Hebrews 1:8

1:8 but of ¹  the Son he says, ² 

“Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, ³ 

and a righteous scepter ⁴  is the scepter of your kingdom.

Hebrews 1:12

1:12 and like a robe you will fold them up

and like a garment ⁵  they will be changed,

but you are the same and your years will never run out.” ⁶ 

Hebrews 2:7

2:7 You made him lower than the angels for a little while.

You crowned him with glory and honor. ⁷ 

Hebrews 10:7

10:7 “Then I said, ‘Here I am: ⁸  I have come – it is written of me in the scroll of the book – to do your will, O God.’” ⁹ 

Hebrews 10:9

10:9 then he says, “Here I am: I have come to do your will.” ¹⁰  He does away with ¹¹  the first to establish the second.

[1:8]  ¹ tn Or “to.”

[1:8]  ² tn The verb “he says” (λέγει, legei) is implied from the λέγει of v. 7.

[1:8]  ³ 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]  ⁴ tn Grk “the righteous scepter,” but used generically.

[1:12]  ⁵ tc The words “like a garment” (ὡς ἱμάτιον, Jw" Jimation) are found in excellent and early mss (Ì⁴⁶ א A B D* 1739) though absent in a majority of witnesses (D¹ Ψ 0243 0278 33 1881 Ï lat sy bo). Although it is possible that longer reading was produced by overzealous scribes who wanted to underscore the frailty of creation, it is much more likely that the shorter reading was produced by scribes who wanted to conform the wording to that of Ps 102:26 (101:27 LXX), which here lacks the second “like a garment.” Both external and internal considerations decidedly favor the longer reading, and point to the author of Hebrews as the one underscoring the difference between the Son and creation.

[1:12]  ⁶ sn A quotation from Ps 102:25-27.

[2:7]  ⁹ tc Several witnesses, many of them early and important (א A C D* P Ψ 0243 0278 33 1739 1881 al lat co), have at the end of v 7, “You have given him dominion over the works of your hands.” Other mss, not quite as impressive in weight, lack the words (Ì⁴⁶ B D² Ï). In spite of the impressive external evidence for the longer reading, it is most likely a scribal addition to conform the text of Hebrews to Ps 8:6 (8:7 LXX). Conformity of a NT quotation of the OT to the LXX was a routine scribal activity, and can hardly be in doubt here as to the cause of the longer reading.

[10:7]  ¹³ tn Grk “behold,” but this construction often means “here is/there is” (cf. BDAG 468 s.v. ἰδού 2).

[10:7]  ¹⁴ sn A quotation from Ps 40:6-8 (LXX). The phrase a body you prepared for me (in v. 5) is apparently an interpretive expansion of the HT reading “ears you have dug out for me.”

[10:9]  ¹⁷ tc The majority of mss, especially the later ones (א² 0278^vid 1739 Ï lat), have ὁ θεός (Jo qeo", “God”) at this point, while most of the earliest and best witnesses lack such an explicit addressee (so Ì⁴⁶ א* A C D K P Ψ 33 1175 1881 2464 al). The longer reading is a palpable corruption, apparently motivated in part by the wording of Ps 40:8 (39:9 LXX) and by the word order of this same verse as quoted in Heb 10:7.

[10:9]  ¹⁸ tn Or “abolishes.”