Εν υιω: [Pronoun] and [Noun dative singular masculine]
from υιος, a noun which is used 5201 times in the LXX,
276 times in Philo, 377 times in the New Testament, and twenty-four times in
Hebrews. The anarthrous dative υιω has a particular use here, since
the [Noun dative plural masculine] υιω—this specific accidence—is used only fifteen times in
the New Testament and only twice it is used to introduce someone other than
Jesus (cf. Luke 12:53; John 4:5); from the other thirteen times, twelve times
are used with the article, and only here it is used without the article.
According to Bultmann, the article is omitted with abstract terms in apothegmatic
sentences, in general adverbial adjuncts, with words individualized by the
context, and with quasi-proper names (Grammar of the New Testament Greek,
88-89). Since in Hebrews the noun υιος
is used twenty-four times and from this, thirteen times it is used in direct or
indirect apposition to Jesus—a proper name—here it is very probable that the
omission of the article is due to the writer considering it as a proper name of
the person in reference, i.e., Jesus. Besides, this prepositional phrase, i.e.,
εν υιω, is used only once in Philo in a
cosmogonic context when he affirms that it is impossible that a son can contain
the being that brought the universe into existence (Migr. 193). Also, it
is used once by Ignatius to make reference to God the Son (Ignatius, Magn.
13.1), and twice in the LXX to make reference to David, the son of Jesse (3
Kgdms 12:26 [1 Kgs 12:26]; 2 Chr 10:16 LXX). Therefore, in this prepositional
phrase the noun must be a dative of agency, while the preposition could be an
adverbial εν or a modal εν. Nevertheless, it must be recognized that
the grammar of the text can allow different interpretations such as those who
posit the prepositional phrase as an instrumental or causal expression. (Benjamin
Rojas Yauri, Hebrews’ Cosmogonic Presuppositions: Its First-Century
Philosophical Context [Eugene, Oreg.: Wipf and Stock, 2022], 122-23)
δι’ ου: [Pronoun]
and [Pronoun relative genitive singular masculine] from ος, a pronoun which is used 4943 times in the
LXX, 5823 times in Philo, 1407 times in the New Testament, and seventy-four times
in Hebrews. The preposition is expressing not the efficient means, but the
ultimate cause; not instrumentality, but sole agency. Also, this same
construction with the same use can be found in 2:10 where God the father is
designated the sole cause—see the judgment of δι’ ου τα παντα in Harris (Prepositions and Theology,
70)—of everything. The use of the definite anaphoric—i.e., relative—pronoun ου shows that the emphasis in Hebrews’
introduction (1:1-4) is not in the nominative θεος but in the dative υιω, which means that υιος is the main
personality in Hebrews. (Ibid., 123)
