Bible Gem 2026 – Do You Have A Problem With ‘A Son’?

No, I am not asking you a personal question about your son. Some of my readers are unmarried and don’t have any children, let alone a son. Others are married but without a son for various reasons while still others may have thought, “How insensitive of Ian to ask such a question.” I know there are some of you who are now several steps ahead of me and thinking, “Oh I know where Ian is going with this. Bring it on, I am looking forward to what he has to say about this.”

Did you spot the problem in the first sentence of Hebrews? Maybe along with the astute ones mentioned above, you knew of the issue in Hebrews 1:2 and were hoping I would deal with it. Simply because you have been non-plussed by a visit from the Jehovah’s Witnesses and didn’t know what to say to their claims. Let me lay out the so called problem for you clearly.

In many parts and many ways, God, having spoken long ago to the fathers by the prophets, in these last days speaks to us in [His] Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom He also made the ages;

Hebrews 1:1-2

The Greek text has the following:

(Greek NT)  ἐπ᾿ ἐσχάτου τῶν ἡμερῶν τούτων ἐλάλησεν ἡμῖν ἐν υἱῷ, – ‘in son’

There is no definite article (the) in the text, i.e. “the son”. According to Greek grammatical conventions a noun without a definite article should be read or translated as indefinite, i.e. “a son”. Is this reference to son definite or indefinite – the son, the Son or a son? Or is it even just son, i.e. “He spoke to us in son.” What we are dealing with here is something which is difficult grammatically and is called an anarthrous use of a noun. In other words a noun being used without articulation – inarticulated, not having the article specified. In layman’s terms – we don’t know if this word (noun) is definite (the) or indefinite (a). Anarthrous literally means to be without joints, to not be joined; to be without limbs in Zoological terms. There are times when the anarthrous use of a noun is there for emphasis.

Let’s Turn To The Versions

His Son

• (ASV)  hath at the end of these days spoken unto us in his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom also he made the worlds;
• (BBE)  But now, at the end of these days, it has come to us through his Son, to whom he has given all things for a heritage, and through whom he made the order of the generations;
• (CEV)  But now at last, God sent his Son to bring his message to us. God created the universe by his Son, and everything will someday belong to the Son.
• (CJB)  But now, in the acharit-hayamim, he has spoken to us through his Son, to whom he has given ownership of everything and through whom he created the universe.
• (ERV)  And now in these last days, God has spoken to us again through his Son. He made the whole world through his Son. And he has chosen his Son to have all things.
• (ESV)  but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.
• (GNB)  but in these last days he has spoken to us through his Son. He is the one through whom God created the universe, the one whom God has chosen to possess all things at the end.
• (GW)  In these last days he has spoken to us through his Son. God made his Son responsible for everything. His Son is the one through whom God made the universe.
• (JUB)  has in these last times spoken unto us by his Son, whom he has appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the ages;
• (KJV)  Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;
• (LSV)  in these last days speaks to us in [His] Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom He also made the ages;
• (MKJV)  has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, by whom also He made the worlds,
• (MSG)  Recently he spoke to us directly through his Son. By his Son, God created the world in the beginning, and it will all belong to the Son at the end.
• (Murdock)  But in these latter days, he hath conversed with us, by his Son; whom he hath constituted heir of all things, and by whom he made the worlds;
• (NLT)  And now in these final days, he has spoken to us through his Son. God promised everything to the Son as an inheritance, and through the Son he created the universe.
• (RV)  hath at the end of these days spoken unto us in his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom also he made the worlds;
• (TLB)  But now in these days he has spoken to us through his Son to whom he has given everything and through whom he made the world and everything there is.

The Son

• (LITV)  in these last days He spoke to us in the Son, whom He appointed heir of all; through whom He indeed made the ages;
• (TS2009)  has in these last days spoken to us by the Son, whom He has appointed heir of all, through whom also He made the ages,^a Footnote:  Joh 1:3.

A Son

• (NENT)  hath at the end of these *days spoken to us in a Son, whom he appointed heir of all, through whom also he made the ages;
• (NET)  in these last days he has spoken to us in a son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he created the world.
• (TLV)  In these last days He has spoken to us through a Son, whom He appointed heir of all things and through whom He created the universe.
• (TPT)  But to us living in these last days, God now speaks to us openly in the language of a Son, the appointed Heir of everything, for through him God created the panorama of all things and all time.

