Hebrews 1
Hebrews 1 is the first chapter of the Epistle to the Hebrews in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. The author is anonymous, although the internal reference to "our brother Timothy" causes a traditional attribution to Paul, but this attribution has been disputed since the second century and there is no decisive evidence for the authorship. This chapter contains the introduction about God's final revelation through his son and how the son is superior to angels.
Text
The original text was written in Koine Greek. This chapter is divided into 14 verses.Textual witnesses
Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter in Greek are:- Papyrus 46
- Papyrus 114
- Papyrus 12
- Codex Vaticanus
- Codex Sinaiticus
- Codex Alexandrinus
- Codex Freerianus
- Codex Claromontanus
- Codex Coislinianus
- Uncial 0121b
Old Testament references
- Hebrews 1:3: Book of Wisdom 7:16
- Hebrews 1:5: ;
- Hebrews 1:6: ; Psalm
- Hebrews 1:7:
- Hebrews 1:8–9:
- Hebrews 1:10: and
- :
- Hebrews 1:13:
New Testament references
- Hebrews 1:5: Acts 13:33; Hebrews 5:5
- Hebrews 1:13:
Exordium: God's Final Word through His Son (1:1–4)
Verses 1–2
While the Old Testament revelation in time past came at many times throughout the history of Israel and in various ways such as 'dreams, visions and angelic messages', the ultimate revelation in these last days of human history came through Jesus Christ as the Son of God, who was with God from the beginning and through whom God made the universe ; the Son is also appointed as the heir of all things to possess and rule over 'all that was created through him'.Verses 3–4
- "The brightness of his glory and the express image of His person": or "the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being" are revealed by the Son in his person to be what God is really like.
- "Sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high" is the heavenly enthronement of the Son of God which is the sequel of his atoning work.
The Son's Superiority to Angels (1:5–14)
Verse 5
is cited because of the prophecy pertaining to the Messiah as Son of David, whereas is quoted as the theological basis from God's special promise to David and his dynasty. Psalm 2:7 is also quoted in Acts 13:33 and used for exposition in Hebrews 5:5.Verse 6
Citing.Verse 7
Citing.Verses 8–9
- Cross references: Hebrews 1:8: Psalm 45:6; Hebrews 1:9: Psalm 45:7; Isaiah 61:1 The citation from Psalm 45:6–7 is the fifth explicit quotation in the catena of Hebrews 1:5–14, and unlike that of the Masoretic Text nor the Septuagint. Other than Psalm 45:1–2, which is quoted and given comments in 4Q171, no verses of Psalm 45 explicitly quoted by any of the Judaism nor New Testament writers, except here. In the early Christian literature, the same quotation from Psalm 45:6-7 are quoted and interpreted christologically by some of the Church Fathers, such as Justin Martyr, Origen, Athanasius, Eusebius and Gregory of Nyssa.
Verses 10–12
Verse 13
The cited words from were quoted by Jesus and applied to Messiah, which must be greater than angels, because 'the angels do not exercise the authority and rule of the Son'.The image of enemies becoming a "footstool" echoes Ancient Near-Eastern victory iconography—in royal reliefs a seated monarch literally rests his feet on captive rulers, signalling absolute domination. Early Christian writers such as John Chrysostom likewise contrasted the standing ministry of angels with the seated kingship of the Son.