Commentaries:
Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown
THE HIGHEST OF ALL REVELATIONS IS GIVEN US NOW IN THE SON OF GOD, WHO IS GREATER THAN THE ANGELS, AND WHO, HAVING COMPLETED REDEMPTION, SITS ENTHRONED AT GOD'S RIGHT HAND. (Hebrews 1:1-14)
at sundry times—Greek, "in many portions." All was not revealed to each one prophet; but one received one portion of revelation, and another another. To Noah the quarter of the world to which Messiah should belong was revealed; to Abraham, the nation; to Jacob, the tribe; to David and Isaiah, the family; to Micah, the town of nativity; to Daniel, the exact time; to Malachi, the coming of His forerunner, and His second advent; through Jonah, His burial and resurrection; through Isaiah and Hosea, His resurrection. Each only knew in part; but when that which was perfect came in Messiah, that which was in part was done away (I Corinthians 13:12).
in divers manners—for example, internal suggestions, audible voices, the Urim and Thummim, dreams, and visions. "In one way He was seen by Abraham, in another by Moses, in another by Elias, and in another by Micah; Isaiah, Daniel, and Ezekiel, beheld different forms" [THEODORET]. (Compare Numbers 12:6-8). The Old Testament revelations were fragmentary in substance, and manifold in form; the very multitude of prophets shows that they prophesied only in part. In Christ, the revelation of God is full, not in shifting hues of separated color, but Himself the pure light, uniting in His one person the whole spectrum (Hebrews 1:3).
spake—the expression usual for a Jew to employ in addressing Jews. So Matthew, a Jew writing especially for Jews, quotes Scripture, not by the formula, "It is written," but "said," etc.
in time past—From Malachi, the last of the Old Testament prophets, for four hundred years, there had arisen no prophet, in order that the Son might be the more an object of expectation [BENGEL]. As God (the Father) is introduced as having spoken here; so God the Son, Hebrews 2:3; God the Holy Ghost, Hebrews 3:7.
the fathers—the Jewish fathers. The Jews of former days (I Corinthians 10:1).
by—Greek, "in." A mortal king speaks by his ambassador, not (as the King of kings) in his ambassador. The Son is the last and highest manifestation of God (Matthew 21:34, Matthew 21:37); not merely a measure, as in the prophets, but the fulness of the Spirit of God dwelling in Him bodily (John 1:16; John 3:34; Colossians 2:9). Thus he answers the Jewish objection drawn from their prophets. Jesus is the end of all prophecy (Revelation 19:10), and of the law of Moses (John 1:17; John 5:46).
Other Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown entries containing Hebrews 1:1:
Song of Solomon 1:2
Micah 5:2
Ephesians 2:12
Ephesians 3:10
1 Timothy 6:15
Hebrews 1:1
Hebrews 2:1
Hebrews 2:3
Hebrews 9:26
Hebrews 11:40
Hebrews 12:25
Hebrews 13:21
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