Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Hebrews 1:2

"hath at the end of these days spoken unto us in [his] Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom also he made the worlds;" — Hebrews 1:2 (ASV)

“In these last days” is more literally “on the last of these days”—an expression that often refers in some way to the days of the Messiah (e.g., Numbers 24:14). Here it means that in Jesus the Messianic Age has appeared. Jesus is more than simply the last in a long line of prophets. He has inaugurated a new age altogether. In Jesus there is both continuity and discontinuity. The continuity comes out when we are told that God “has spoken to us by his Son.” The verb “spoken” (GK 3281) is the same one used in v.1 of the prophets. The earlier revelation is continuous with the later revelation; the same God has spoken in both. The old prepares the way for the new, a truth that will be brought out again and again in this letter. The discontinuity is seen in the reference to the Son. It is noteworthy that in the Greek there is no article with “Son” (i.e., there is nothing corresponding to NIV’s “his”). In essence the writer is saying God has spoken “in one who has the quality of being Son.” It is the Son’s essential nature that is stressed. This stands in contrast to “the prophets” in the preceding verse. The consummation of the revelatory process took place when God spoke not in the prophets but in his very Son. Throughout the letter we shall often meet such thoughts, as the writer shows that in Jesus Christ we have such a divine person and such divine activity that there can be no going back from him. This emphasis on the Son leads to a series of seven propositions about him. First, God “appointed” him “heir of all things.” The verb “appointed” (GK 5502) is somewhat unexpected. We should have anticipated that the Son would simply “be” heir. Perhaps there is a stress on the divine will as active. In the term “heir” (GK 3101) there is no thought of entering into possession through the death of a testator. In the NT this word and its cognates are often used in a sense much like “get possession of,” without reference to any specific way of acquiring the property in question. “Heir of all things,” then, is a title of dignity and shows that Christ has the supreme place in all the mighty universe. His exaltation to the highest place in heaven after his work on earth was done did not mark some new dignity but his reentry to his rightful place (cf. Php 2:6–11). The second truth about the Son is that “through” him God “made the universe.” God is the Creator, but as is said elsewhere in the NT, he performed the work of creation through the Son (cf. Jn 1:3; 1 Corinthians 8:6; Colossians 1:16). “The universe” (lit., “the ages”; GK 172) has a temporal sense. While the universe may well be in mind as that which was “made,” it is the universe as the sum of the periods of time. This word may be hinting at the temporal nature of all things material.