What Does Hebrews 1:1 Mean in the King James?

God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,

Hebrews 1:1 · KJV

The analysis reads the King James wording.

King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.

THE KEY

Beneath “sundry times” is the image of speech arriving in many portions: one address reaches you in distinct shares and forms.

THE MEANING

God’s speech reaches you in distinct portions and through distinct forms; no single mode exhausts the way the address arrives. Those differences belong to one source: God remains the speaker.

WHAT THIS UNDOES

The belief that God can speak only through one familiar mode dissolves here; the verse names many portions and many manners.

THE ROOT

πολυμερῶς

polymerōs

GROWS FROM

μέρος

meros

Part, share, portion.

The word behind “sundry times” is built on the idea of a part or share, so the phrase carries an image of apportioned speech, not only a sequence on the calendar. Its branches connect dividing and sharing into portions, making the many disclosures feel like shares of one larger address.

ALSO GROWS

merizō: To divide, distribute, or apportion.

μερίζω

The idea of speech arriving in portions becomes a matter of sharing out what is received.

meris: A portion or share.

μερίς

Each disclosure is a share within the larger address, rather than the whole being confined to one form.

THE PATTERN

One source of speech reaches you through distinct portions and forms.

And he said, Hear now my words: If there be a prophet among you, I the LORD will make myself known unto him in a vision, and will speak unto him in a dream.

Numbers 12:6 · KJVThe verse names vision and dream as distinct forms through which the LORD makes himself known and speaks.

And after the earthquake a fire; but the LORD was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice.

1 Kings 19:12 · KJVThe speech arrives through a quiet voice after the upheaval, another form that cannot be reduced to spectacle.

These things have I spoken unto you in proverbs: but the time cometh, when I shall no more speak unto you in proverbs, but I shall shew you plainly of the Father.

John 16:25 · KJVSpeech shifts from proverbs to plainness while the speaker and the subject remain.

THE THREAD

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;

Hebrews 1:2 · KJV

Both verses use ⁨λαλέω⁩ (laleō, “to speak”): the first presents speech in many portions and forms, and the next names the Son as its means. The shared verb carries the speaking forward as its presentation shifts.

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