through the incarnation, which is far more important than upholding all things. Here he presents two proofs: one, that He purified our sins, and the other, that He did this "by Himself." And in many places the apostle marvels at what was accomplished by the Son Himself. For through the cross and the death that He underwent, He purified us — not only as the sinless One who died for our transgression, bearing the punishment to which He Himself was not subject, and liberating human nature altogether from the condemnation for the sin of Adam — but also as the One who gave us baptism, the likeness of His death, through which we who are baptized receive each time the remission of sins inherited from our forefathers, and the strength to not easily succumb to sin for the rest of our lives.
Heb. 1:3. sat down at the right hand of the (throne of the) Majesty on high,
Having reminded about the cross, he speaks of the resurrection and ascension of the Lord. He did not say: He was commanded to sit, but "He sat down" and "at the right hand," and "on high." This does not mean that God is limited by place, but it is said to show His equal honor with the Father. For He reached the very throne of the Father, and as the Father is "on high," so also is He. If someone should say: however, it is written, "The Lord said to my Lord: sit at My right hand" (Ps. 110:1); to this we shall say, first, that it does not say: He commanded, but "He said." Then, lest you think that He does not have a beginning and cause in God the Father, for this reason the speech is expressed so figuratively.
Heb. 1:4. Being so much superior to the Angels, as He has inherited a more excellent name than them.
At the beginning of the epistle he compared Him with the prophets on account of the weakness of the hearers; now, continuing, he places Him above the angels, little by little leading the hearers to the truth. The word "being" is used instead of: having appeared, just as John says: "He who comes after me has been placed before me" (Jn. 1:15), that is, appeared more honorable than me. For he is not speaking here about His nature in essence. According to the flesh, without a doubt, it is said "inherited," because as God the Word He always had this name. In the same way we also say both lowly and lofty things about a human being; for example, if we say: a human being is a great thing, we name everything that is best in him; but if we say: a human being is earth and ashes, we name everything that is worst. In exactly the same way, concerning the Lord we sometimes speak of everything that pertains to the properties of the Divinity, and sometimes to the properties of the flesh.
Heb. 1:5. For to which of the Angels did God ever say: You are My Son, today I have begotten You? (cf. Ps. 2:7)
From where, he says, is it evident that He is better than the angels? From His name: the name Son signifies true birth, that is, that He is from Him. If He is Son by grace, then He is lower than the angels. The expression "Today I have begotten You" means nothing other than that He is from the beginning, from which the Father also is. Just as the expression "being" ("the One who is") is used of God in the present tense, because it is most fitting for Him, so also is the expression "today." However, some considered that the words "Today I have begotten You" were spoken not of the pre-eternal birth, but of His birth in the flesh. For it too was from above: from the Holy Spirit, by the blessing of the Father.
Heb. 1:5. And again: I will be a Father to Him, and He will be a Son to Me? (cf. 2 Sam. 7:14)
This, obviously, is said in regard to the flesh. For when He assumed it, all such things are henceforth said of Him without risk. Thus, the assumed nature inherited the authentic name of the Son, which the Word had, being united with it, since it is hypostatic in Him, as the angel also said: "and the Holy One to be born shall be called the Son of God" (Lk. 1:35), and again: "He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High" (Lk. 1:32). None of the angels received this. And if some of the righteous are also called sons of God, it is by grace; but with Christ it is not so: His sonship is by hypostatic identity with the human flesh assumed by Him.