Hebrews 1:5–14

1:5 The preacher points out that it was not angels but the divine and messianic Son described in the prologue who was addressed in the words of Psalm 2:7. It is important to note that our preacher probably selects his OT texts not only for the words they contain but also for their context. Psalm 2, for instance, opens with an international conspiracy against the Lord and his anointed king, an insurrection that early believers recognized as being fulfilled in the convergence of Jewish and Roman forces that killed the Christ, fulfilling God’s redemptive purpose (Acts 4:25–28). After Christ’s suffering, God enthroned and acclaimed him as Son, conferring the nations as his inheritance (Ps. 2:6, 8). Thus this psalm links sonship, inheritance, and enthronement.

These three themes likewise converge in Hebrews 1:2–4 (“Son,” “heir,” “sat down . . . on high,” “inherited”). The NT attributes the title “Son” to Christ with respect to his eternal preexistence (e.g., Gal. 4:4), his incarnation (Luke 1:32, 35), his baptism (Luke 3:22), and his transfiguration (Luke 9:35). Here he “inherited” that “more excellent” name after his atoning suffering (Heb. 1:3). This means that the “today” of Psalm 2 is the day of Christ’s exaltation, encompassing his resurrection (Acts 13:32–37; Rom. 1:4) and his ascension to God’s right hand (Acts 2:32–36).

Reinforcing the testimony of Psalm 2 was God’s word to David, delivered through the prophet Nathan (2 Sam. 7:14). God promised to be a “father” to David’s royal descendant, who in turn would be a “son” to God and would build God’s house (2 Sam. 7:12–13). This prophecy’s initial fulfillment came in David’s royal son Solomon, who built the temple. But the prophecy ultimately looked beyond Solomon, promising an eternal kingdom and throne (2 Sam. 7:16). Generations of Israelites watched and waited for the offspring of David (John 7:42) who would be the final and forever King, the literal Son of God. Jesus, descended from Judah, David’s tribe (Heb. 7:14), is the Son of God who builds and governs God’s house (Heb. 3:3–6; 10:21).

1:6 The first citation in this chapter to mention angels relates them to the Son: “Again, when he brings the firstborn into the world, he says, ‘Let all God’s angels worship him.’” It is possible to construe “again” as signaling a second moment when God introduced the firstborn into the world, that is, to Jesus’ second coming at the end of history (Heb. 9:28). But the ESV is correct to present “again” as connecting OT quotations logically, not chronologically (cf. “again” in 1:5; 2:13; 4:5; 10:30).

At first glance, the reference seems to be to the Son’s incarnation and birth at Bethlehem, announced by angels to shepherds (Luke 2:11–14). But the Greek word translated “world” (oikoumenē) is not the one Hebrews uses elsewhere (kosmos) when referring to Christ’s incarnation (Heb. 10:5; cf. also 4:3; 9:26; 11:7, 38). The word used here reappears in 2:5, “the world [oikoumenē] to come, of which we are speaking.” This parallel suggests that angels were commanded to worship the Son at his resurrection and ascension, when God brought him into “the heavenly world of eschatological salvation.”¹ “Firstborn” reinforces the “heir” theme (1:2, 4), evoking a firstborn son’s preeminence in leadership and inheritance (cf. 1 Chron. 5:1–2). In the OT the term became a metaphor for Israel’s special status (Ex. 4:22) and the supremacy of the Davidic monarchy among other kings (Ps. 89:27). In the NT “firstborn” refers to Christ’s preeminence as the creator and owner of the universe (Col. 1:15) and as the Resurrected One (Col. 1:18; Rom. 8:29; Rev. 1:5).

The OT source of this citation is unclear. The wording closely resembles a line in the Song of Moses in Deuteronomy 32:43. This line is absent from the Hebrew Masoretic Text, but it appears in the LXX (Greek OT) and in the Deuteronomy scroll found at Qumran. The wording also approximates Psalm 97:7: “Worship him, all you gods!” The LXX renders this verse, “Worship him, all his angels!” Earlier in the psalm, the Lord’s coming is accompanied by fire and lightning (Ps. 97:3–4). This imagery describes angels in the next OT citation in Hebrews, from Psalm 104:4. Whichever verse is its OT source, this citation asserts that the Son is worthy of worship by angels.

