throughout the Epistle as being. Certainly there Is no reason why this author should not have ascribed " eternal glory " to the Being he had described as in His very nature " the effulgence of the divine glory,"" and for that very reason it may be a matter of Indif- ference to us whether he has done so or not. Nor Is much added to this picture of the divine Christ by his designation of Him, without qualification, as ' the Firstborn ' (i^), or by his noticing that God has " ap- pointed Him Heir of all things" (i^). 'Firstborn' and ' Heir ' are little more than specially honorific ways of saying ' Son.' God's ' Firstborn ' as such takes rank above all other existing beings: even all of the angels shall do Him reverence. God's ' Firstborn * is also naturally God's ' Heir,' an heir whose inher- itance embraces the universe, and whose tenure stretches to eternity. All these declarations are bound very closely together In their common relation to the fundamental conception of our Lord's divine Sonship ; and constitute items by the mention of which the con- tents of the Idea of Sonship are developed. The state- ments of the opening verses of the Epistle seem to be arranged in a sort of climax by means of which the glory of the New Covenant, revealed In the ' Son,' Is more and more enhanced. The glory of the New Covenant Is that It has been Introduced by God the * Son ' — that ' Son ' who, despite His lowly manlfesta-
i^Riehm says (p. 286) : "Still how can It occasion surprise that the author in 1321 praises Jesus Christ with the doxology, at ^ 86^a ei'9 Toh? ala)va<5, which, according to O. T. notions, is due to Jehovah only, but in the N. T. passages is also transferred to Christ? It is recognized by all recent commentators that the relative (w) refers to Christ and not to God." So also Bleek, Lunemann, Maier, Kurtz, Lowrie: contra, Delitzsch: non liquet, Davidson.
3.
282 The Designations of Our Lord
tion on earth, has been appointed heir of all things, — that is, Lord of all: by whom, indeed, the worlds were made In the depths of eternity, — that Is, who Is the eternal Creator of all that Is : who. In fact, is In Him- self the effulgence of God's glory and the impress of His substance — that Is to say, all that God Is: and by whom, because He Is all that God Is, the universe Is held In being.
It Is particularly noticeable that at this precise point a mention of Christ's propitiatory work Is introduced.
This ' Son of God,' whose dignity has Soteriological , ^1 j j u j -c
Titles ^^'^ ^^^ expounded, made purihca-
tion of sins." The soteriological inter- est is present, therefore, even In this ontological passage, and it Is the soteriological Interest, Indeed, which gives its Importance to this ontological discus- sion in the eyes of the writer. The soteriological titles by which he designates our Lord are therefore nat- urally as rich as the ontological ones. He is ' the Me- diator of the New Covenant ' (8^ 9^^ 12-^) : He is the Ground of eternal Salvation (5^) : He Is 'the Author of Salvation ' (2^^ cf. Acts 3^^ 5^^) : He Is ' the Author and Perfecter of our Faith ' ( 12-) : He Is our Forerun- ner Into that which Is within the veil (6"'^) '}^ He is ' the Apostle and High Priest of our Confes- sion' (3^) : He Is 'the Great Shepherd of the Sheep'
1- The alrio<s of Salvation (5^) is merely He who is the Cause or Producer of Salvation, The apyr^yix; of Salvation (2^^, cf. 12- ) is commonly supposed to be He who has Himself trodden the pathway over which our feet should pass, and to be so far equivalent to the -Kpo- dpofio^ (6-°). So, e. g. G. Vos in the Princeton Theological Revieiu, July, 1907, p. 434, who classes apyjiyoq and 7zp(Jdpo/io(i together as implying identification in experience, in contrast with al'zio^ in which this is not present; but see to the contrary, Cremer, ed. 3 and subsequent edd.
JVitness of Epistle to the Hebrews 283
(13^°) : and, above all (for this Is a favorite concep- tion of this Epistle) , He is our ' Priest ' (5^ y3,ii,[i5],i7,2i [8^] lO'^) or more specifically^^ our 'High Priest' ([2"] 3I 4"-i5 510 62« f^ 8^ 9^^). All these are great designations: and we see at a glance that they reflect In their substance the high estimate put upon our Lord's person as the ' Son of God.' It is only because He is the ' Son of God ' that He may be fitly described in His saving work by these high designations. It Is also at once observable that the Messanic conception underlies and gives form to them all. If Jesus Is con- ceived by the writer of this Epistle In His person fundamentally as the eternal ' Son of God ' ; He Is equally conceived In His work as fundamentally the Messiah appointed of God to Inaugurate the new order of things and to bring His people safely Into the ex- perience of the promised salvation. As ' Mediator of the New Covenant ' He gives His life for the redemption of His people, establishing new relations between them