Hebrews 1:3

Here is the NASB rendering of Hebrews 1:3:
And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,

1) What is being said with "And He is the radiance of His glory?" "And He" refers back to verse 2 where "He" is identified as the Son. I think the NASB interpretation of "radiance" refers to light emanating from a bright source, thus the Son radiates "glory." The verse does not say the Son radiates God the Father's glory as in reflected light. It just refers to "glory" and leaves to interpretation if the glory is His own, or the glory that comes from God the Trinity, or something else.

2) What does "the exact representation of His nature" mean? "Exact representation" refers to an image or emblem of something. "Of His" refers to God the Father, and "nature" refers to the foundational quality or essence of God, i.e. creator, holy, just, loving and so forth.

3) What does "upholds all things by the word of His power" mean? Here I think the phrase means God the Son sustains every created thing by the power of His command. That is why when He says for the wind to stop, the wind stops! This also conveys the idea that God the Son is "all-powerful" another foundational quality.

4) What does "when He made purification of sins" mean? Here we need to look at Hebrews 10:12 where it appears the same action is being referred to as making, for all time, one sacrifice for sins. Many translations indicate purified or purged sins, rather than providing the means of purification.

5) "He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high" does not seem to me to be open to alternate meanings.

Stringing together the interpretive phrases, "and the Son radiates glory and represents God's foundational quality, sustaining everything by the power of His command. After He provided the means of purification for sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high."

 

Off topic but good questions.