Hebrews9:16

1: "a will"

Here the author employs a play on the words “covenant and will”. This is the same Greek word used earlier and rendered “covenant”; it can mean both “will and covenant”, as well as other legally binding agreements. According to Johannes Behm, in his article on “διαθηκη/covenant” in the famed TDNT, often referred to as Kittel, vol 2, the corresponding Hebrew word, which is usually rendered “covenant”, can also refer to “legal relationships of all kinds”, including wills. Therefore, the play on words would be viable whether this Epistle were originally written in Hebrew or in Greek.

If you are unfamiliar with the TDNT (Theological Dictionary of the New Testament), Edited by Gerhard Kittel, it is truly the big gun in the world of Greek analysis of words, spanning 9 volumes of word-studies. Its articles go more in-depth than any other source I know. For instance, Johannes Behm’s article on the Greek word for “covenant” is 29 pages long, much of which is dedicated to the Hebrew equivalent in the OT. This is a short article compared to some. Length alone does not mean it is good or trustworthy, but it does show that they dig deeper into a topic than most lexica that are only one volume can afford to do.

2: "bring forth"

The primary meaning of this verb is “to carry, to bear, to bring forth, to bring forward.”  The idea of “bring forward” could be accomplished through speech, by presenting a fact to the ears of those present. In this context the idea was to bring forth evidence of the death of the one who had established the will.

3: "arranged"

This verb comes from the preposition “through” and the verb “to lay, to put, to place, to lay down, to appoint, to make.” Together their meaning is “to arrange, to set in order.” It was used for such binding testaments as covenants and wills.