The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His nature, upholding all things by His powerful word. After He had provided purification for sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.
Parallel translations
- WEB His Son is the radiance of his glory, the very image of his substance, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purified us of our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;
- KJV Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;
- NKJV who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,
- NASB And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,
- NLT The Son radiates God’s own glory and expresses the very character of God, and he sustains everything by the mighty power of his command. When he had cleansed us from our sins, he sat down in the place of honor at the right hand of the majestic God in heaven.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The Son radiates God's glory and exactly represents His being, sustains the universe by His word, and after cleansing us from sin took His royal seat at God's right hand. This verse compactly states His deity, His work of redemption, and His exaltation.
Overview
This rich summary describes the Son as fully divine ('radiance of his glory,' 'the very image of his substance') and as the upholder of all creation. The mention that He 'by himself purified us of our sins' anticipates the book's great theme of Christ's once-for-all priestly sacrifice. His seating 'at the right hand of the Majesty' signals that His atoning work is finished and that He now reigns, a central gospel truth.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 38
- Col 1:15–17The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.
- Rev 4:11“Worthy are You, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for You created all things; by Your will they exist and came to be.”
- John 14:9–10Jesus replied, “Philip, I have been with you all this time, and still you do not know Me? Anyone who has seen Me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?
- John 1:14The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the one and only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
- 2 Cor 4:4The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers so they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
- John 1:4In Him was life, and that life was the light of men.
- Heb 12:2Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
- Heb 10:12But when this Priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, He sat down at the right hand of God.
- 2 Cor 4:6–7For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made His light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
- Heb 9:26Otherwise, Christ would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But now He has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of Himself.
- Jude 1:25to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority through Jesus Christ our Lord before all time, and now, and for all eternity. Amen.
- 1 Jn 1:7But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.
- 1 Jn 3:5But you know that Christ appeared to take away sins, and in Him there is no sin.
- 1 Pet 3:22who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers subject to Him.
- Heb 4:14Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to what we profess.
- Heb 8:1The point of what we are saying is this: We do have such a high priest, who sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven,
- 2 Pet 1:16For we did not follow cleverly devised fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of His majesty.
- John 1:29The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!
- Acts 2:33Exalted, then, to the right hand of God, He has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear.
- Rev 3:21To the one who overcomes, I will grant the right to sit with Me on My throne, just as I overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.
- Eph 1:20–22which He exerted in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly realms,
- Mark 16:19After the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, He was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God.
- Ps 75:3When the earth and all its dwellers quake, it is I who bear up its pillars. Selah
- Ps 110:1A Psalm of David. The LORD said to my Lord: “Sit at My right hand until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.”
- 1 Pet 1:21Through Him you believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and glorified Him; and so your faith and hope are in God.
- Heb 7:27Unlike the other high priests, He does not need to offer daily sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the sins of the people; He sacrificed for sin once for all when He offered up Himself.
- Heb 9:12–14He did not enter by the blood of goats and calves, but He entered the Most Holy Place once for all by His own blood, thus securing eternal redemption.
- Acts 7:56“Look,” he said, “I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”
- Rom 8:34Who is there to condemn us? For Christ Jesus, who died, and more than that was raised to life, is at the right hand of God—and He is interceding for us.
- Col 3:1Therefore, since you have been raised with Christ, strive for the things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.
- 1 Chr 29:11Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the splendor and the majesty, for everything in heaven and on earth belongs to You. Yours, O LORD, is the kingdom, and You are exalted as head over all.
- Luke 20:42–43For David himself says in the book of Psalms: ‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at My right hand
- Eccl 8:4For the king’s word is supreme, and who can say to him, “What are you doing?”
- Rom 1:16I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, first to the Jew, then to the Greek.
- Job 37:22Out of the north He comes in golden splendor; awesome majesty surrounds Him.
- Mic 5:4He will stand and shepherd His flock in the strength of the LORD, in the majestic name of the LORD His God. And they will dwell securely, for then His greatness will extend to the ends of the earth.
- Heb 9:16In the case of a will, it is necessary to establish the death of the one who made it,
- Matt 22:24“Teacher,” they said, “Moses declared that if a man dies without having children, his brother is to marry the widow and raise up offspring for him.
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Christ at the center
Hebrews is sustained worship of Christ: better than angels, Moses, and the priests; the great High Priest after Melchizedek who by one sacrifice perfects forever those he saves.
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Original language
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