1:7 Psalm 104 is a creation psalm that personifies stormy winds and lightning as the Lord’s obedient messengers, serving his sovereign purpose. In Hebrew and in Greek one word (ruakh and pneuma, respectively) refers both to physical winds and to immaterial spirits. Our preacher capitalizes on this providential linguistic ambiguity to argue that, as winds and lightning serve God’s purposes in nature, so God’s spiritual messengers also fill a servant’s role. The previous psalm (103:20–21) encouraged this identification of “angels” as God’s personal spiritual servants, since it closed by addressing the Lord’s “angels” and “ministers” (terms to reappear in Ps. 104:4) who do his word and will. Their servant role differs sharply from the Son’s royal rule, as Psalm 45 attests. Moreover, as creatures they are as ephemeral as wind, whereas the Son is the changeless Creator, as Psalm 102 affirms. Key terms from Psalm 104:4 will reappear in Hebrews 1:14, where the angels’ role as servants is contrasted with the Son’s enthronement.

1:8–9 Psalm 45, celebrating a royal wedding, extols the bridegroom. At verse 6 the psalmist daringly addresses the Davidic descendant: “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever.” The attribution of deity to a human king is so shocking that interpreters have sought a more acceptable alternative, such as reinterpreting this phrase as “Your throne is God” or treating verse 6 as addressed to God and verse 7 to the king. But the most natural reading of the Hebrew and LXX syntax is that “God” is indeed a vocative addressed to the king, whose throne is forever and ever. His God has anointed him above his companions. In this OT text, therefore, a host of significant themes converge. A king who is the “radiance of the glory of God” (Heb. 1:2–3) deserves to be addressed as God. An eternal throne befits a king who lives forever (7:16–17, 24). His love of righteousness is demonstrated in his holy life (7:26) and, as we will see, is expressed in the name of Melchizedek (“king of righteousness”; 7:2), the ancient priest-king whose order Christ fulfills. The psalm brings into view the Messiah’s “companions” (Gk. metochoi; 1:9) as well. Our preacher will later call his hearers the “companions” of the Anointed One (that is, those who “have come to share” in him; gegonamen metochoi, 3:14), and Jesus calls them his brothers (2:10–12), as he “partook of” (metechō, a cognate of “companion”) the blood and flesh they share (2:14).

1:10–12 Psalm 102, quoted here, is a lament over human suffering, weakness, and mutability (Ps. 102:1–11, 23–24), but God’s faithfulness gives the psalmist hope that his suffering and Israel’s disgrace will be reversed (Ps. 102:12–22). The psalm concludes with the verses cited in Hebrews (Ps. 102:25–27), extolling the Creator who is eternal, infinitely more permanent than the heavens and earth he fashioned. The heavens and earth will wear out and be discarded, but the Creator of the ages (cf. Heb. 1:2) remains unchangeably “the same, and your years will have no end” (1:12). The divine immutability of the Son is crucial to his priestly office and ministry, which rests on the power of his “indestructible life” (Heb. 7:16, 23–25). Although the congregation’s human leaders come and go, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever” (13:8). He bestows on believers a city that lasts (13:14), an unshakable kingdom that will survive the final cataclysm of the present heaven and earth (12:26–28).

1:13 The chain of OT citations showing the Son’s superiority climaxes with Psalm 110:1, to which the prologue alluded (Heb. 1:3). The theme of the Son’s enthronement links Hebrews 1:13 with Psalm 45:6–7, which is quoted in Hebrews 1:8–9. Psalm 110, especially verses 1 and 4, is interwoven throughout Hebrews (Heb. 5:6, 10; 6:20; 7:3, 11, 17, 21; 8:1; 10:12–13; 12:2). This psalm was recognized as messianic in the Judaism of Jesus’ day, so Jesus cited it to confute his opponents’ assumption that David’s royal heir would be merely human (Mark 12:35–37). Jesus’ heavenly enthronement at God’s right hand is mentioned repeatedly throughout the NT (e.g., Acts 2:34; 1 Cor. 15:24–28). Our preacher will cite these words to show: (a) the heavenly place of Jesus’ present priestly ministry, which is superior to the earthly sanctuary (Heb. 8:1–6; cf. 9:11–12), and (b) his seated posture, demonstrating the complete sufficiency of his atoning sacrifice (10:11–14).

1:14 A final rhetorical question (now expecting an affirmative answer in Greek) reaffirms the angels’ subservient mission, in contrast to the Son’s enthronement at God’s right hand. “Ministering” and “spirits” (winds) echo Psalm 104:4, cited in Hebrews 1:7 (cf. also Ps. 103:20–21). While the Son sits in heavenly sovereignty (Heb. 1:13), the angels are sent out to serve. They serve “those who are to inherit salvation” through the Son. So our preacher brings us into the picture: Believers are the Messiah’s “companions” (v. 9). He is the unique Son, firstborn heir of all things (1:2–5), yet they are his “brothers” and heirs of the salvation he has achieved, for through him God is “bringing many sons to glory” (2:10–12; cf. also 6:12, 17; 9:15; 11:7–9; 12:23).