The Superiority of Christ over the Prophets
1 God, having spoken to the fathers through the prophets in many parts and in various ways, in the past,
2 has at the end of these days spoken to us by Son, I take it that ‘Son’ is being used like a proper name. whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the ages; That’s what the Text says, although most versions render ‘worlds’, which seems to make better sense, at least at first glance. But let’s stop and think a minute—since God is eternal, the concept of ‘time’ may be part and parcel of this Creation, limited to it and perhaps be a defining characteristic, along with space. But ‘ages’ is plural, and how does one distinguish one age from another? Presumably by the events of history—in other words, the Son controls the history of this planet.
3 who being the projection of His glory and the very image of His essence, and sustaining all things by the expression of His [S] Here the pronoun refers to the Son; the previous occurrences refer to the Father. Below, whenever the referent changes I will indicate this by [F] or [S], which will be good until the next change. own power, when He had by Himself provided purification for our sins He sat down on the highest Majesty’s right,
4 having become so much superior to the angels as He has inherited a more excellent name than they have.
5 For to which of the angels did He [F] ever say, “You are my Son, today I begot you”, and again, “I will be ‘Father’ to Him, and He will be ‘Son’ to me”?
6 Again, when He introduces the Firstborn In Hebrew culture the firstborn son usually inherited the lion’s share of the father’s estate (so as not to splinter the estate) and was thus the boss, so the expression ‘firstborn’ took on the extended meaning of ‘preeminent’, which I take to be the intended meaning here. But as the God-man Christ was both only-begotten and firstborn. into the inhabited earth I assume that this must have happened at the incarnation of the Son. He says, “Let all God’s angels worship Him [S] ”.
7 Further, about the angels He [F] says, “Who makes His angels winds, The Greek word here also means ‘spirits’, but ‘winds’ fits the Hebrew parallelism better. His servants flames of fire”;
8 while to the Son He says: “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; ‘Scepter of Uprightness’ I take ‘Scepter of Uprightness’ to be a proper name (like the sword ‘Excalibur’). is the scepter of Your kingdom.
9 You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness, therefore God, Your God, has anointed You with the oil of exultation beyond Your companions.”
10 Also: “You, LORD , The quote is from Psalm 102:25-27, and in that context it is Jehovah who is being addressed, Jehovah the Son. This is one of several passages in the New Testament that contradict the heresy of the ‘Jehovah’s Witnesses’ and Mormons that denies that Jesus Christ is Jehovah. in the beginning, laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are works of Your hands;
11 they will perish but You continue on—they will all grow old like a garment;
12 You will roll them up like a cloak and they will be changed, while You stay the same and Your years will never end.”
13 On the other hand, to which of the angels did He ever say, “Sit on my right until I place your enemies as a stool under your feet”?
14 Are they not all ministering spirits being sent This participle being in the present tense, I take it that this is an ongoing activity. to serve those who are going to inherit salvation?