1:2a the: Lit. 'in Son.' The absence of the Greek article here is important, though difficult to render in English; the result is, that God, speaking in the prophets, and using them as his mouth, is clearly distinct: 'in Son' is not exactly 'as Son,' because that would be the character of the speaking, yet is perhaps the nearest to an adequate expression. It is God himself who speaks; not by another; not as the Father nor in the person of the Father; not merely by the Holy Spirit using a person not divine, but as himself a divine person, and that person the Son.