89:29 I will give him an eternal dynasty, 1
and make his throne as enduring as the skies above. 2
89:36 His dynasty will last forever. 3
His throne will endure before me, like the sun, 4
89:37 it will remain stable, like the moon, 5
his throne will endure like the skies.” 6 (Selah)
93:2 Your throne has been secure from ancient times;
you have always been king. 7
145:13 Your kingdom is an eternal kingdom, 8
and your dominion endures through all generations.
“Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, 17
and a righteous scepter 18 is the scepter of your kingdom.
1 tn Heb “and I will set in place forever his offspring.”
2 tn Heb “and his throne like the days of the heavens.”
3 tn Heb “his offspring forever will be.”
4 tn Heb “and his throne like the sun before me.”
5 tn Heb “like the moon it will be established forever.”
6 tn Heb “and a witness in the sky, secure.” Scholars have offered a variety of opinions as to the identity of the “witness” referred to here, none of which is very convincing. It is preferable to join וְעֵד (vÿ’ed) to עוֹלָם (’olam) in the preceding line and translate the commonly attested phrase עוֹלָם וְעֵד (“forever”). In this case one may translate the second line, “[it] will be secure like the skies.” Another option (the one reflected in the present translation) is to take עד as a rare noun meaning “throne” or “dais.” This noun is attested in Ugaritic; see, for example, CTA 16 vi 22-23, where ksi (= כִּסֵּא, kisse’, “throne”) and ’d (= עד, “dais”) appear as synonyms in the poetic parallelism (see G. R. Driver, Canaanite Myths and Legends, 91). Emending בַּשַּׁחַק (bashakhaq, “in the heavens”) to כַּשַׁחַק (kashakhaq, “like the heavens”) – bet/kaf (כ/ב) confusion is widely attested – one can then read “[his] throne like the heavens [is] firm/stable.” Verse 29 refers to the enduring nature of the heavens, while Job 37:18 speaks of God spreading out the heavens (שְׁחָקִים, shÿkhaqim) and compares their strength to a bronze mirror. Ps 89:29 uses the term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim, “skies”) which frequently appears in parallelism to שְׁחָקִים.
7 tn Heb “from antiquity [are] you.” As the context suggests, this refers specifically to God’s royal position, not his personal existence.
8 tn Heb “a kingdom of all ages.”
9 tn Grk “this one.”
10 sn Compare the description of Jesus as great here with 1:15, “great before the Lord.” Jesus is greater than John, since he is Messiah compared to a prophet. Great is stated absolutely without qualification to make the point.
11 sn The expression Most High is a way to refer to God without naming him. Such avoiding of direct reference to God was common in 1st century Judaism out of reverence for the divine name.
12 tn Or “ancestor.”
13 tn Grk “And he.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style. A new sentence is begun here in the translation because of the length of the sentence in Greek.
14 tn Or “over Israel.”
15 tn Or “to.”
16 tn The verb “he says” (λέγει, legei) is implied from the λέγει of v. 7.
17 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.
18 tn Grk “the righteous scepter,” but used generically.