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Hebrews 1 · a question people ask

"upholding all things by the word of his power" (1:3). What does the letter say this means?

In the text

The letter doesn't explain it, and these notes don't either. Here is the verse whole: "His Son is the radiance of his glory, the very image of his substance, and upholding all things by the word of his power, who, when he had by himself purified us of our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high," (1:3). These are the letter's own words, as it gives them, and these notes add nothing to them and choose nothing.

The verses

“His Son is the radiance of his glory, the very image of his substance, and upholding all things by the word of his power, who, when he had by himself purified us of our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high,”
Hebrews 1:3 · World English Bible

From Favor's study of Hebrews 1

Hebrews 1: The radiance of his glory

Hebrews opens with God, who spoke "at many times and in various ways" (1:1) and "has at the end of these days spoken to us by his Son" (1:2). The Greek words behind radiance and very image in 1:3 are found nowhere else in the New Testament, and the seven sayings of 1:5-13 come with no source named.

In Favor, questions like this come up right where they arise as you read, with the Hebrew and Greek behind the words and how the chapter leads to Jesus.

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Last reviewed October 8, 2026. Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Every answer cites the verses it rests on. What we believe · All Bible questions