25:1 “At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom.
1:17 He himself is before all things and all things are held together 11 in him.
1:18 He is the head of the body, the church, as well as the beginning, the firstborn 12 from among the dead, so that he himself may become first in all things. 13
“Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, 20
and a righteous scepter 21 is the scepter of your kingdom.
1 tc L W Θ 0250 Ï it read ἐν τῷ φανερῷ (en tw fanerw, “openly”) at the end of this verse, giving a counterweight to what is done in secret. But this reading is suspect because of the obvious literary balance, because of detouring the point of the passage (the focus of vv. 1-4 is not on two kinds of public rewards but on human vs. divine approbation), and because of superior external testimony that lacks this reading (א B D Z Ë1,13 33 al).
2 sn The term translated room refers to the inner room of a house, normally without any windows opening outside, the most private location possible (BDAG 988 s.v. ταμεῖον 2).
3 tc See the tc note on “will reward you” in 6:4: The problem is the same and the ms support differs only slightly.
4 sn The tax collectors would bid to collect taxes for the Roman government and then add a surcharge, which they kept. Since tax collectors worked for Rome, they were viewed as traitors to their own people and were not well liked.
5 tn Grk “And whoever.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated.
6 tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”
7 sn An allusion to Pss 28:4; 62:12; cf. Prov 24:12.
8 tn Grk “answering, the king will say to them.” This is somewhat redundant and has been simplified in the translation.
9 tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”
10 tn Grk “brothers,” but the Greek word may be used for “brothers and sisters” (cf. BDAG 18 s.v. ἀδελφός 1, where considerable nonbiblical evidence for the plural ἀδελφοί [adelfoi] meaning “brothers and sisters” is cited). In this context Jesus is ultimately speaking of his “followers” (whether men or women, adults or children), but the familial connotation of “brothers and sisters” is also important to retain here.
11 tn BDAG 973 s.v. συνίστημι B.3 suggests “continue, endure, exist, hold together” here.
12 tn See the note on the term “firstborn” in 1:15. Here the reference to Jesus as the “firstborn from among the dead” seems to be arguing for a chronological priority, i.e., Jesus was the first to rise from the dead.
13 tn Grk “in order that he may become in all things, himself, first.”
14 tn Grk “the abuse [or ‘reproach’] of Christ.”
15 tn Grk “he was looking away to.”
16 tn Or “the elders,” “the ancients.”
17 tn Grk “were attested,” “received commendation”; and Heb 11:4-6 shows this to be from God.
18 tn Or “to.”
19 tn The verb “he says” (λέγει, legei) is implied from the λέγει of v. 7.
20 tn Or possibly, “Your throne is God forever and ever.” This translation is quite doubtful, however, since (1) in the context the Son is being contrasted to the angels and is presented as far better than they. The imagery of God being the Son’s throne would seem to be of God being his authority. If so, in what sense could this not be said of the angels? In what sense is the Son thus contrasted with the angels? (2) The μέν…δέ (men…de) construction that connects v. 7 with v. 8 clearly lays out this contrast: “On the one hand, he says of the angels…on the other hand, he says of the Son.” Thus, although it is grammatically possible that θεός (qeos) in v. 8 should be taken as a predicate nominative, the context and the correlative conjunctions are decidedly against it. Hebrews 1:8 is thus a strong affirmation of the deity of Christ.
21 tn Grk “the righteous scepter,” but used generically.