What is interesting with all of these translations is that only seven are open about the choices they have made in translating this difficult verse. Do you know which seven I am referring to? There are seven which use italics or [square brackets] to indicate the word is not actually in the text. ASV, JUB, KJV, LITV, LSV, MKJV and RV. The TS2009 has a footnote which made me think they had explained the situation behind the text. But the footnote is about something else entirely.

Then of course there is the New World Translation, the Jehovah’s Witness version.

Now at the end of these days he has spoken to us by means of a Son,b whom he appointed heir of all things,

The Jehovah’s Witness version tries to make this verse say something the writer to the Hebrews most definitely did not mean. The JWs claim that Christ is a son, one of the created kind and not Uncreated God. He is not God or equal to God. They use ‘a son” and the supposed indefiniteness of the expression to substantiate that claim. Many JWs have tried to convince me that Jesus is one of the angels, even the archangel Michael. That Jesus is even in a class between angels and man. They ignore the statement that Jesus is “so much better than the angels”. Instead they argue that Christ was an intermediary between angels and man. What the JWs claim is complete nonsense and when you challenge them, their argument becomes even more convoluted. They claim “the Bible hasn’t told you the truth.” They say, “The truly accurate translation ought to be: He has spoken to us in a son. The Bible doesn’t claim that Christ is God. He is a merely a created son like all of us.”

Did you notice what I did above? I emboldened my sentence – There are times when the anarthrous use of a noun is there for emphasis! Without a doubt there is no indefiniteness about the meaning of this verse. God did not make His plan to us known either in an indefinite way or through an indefinite son. No, indeed. God spoke through a son in these last end of days. The Son God used to speak to us was not any son of man; He is His One and Only Unique Son (See Gem 15), the One through Whose Name we must be saved. That One and NO OTHER of a similar kind nor another of a different kind. (See the Gem Series No Other Name) There is Only One uniquely chosen to bear the Name above Every Name (Gem 1942 to 1949). That is the One son being referred to here in Hebrews 1:2. The use of the anarthrous noun is to emphasise that God spoke to us through His One and Only Unique Son. There is not a shadow of indefiniteness about it. This One the writer to the Hebrews is talking about is not one of the angels, but in fact He is far greater than the angels. That is why the translations of Hebrews 1:2 make the Son clear. But they should have been consistent with the conventions of so doing either using italic script or square brackets. It makes me smile that the Literal Standard Version [LSV] uses both italic and square brackets. I guess that is what a literal standard version would do. No translator is trying to deceive you. The versions are simply spelling out the definiteness of the Son in focus by making it clear He is His (God’s) Son. He is the Son, the One to whom the whole of Scripture is pointing.

Now to explain the meaty bit, meaty bites, meety bytes and to leave you in no doubt as to the overall purpose of the writer to the Hebrews. But it will take a while to spell out all the detail and already this Gem has grown longer than I intended. Suffice to say at this point that I am simply playing with words. This little reference to God speaking to us in a son is a meaty little reference. It is a meaty bite which comes back to bite or to sink any JW arguments as to whether Jesus is God or not. It is clear that the intention of the one who wrote the letter to the Hebrews was to use this anarthrous noun to emphasise that the One the writer was talking about was Son in a way that no other could be. In these last days God spoke His message to us in the most intimate way – through a Son. It is a meety byte because the whole purpose is for us to come to know the Son in order to gain salvation or eternal life. To meet the Son of God – Jesus Christ. Oh yes, we have plumbed the depths of that concept before in a number of ways. See the links I have given you above. The Bible is completely consistent in its message. It is all to do with you meeting this Son. Hence this reference to God speaking through a Son is meety in the sense that you have to encounter Him or meet Him in order to have eternal life. John has told us that, Paul has told us that, Luke told us that in Acts 4:12 and now the writer to the Hebrews tell us the same thing which is exactly the same as what Jesus Himself told us.

Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.”

John 14:6

There is no reality more breathtaking than Jesus Christ.

John Piper

According to the laws of legal evidence used in courts of law, there is more evidence for the historical fact of the resurrection of Jesus Christ than for just about any other event in history.

Dr. Simon Greenleaf (a Harvard University professor of Law)

Larry King, the CNN talk show host, was once asked who he would most want to interview if he could choose anyone from all of history. He said, ‘Jesus Christ.’ 

Interviewer: ‘And what would you like to ask Him?’ King replied, “I would like to ask Him if He was indeed virgin-born. The answer to that question would define history for me’.”

Larry King

Jesus Christ is the only One the writer to the Hebrews can be referring to; No One else even comes close.

Ian Vail