ris3n's Apologetics Codex

Passage

Hebrews 1.5

Book: Hebrews · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT

Immediate context (±2 verses)

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ASV

3. who being the effulgence of his glory, and the very image of his substance, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had made purification of sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high; 4. having become by so much better than the angels, as he hath inherited a more excellent name than they.

5. For unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my Son, This day have I begotten thee? and again, I will be to him a Father, And he shall be to me a Son?

  1. And when he again bringeth in the firstborn into the world he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him. 7. And of the angels he saith, Who maketh his angels winds, And his ministers a flame of fire: (Hebrews 1:3-7, ASV)
WEB

3. His Son is the radiance of his glory, the very image of his substance, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purified us of our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high; 4. having become so much better than the angels, as he has inherited a more excellent name than they have.

5. For to which of the angels did he say at any time, “You are my Son. Today I have become your father?” and again, “I will be to him a Father, and he will be to me a Son?”

  1. When he again brings in the firstborn into the world he says, “Let all the angels of God worship him.” 7. Of the angels he says, “Who makes his angels winds, and his servants a flame of fire.” (Hebrews 1:3-7, WEB)
KJV

3. Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high; 4. Being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.

5. For unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee? And again, I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son?

  1. And again, when he bringeth in the firstbegotten into the world, he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him. again: or, when he bringeth again 7. And of the angels he saith, Who maketh his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire. And of: Gr. And unto (Hebrews 1:3-7, KJV)
YLT

3. who being the brightness of the glory, and the impress of His subsistence, bearing up also the all things by the saying of his might, through himself having made a cleansing of our sins, sat down at the right hand of the greatness in the highest, 4. having become so much better than the messengers, as he did inherit a more excellent name than they.

5. For to which of the messengers said He ever, 'My Son thou art, I to-day have begotten thee?' and again, 'I will be to him for a father, and he shall be to Me for a son?'

  1. and when again He may bring in the first-born to the world, He saith, 'And let them bow before him, all messengers of God;' 7. and unto the messengers, indeed, He saith, 'Who is making His messengers spirits, and His ministers a flame of fire;' (Hebrews 1:3-7, YLT)

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Setting

  • Speaker: the anonymous author of Hebrews. Pauline authorship was doubted in antiquity and Origen concluded that who wrote it, God knows
  • Audience: Jewish believers under pressure to fall back from Christ into the older covenant observances
  • Location: unknown; the closing greeting from those of Italy (13:24) points in two directions at once
  • Time period: most likely before AD 70, since the sacrificial system is discussed as still operating

Theological reading

The catena of Old Testament citations that opens the letter is an argument, not decoration. Two texts are put to the angels as questions they cannot answer: Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee (Psalm 2:7) and I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son (2 Samuel 7:14). To which of the angels, the author asks, did God ever say either.

The logic depends on a category the audience already held. Angels are sons of God corporately in Job 1:6 and 38:7. What no angel is ever called is the Son, in the singular, in a Davidic enthronement text. The author is not arguing that Jesus outranks angels by degree; he is arguing that Son is a title of a different kind.

This day have I begotten thee has carried enormous weight in Christological controversy. Read as a statement of origin it would make the Son a product, which is what Arius argued. Read against its own source it is a royal enthronement formula: Psalm 2 is a coronation psalm, and the day in view is the day of installation. The New Testament applies it to the resurrection at Acts 13:33 and to the high-priestly appointment at Hebrews 5:5, never to a beginning of existence. See Arianism and Trinity.

Verse 6 then does something the author clearly expects to land: God commands the angels to worship him. See Cumulative Case for the Deity of Christ.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

Quoted in

Arguments and defeaters:

Concepts:

Lexicon:

Passages:

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

  • ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
  • WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
  • KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
  • YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.