Psalms 89:27

89:27 I will appoint him to be my firstborn son, ¹ 

the most exalted of the earth’s kings.

Ephesians 1:20-23

1:20 This power ²  he exercised ³  in Christ when he raised him ⁴  from the dead and seated him ⁵  at his right hand in the heavenly realms ⁶  1:21 far above every rule and authority and power and dominion and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. 1:22 And God ⁷  put ⁸  all things under Christ’s ⁹  feet, ¹⁰  and he gave him to the church as head over all things. ¹¹  1:23 Now the church is ¹²  his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all. ¹³ 

Colossians 1:18

1:18 He is the head of the body, the church, as well as the beginning, the firstborn ¹⁴  from among the dead, so that he himself may become first in all things. ¹⁵ 

Hebrews 1:4

1:4 Thus he became ¹⁶  so far better than the angels as ¹⁷  he has inherited a name superior to theirs.

Hebrews 1:1

Introduction: God Has Spoken Fully and Finally in His Son

1:1 After God spoke long ago ¹⁸  in various portions ¹⁹  and in various ways ²⁰  to our ancestors ²¹  through the prophets,

Hebrews 3:1

Jesus and Moses

3:1 Therefore, holy brothers and sisters, ²²  partners in a heavenly calling, take note of Jesus, the apostle and high priest whom we confess, ²³ 

[89:27]  ¹ sn The firstborn son typically had special status and received special privileges.

[1:20]  ² tn Grk “which” (v. 20 is a subordinate clause to v. 19).

[1:20]  ³ tn The verb “exercised” (the aorist of ἐνεργέω, energew) has its nominal cognate in “exercise” in v. 19 (ἐνέργεια, energeia).

[1:20]  ⁴ tn Or “This power he exercised in Christ by raising him”; Grk “raising him.” The adverbial participle ἐγείρας (egeiras) could be understood as temporal (“when he raised [him]”), which would be contemporaneous to the action of the finite verb “he exercised” earlier in the verse, or as means (“by raising [him]”). The participle has been translated here with the temporal nuance to allow for means to also be a possible interpretation. If the translation focused instead upon means, the temporal nuance would be lost as the time frame for the action of the participle would become indistinct.

[1:20]  ⁵ tc The majority of mss, especially the Western and Byzantine mss (D F G Ψ Ï b r Ambst), have the indicative ἐκάθισεν (ekaqisen, “he seated”) for καθίσας (kaqisa", “when he seated, by seating”). The indicative is thus coordinate with ἐνήργησεν (enhrghsen, “he exercised”) and provides an additional statement to “he exercised his power.” The participle (found in Ì^92vid א A B 0278 33 81 1175 1505 1739 1881 2464 al), on the other hand, is coordinate with ἐγείρας (egeiras) and as such provides evidence of God’s power: He exercised his power by raising Christ from the dead and by seating him at his right hand. As intriguing as the indicative reading is, it is most likely an intentional alteration of the original wording, accomplished by an early “Western” scribe, which made its way in the Byzantine text.

[1:20]  ⁶ sn Eph 1:19-20. The point made in these verses is that the power required to live a life pleasing to God is the same power that raised Christ from the dead. For a similar thought, cf. John 15:1-11.

[1:22]  ⁷ tn Grk “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[1:22]  ⁸ tn Grk “subjected.”

[1:22]  ⁹ tn Grk “his”; the referent (Christ) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[1:22]  ¹⁰ sn An allusion to Ps 8:6.

[1:22]  ¹¹ tn Grk “and he gave him as head over all things to the church.”

[1:23]  ¹² tn Grk “which is.” The antecedent of “which” is easily lost in English, though in Greek it is quite clear. In the translation “church” is repeated to clarify the referent.

[1:23]  ¹³ tn Or perhaps, “who is filled entirely.”

[1:18]  ¹⁴ 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.

[1:18]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “in order that he may become in all things, himself, first.”

[1:4]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “having become.” This is part of the same sentence that extends from v. 1 through v. 4 in the Greek text.

[1:4]  ¹⁷ tn Most modern English translations attempt to make the comparison somewhat smoother by treating “name” as if it were the subject of the second element: “as the name he has inherited is superior to theirs” (cf. NAB, NIV, NRSV, CEV). However, the Son is the subject of both the first and second elements: “he became so far better”; “he has inherited a name.” The present translation maintains this parallelism even though it results in a somewhat more awkward rendering.

[1:1]  ¹⁸ tn Or “spoke formerly.”

[1:1]  ¹⁹ tn Or “parts.” The idea is that God’s previous revelation came in many parts and was therefore fragmentary or partial (L&N 63.19), in comparison with the final and complete revelation contained in God’s Son. However, some interpret πολυμερῶς (polumerw") in Heb 1:1 to mean “on many different occasions” and would thus translate “many times” (L&N 67.11). This is the option followed by the NIV: “at many times and in various ways.” Finally, this word is also understood to refer to the different manners in which something may be done, and would then be translated “in many different ways” (L&N 89.81). In this last case, the two words πολυμερῶς and πολυτρόπως (polutropw") mutually reinforce one another (“in many and various ways,” NRSV).

[1:1]  ²⁰ tn These two phrases are emphasized in Greek by being placed at the beginning of the sentence and by alliteration.

[1:1]  ²¹ tn Grk “to the fathers.”

[3:1]  ²² tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 2:11.

[3:1]  ²³ tn Grk “of our confession.”