the prophet concerning the latter days,” followed by a citation of Isa 8:11; cf. Sir 48:24–25). The force of the expression in Hebrews is to characterize the Son as the one through whom God spoke his final and decisive word. The temporal idioms qualify the central affirmation that God has spoken. The conviction that God cares for people and relates himself to them through his spoken word is developed as a major motif by the writer. In the opening lines he concentrates his hearers’ attention on the