κατ’ αρχας: [Pronoun]
and [Noun accusative plural feminine] from αρχης, a noun which is
used 236 times in the LXX, 505 times in Philo, fifty-five times in the New
Testament, and six times in Hebrews. αρχη is only used four times in the New Testament
(1:10; Luke 12:11; Eph 6:12; Col 2:15) with this accidence—[Noun accusative feminine plural]—but with the exception
of Hebrews, the other three times it has a sense of principality. On the other
hand, here αρχη is used without the article and as the
object of the preposition κατα,
which arrangement is found only once in the New Testament (1:10), twice in the
LXX (Ps 101:26; 118:152 LXX) and eight times in Philo (Leg. 3.92; Det.
118; Ios. 225; Praem. 63, 68; Contempl. 63; Flacc.
11, 138). However, it is only used once in Philo in an indirect cosmogonic
context, when he is talking about the very beginning of the human race.
Besides, the LXX—which uses αρχη
to translate various words—significantly uses the noun αρχη to translate the
Hebrew noun רֵאשִׁית in Genesis 1:1. This noun is also used to translate פָּנֶה
in Psalms 102:25 (101:26 LXX), text with a clear cosmogonic connotation, and
also to translate the noun קֶדֶם in Psalms 119:152 (118:152 LXX). Therefore, it
is possible that αρχη in the cosmogony of Hebrews in all likelihood
refers to Genesis 1. (Benjamin Rojas Yauri, Hebrews’ Cosmogonic
Presuppositions: Its First-Century Philosophical Context [Eugene, Oreg.:
Wipf and Stock, 2022], 128-29)
οι ουρανοι: [Article
nominative plural masculine] and [Noun nominative plural masculine] from ουρανος, a noun which is
used 682 times in the LXX, 425 times in Philo, 273 times in the New Testament,
and ten times in Hebrews. The article is working as a simple identification,
while the noun is the subject of εισιν,
a finite verb. In Hebrews ουρανος is consistently translated as heaven, as it seems
that in most cases it is referring to the habitat of God (cf. 8:1; 9:23, 24)
and also to the place where the heavenly bodies are placed, which is between
the habitat of God and the habitat of human beings (cf. 4:14; 7:26; 11:12). It
is never used with the sense of divinity, and in this, Hebrews departs from
Philo’s and other Greek usages of the word. Also, it is well-known that the LXX
consistently uses the articular ουρανος to translate the Hebrew שָׁמַיִם in Genesis 1-2;
apparently, only in Genesis 1:8 the LXX uses ουρανος without the article—και εκαλεσεν ο θεος το στερεωμα ουρανον—and their God is naming the στερεωμα—רָקִיעַ—as ουρανος. Here it is
important to note that the Hebrew רָקִיעַ has a sense of a large solid surface,
because it is the word used to describe the barrier between the waters above
and below (Gen 1:6-7). Therefore, ουρανος in the literary component of Hebrews has a clear
union with the meaning of שָׁמַיִם and רָקִיעַ in Genesis 1-2, and it is also
important to note that ουρανος is used in Genesis 1:1 LXX in parallel and as a
complement of γη, i.e., both words
are used in a kind of hendiadys.
(Ibid., 132)
απολουνται: [Verb
future middle indicative third-person plural] from απολλυμι, used ninety-three times in the LXX<
forty-one times in Philo, ninety times in the New Testament, and only once in
Hebrews. This intransitive lexeme has a perfective aspect, therefore it can
imply a summary or an ingressive aktionsart, but
since here the context sets a new direction, it must be portraying an ingressive
aktionsart, i.e., it depicts the beginning of a new state or action.
On the other hand, the middle voice shows that “the subject is acting in
relation to himself somehow,” which here are ουρανος and γη through the pronoun αυτοι. (ibid., 133, emphasis in bold added)
[Hebrews]
says that κυριος is the one who “laid the foundation of the
earth in the beginning” (1:10), and that δι’ ου—υιου—ο θεος εποιησεν τους αιωνας
(cf. 1:1-2). Thus, the presence of three nouns: θεος, κυριος,
and υιος, gives rise to a problem regarding the
identity of the creator in Hebrews. As already asserted, the noun κυριος in Hebrews’
cosmogony pinpoints the Hebrew noun יהוה of the Old Testament, but it also
functions in a sort of apposition to the nouns, υιος, Χριστος,
and ‘Ιησους in the New Testament. Thus, it can be stated
that all these names, including the Hebrew יהוה, pinpoint one person that was
always interacting with human beings. Besides, Hebrews 1 clearly indicates that
υιος and
κυριος are only one being, and it is also
indisputable that υιος,
Χριστος, and ‘Ιησους are different nouns—perhaps
titles—used to identify this same person. Therefore, in 1:10, he who “laid the
foundation of the earth in the beginning” must be Jesus in his preincarnate
condition. However, a big problem arises here [as] the subject of the [Primary
Clause] is ο θεος,
therefore the one that addresses Him—κυριος—must be ο θεος, i.e., it seems that in Hebrews’ cosmogony
there are two persons in interaction. What is also interesting is that ο θεος addresses υιος as κυριος, which means that ο θεος considers υιος as a divine being, particularly if it is considered that
υιος is also identified
as ο θεος in Hebrews (cf. 1:8-9). Therefore, Hebrews posits
two divine beings in its cosmogony. On the other hand, it is important to
remember that ο θεος εποιησεν could be considered as a hyperbaton of the
Hebrew בָּרָ֣א אֱלֹהִ֑ים (cf. Gen 1:1 LXX). Therefore, in Hebrews’ cosmogony, ο θεος is used with the plural sense of the Hebrew noun אֱלֹהִים
who is the creator in Genesis 1, and who performs his—their—creative action
through one being that belongs to this plural being, which in Hebrews is
identified with the noun υιος.
Therefore, even though ο θεος, with the plural
sense of אֱלֹהִים, is the creator—i.e., the two beings that interact in Hebrews’
cosmogony—his actions in order to create were accomplished through one of the
members of this plural being. To the specific creator in Hebrews is named—also in
other texts of the New Testament—as the Son, Christos, Jesus, or Lord. Thus
Hebrews’ cosmogony seems to assume the existence of at least two different
beings with equal value and will, and therefore the creator is ο θεος υιος even though ο θεος seems to be constituted not only by υιος. (Benjamin
Rojas Yauri, Hebrews’ Cosmogonic Presuppositions: Its First-Century
Philosophical Context [Eugene, Oreg.: Wipf and Stock, 2022], 193-94,
emphasis in bold added)
