Hebrews 1:5

The Son Is Superior to Angels

1:5 For to which of the angels did God ¹  ever say, “You are my son! Today I have fathered you”? ²  And in another place ³  he says, ⁴  “I will be his father and he will be my son.” ⁵ 

Hebrews 1:8

1:8 but of ⁶  the Son he says, ⁷ 

“Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, ⁸ 

and a righteous scepter ⁹  is the scepter of your kingdom.

Hebrews 3:6

3:6 But Christ ¹⁰  is faithful as a son over God’s ¹¹  house. We are of his house, ¹²  if in fact we hold firmly ¹³  to our confidence and the hope we take pride in. ¹⁴ 

[1:5]  ¹ tn Grk “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[1:5]  ² tn Grk “I have begotten you.”

[1:5]  ³ tn Grk “And again,” quoting another OT passage.

[1:5]  ⁴ tn The words “he says” are not in the Greek text but are supplied to make a complete English sentence. In the Greek text this is a continuation of the previous sentence, but English does not normally employ such long and complex sentences.

[1:5]  ⁵ tn Grk “I will be a father to him and he will be a son to me.”

[1:8]  ⁶ tn Or “to.”

[1:8]  ⁷ tn The verb “he says” (λέγει, legei) is implied from the λέγει of v. 7.

[1:8]  ⁸ 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.

[1:8]  ⁹ tn Grk “the righteous scepter,” but used generically.

[3:6]  ¹⁰ sn The Greek makes the contrast between v. 5 and v. 6a more emphatic and explicit than is easily done in English.

[3:6]  ¹¹ tn Grk “his”; in the translation the referent (God) has been specified for clarity.

[3:6]  ¹² tn Grk “whose house we are,” continuing the previous sentence.

[3:6]  ¹³ tc The reading adopted by the translation is found in Ì^13,46 B sa, while the vast majority of mss (א A C D Ψ 0243 0278 33 1739 1881 Ï latt) add μέχρι τέλους βεβαίαν (mecri telou" bebaian, “secure until the end”). The external evidence for the omission, though minimal, has excellent credentials. Considering the internal factors, B. M. Metzger (TCGNT 595) finds it surprising that the feminine adjective βεβαίαν should modify the neuter noun καύχημα (kauchma, here translated “we take pride”), a fact that suggests that even the form of the word was borrowed from another place. Since the same phrase occurs at Heb 3:14, it is likely that later scribes added it here at Heb 3:6 in anticipation of Heb 3:14. While these words belong at 3:14, they seem foreign to 3:6.

[3:6]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “the pride of our hope.”