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Joh 1:14; 14:9,10 2Co 4:6

Verse 3. The brightness of his glory] apaugasma thv doxhv The resplendent outbeaming of the essential glory of God. Hesychius interprets apaugasma by hliou feggov, the splendour of the sun. The same form of expression is used by an apocryphal writer, Wisdom chap. vii. 26, where, speaking of the uncreated wisdom of God, he says: "For she is the splendour of eternal light, apaugasma gar esti fwtov aidiou, and the unsullied mirror of the energy of God, and the image of his goodness." The word augasma is that which has splendour in itself apaugasma is the splendour emitted from it; but the inherent splendour and the exhibited splendour are radically and essentially the same.

The express image of his person] carakthr thv upostasewv autou? The character or impression of his hypostasis or substance. It is supposed that these words expound the former; image expounding brightness, and person or substance, glory. The hypostasis of God is that which is essential to him as God; and the character or image is that by which all the likeness of the original becomes manifest, and is a perfect fac-simile of the whole. It is a metaphor taken from sealing; the die or seal leaving the full impression of its every part on the wax to which it is applied.

From these words it is evident, 1. That the apostle states Jesus Christ to be of the same essence with the Father, as the apaugasma, or proceeding splendour, must be the same with the augasma, or inherent splendour.

2. That Christ, though proceeding from the Father, is of the same essence; for if one augh, or splendour, produce another augh, or splendour, the produced splendour must be of the same essence with that which produces it.

3. That although Christ is thus of the same essence with the Father, yet he is a distinct person from the Father; as the splendour of the sun, though of the same essence, is distinct from the sun itself, though each is essential to the other; as the augasma, or inherent splendour, cannot subsist without its apaugasma, or proceeding splendour, nor the proceeding splendour subsist without the inherent splendour from which it proceeds.

4. That Christ is eternal with the Father, as the proceeding splendour must necessarily be coexistent with the inherent splendour. If the one, therefore, be uncreated, the other is uncreated; if the one be eternal, the other is eternal.

Upholding all things by the word of his power] This is an astonishing description of the infinitely energetic and all pervading power of God. He spake, and all things were created; he speaks, and all things are sustained.

The Jewish writers frequently express the perfection of the Divine nature by the phrases, He bears all things, both above and below; He carries all his creatures; He bears his world; He bears all worlds by his power. The Hebrews, to whom this epistle was written, would, from this and other circumstances, fully understand that the apostle believed Jesus Christ to be truly and properly God.

Purged our sins] There may be here some reference to the great transactions in the wilderness.

1. Moses, while in communion with God on the mount, was so impressed with the Divine glories that his face shone, so that the Israelites could not behold it. But Jesus is infinitely greater than Moses, for he is the splendour of God's glory; and, 2. Moses found the government of the Israelites such a burden that he altogether sank under it. His words, Num. xi. 12, are very remarkable: Have I conceived all this people? Have I begotten them, that thou shouldest say unto me, CARRY them in thy BOSOM-unto the land which thou swearest unto their fathers? But Christ not only carried all the Israelites, and all mankind; but he upholds ALL THINGS by the word of his power.

3. The Israelites murmured against Moses and against God, and provoked the heavy displeasure of the Most High; and would have been consumed had not Aaron made an atonement for them, by offering victims and incense. But Jesus not only makes an atonement for Israel, but for the whole world; not with the blood of bulls and goats, but with his own blood: hence it is said that he purged our sins di autou, by himself his own body and life being the victim. It is very likely that the apostle had all these things in his eye when he wrote this verse; and takes occasion from them to show the infinite excellence of Jesus Christ when compared with Moses; and of his Gospel when compared with the law. And it is very likely that the Spirit of God, by whom he spoke, kept in view those maxims of the ancient Jews, concerning the Messiah, whom they represent as being infinitely greater than Abraham, the patriarchs, Moses, and the ministering angels. So Rabbi Tanchum, on Isa. l2: 13, Behold my servant shall deal prudently, says, jy�mh �lm hz Zeh melek hammashiach, this is the King Messiah; and shall be exalted, and be extolled, and be very high. "He shall be exalted above Abraham, and shall be extolled beyond Moses, and shall be more sublime than the ministering angels-."See the preface.

The right hand of the Majesty on high] As it were associated with the supreme Majesty, in glory everlasting, and in the government of all things in time and in eternity; for the right hand is the place of the greatest eminence, 1 Kings ii. 19. The king himself, in eastern countries, sits on the throne; the next to him in the kingdom, and the highest favourite, sits on his right hand; and the third greatest personage, on his left.

