more fully opened up in the words of verse 3. The verse starts with His being, "Who

being", not with His doing; we are to read what the Son is, and then what He does.

We first of all quote from the A.V., "Who being the brightness of His glory, and the

express image of His person"; the R.V. gives it as, "Who being the effulgence of His

glory, and the very image of His substance". Rotherham's version reads, "Who being an

eradiated brightness of His glory, and an exact representation of His very being".

J. N. Darby rendered it, "Who being [the] effulgence of His glory, and [the] expression of

His substance." The A.V. alone of the versions quoted above uses the word person. The

revelation contained in these few words is so vast, so deep, so high, so full, that the whole

of the Scripture must be placed under review to present the subject accurately, and

nothing but the spirit of revelation would be sufficient to fully interpret those Scriptures

that speak of Him. All that we can hope to accomplish is to point the way, leaving the

reader with the Word and with God to make the vision plain.

Let us first attend to the words of inspiration, "Who being (hos õn). Were the very

words of Scripture not dealt out with marvellous exactness and perfect fitness, we might

feel that such words as "who being" could well be passed over. A comparison with other

Scriptures will, however, lead to an important aspect of truth, and well repay the time

spent. In Phil. 2: 6 we read, "Who being in the form of God", and without instruction to

the contrary the reader would not realize that there was any difference between the two

passages. The words used in Phil. 2: 6, however, are not hos õn, but hos huparchõn;

this word is made up of hupõ, "under", and archõ, "to begin"; "to begin under" does not

convey much to English ears, but if expressed as "subsist" the difference between that

and the ordinary "to be" can be felt. It is not easy, and perhaps not necessary, to find

some one expression that will fully fit each of the occurrences of huparchõ, but a few

examples of its varied meanings may, however, help us in the forming of a judgment.

The derivations of this word are translated "goods" and "possessions". The Lord

originally, and as His rightful position, was in the form of God. This is His position and

sphere as the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature, the Word who

was in the beginning. The Son, however, in His position in time, when He who originally

was in the form of God took upon Him the form of a servant, is different. It is of the Son

that Heb. 1: is speaking, the Word made flesh, and it is of Him as the Son that these

glories are spoken, and not of Him as the Word, or any pre-natal manifestation.

Apaugasma.--Here we have a word found nowhere else in the N.T., a word reserved

with jealous exclusiveness for the Son of God. The word is a compound, derived from

apo, away from, and augazõ, to shine. The same exclusiveness is observed in the use of

augazõ, to shine, for that word occurs nowhere else but II Cor. 4: 4, "By whom the god

of this age hath blinded the minds of them that believe not, lest the light of the gospel of

the glory of God should shine (or dawn) upon them". This light and glory is further