SPECIAL TOPIC: GLORY (APAUGASMA)

SPECIAL TOPIC: “GLORY” OR “RADIANCE” (APAUGASMA)

The word “radiance” (apaugasma) is used only in
Hebrews 1:3. In Philo it
was used of Christ’s relationship to God in the sense that the
logos was a
reflection of deity. The early Greek church fathers used it in the sense of
Christ as the reflection or effulgence of God. In a theological sense, to see Jesus
is to see God, as a mirror reflects the light of the full sun. The Hebrew term
“glory” (kabod) was often used in the sense of brightness (cf. Exod. 16:10;
24:16-17; Lev. 9:6).

This phrasing may be related to Pro. 8:12,22-31, where “wisdom” (BDB 315, KB
314, the term
is feminine in both Hebrew and Greek) is personified as God’s first creation
(cf. Sirach 1:4) and agent of creation (cf. Wisdom of Solomon 9:9). This same
concept is developed in the apocryphal book Wisdom of Solomon 7:15-22a and
22b-30.

1. In v. 22 wisdom fashions all things

2. In v. 25 wisdom is pure emanation
of the glory of the Almighty

3. In v. 26 wisdom is the reflection of eternal
light, a spotless mirror of the working of God

4. In v. 29 compared with the light (i.e., sun and stars) she is found to be
superior

In the OT the most common Hebrew word for “glory” (kabod,
see Special Topic: Glory [OT]) was originally
a commercial term (which referred to a pair of scales) which meant “to be
heavy.” That which was heavy was valuable or had intrinsic worth. Often the
concept of brightness was added to the word to express God’s majesty. He alone
is worthy and honorable. He is too brilliant for fallen mankind to behold. God
can only be truly known through Christ (cf. Jer. 1:14; Matt. 17:2; Heb. 1:3;
James 2:1).