Ver. 3. Who being the brightness of his glory , etc..] Or �of glory�; of God the Father, the God of glory, and who is glory itself; so called on account of his glorious nature and perfections and because of the glorious manifestations of them in his works of creation and providence, and in the various dispensations of his grace, and especially in his Son; and because he is the author of all glory, in the creatures, in the whole world, in Christ as man and Mediator, and in his own people. Now Christ is the �brightness� of this, as he is God; he has the same glorious nature and perfections, and the same glorious names, as Jehovah, the Lord of glory, etc.. and the same glory, homage, and worship given him: the allusion is to the sun, and its beam or ray: so some render it �the ray of his glory�; and may lead us to observe, that the Father and the Son are of the same nature, as the sun and its ray; and that the one is not before the other, and yet distinct from each other, and cannot be divided or separated one from another: so the phrase hyrqy �yz , �the brightness of his glory�, is used of the divine Being, in the Chaldee paraphrases f17 ; see the Apocrypha. �For she is the brightness of the everlasting light, the unspotted mirror of the power of God, and the image of his goodness.� (Wisdom 7:26) And the express image of his person ; this intends much the same as the other phrase; namely, equality and sameness of nature, and distinction of persons; for if the Father is God, Christ must be so too; and if he is a person, his Son must be so likewise, or he cannot be the express image and character of him; (see Gill on � Colossians 1:15�). And upholding all things by the word of his power ; the Syriac version renders it, �by the power of his word�, to the same sense, only inverting the words. The Targumist on ( 2 Chronicles 2:6) uses a phrase very much like this, of God, whom the heaven of heavens cannot contain; because, adds he, hytrwbg [rdb alk lybs , �he bears�, or �sustains all things by the arm of his power�; and the words are to be understood not of the Father, upholding all things by his essential and powerful Word, his Son; but of the Son himself, who upholds all creatures he has made; bears up the pillars of the universe; preserves every creature in its being, and supports it, and supplies it with the necessaries of life; rules and governs all, and providentially orders and disposes of all things in the world, and that by his all powerful will; which makes it manifest, that he is truly and properly God, and a very fit person to be a priest, as follows: when he had by himself purged our sins ; the Arabic and Ethiopic versions seem to refer this to God the Father, as if he, by Christ, made the expiation of sin, and then caused him to sit down at his right hand; but it belongs to the Son himself, who of himself, and by himself alone, and by the sacrifice of himself, made atonement for the sins of his people; which is meant by the purgation of them: he took their sins upon himself, and bore them, and removed them far away, and utterly abolished them, which the priests under the law could not do: and when he had so done, he sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high ; by �Majesty� is meant God the Father, to whom majesty belongs; who is clothed with it, and which is before him: and his �right hand� designs his power, greatness, and glory, and is expressive of the high honour Christ, as man, is possessed of; for his sitting here denotes the glorious exaltation of him in human nature, after his sufferings, and death, and resurrection from the dead; and shows that he had done his work, and was accepted, and was now enjoying rest and ease, honour and glory, in which he will continue; and the place of his session, as well as of the habitation of God, at whose right hand he sits, is on high, in the highest heavens.

Sat down on the right hand of the majesty on high (ekaqisen en dexia thv megalwsunhv en uyhloiv) Comp. Psalm cx. 1, ch. viii. 1; x. 12; xii. 2; Eph. i. 20; Apoc iii. 21. The verb denotes a solemn, formal act; the assumption of a position of dignity and authority The reference is to Christ's ascension. In his exalted state he will still be bearing on all things toward their consummation, still dealing with sin as the great high priest in the heavenly sanctuary. This is elaborated later. See ch. 8; ix. 12 ff. Megalwsunh majesty, only here, ch. viii. 1; Jude 25. Quite often in LXX. There is suggested, not a contrast with his humiliation, but his resumption of his original dignity, described in the former part of this verse. jEn uJyhloiv, lit. in the high places. Const. with sat down, not with majesty. The phrase N.T.o . LXX, Psalm xcii. 4; cxii. 5. jEn toiv uJyistoiv in the highest (places), in the Gospels, and only in doxologies. See Matthew xxi. 9; Mark xi. 10; Luke ii. 14. jEn toiv ejpouranioiv in the heavenly (places), only in Ephesians See i. 3, 20; ii. 6; iii. 10; vi. 12.