1 God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets,

2 Has in these last days spoken to us by his Son, whom he has appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;

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 has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.

5 For to which of the angels said he at any time, You are my Son, this day have I begotten you? And again, I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son?

6 And again, when he brings in the first-begotten into the world, he said, And let all the angels of God worship him.

7 And of the angels he said, Who makes his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire.

8 But to the Son he said, Your throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a scepter of righteousness is the scepter of your kingdom.

9 You have loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness above your fellows.

10 And, You, Lord, in the beginning have laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of your hands:

11 They shall perish; but you remain; and they all shall wax old as does a garment;

12 And as a clothing shall you fold them up, and they shall be changed: but you are the same, and your years shall not fail.

13 But to which of the angels said he at any time, Sit on my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstoo?

14 Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?

The Superiority of the Son to the Angels ( Heb 1:5 to Heb 2:14)

He Is Now Contrasted With The Angels, the Heavenly Beings and Intermediaries between God and the world ( Heb 1:5-14).

Having revealed the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ as the Son', the writer now goes on to contrast Him with all heavenly beings, although already having revealed Him as superior to the angels in His being stated by God to be My Son'. He does this by means of seven quotations from the Scriptures.

There is a certain pattern to them. The first quotation affirms His crowning as God's king and, in its context in the Psalm, also presents Him as God's Anointed', and this leads on in the second quotation into a reign where God is His Father, and He is His Son. These two tie in with his opening statement in Heb 1:2 that He has spoken through One Who is a Son.

In parallel to this the fifth quotation emphasises His possession of His everlasting, durable throne and His further anointing' as Supreme Ruler over His fellows', and leads on in the sixth into His supremacy over creation from its beginning to its end (as in Heb 1:3) and His complete everlastingness and durability in all things.

The third affirms the homage of angels at His coming because He is God's chosen and His heir (firstborn), and the seventh the submission of all His enemies at His coming. The fourth and central one defines the comparative status of the angels, as sandwiched on each side by three declarations of His authority and power (three being ever the number of completeness).

Thus we may picture this as follows:

1) He is God's anointed, begotten' Son 5) He is God's anointed Supreme Ruler 2) He is the Father's appointed Son 6) As Lord' He is everlastingly supreme over creation 3) He receives homage from angels as God's firstborn' 7) All His enemies are subjected to Him. Note how the first three relate to His appointment resulting in due honour, the second three to the manifestation of this in rulership and triumph. And these two ideas surround the description of angels as being closely connected with created things.