Ps. 110: I 3. whom also he made the 1worlds; who being the effulgence of his glory, and 2 the very image of his substance, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had made purification of sins, sat 4. down on the right hand of the Majesty on high; having become by so much better than the angels, as he of creation, he, with his revelation, stands immeasurably above the prophets and theirs. 3. Being. The sense is causal, since he is. Effulgence. Better, refulgence, reflection. The same rare word is used in Wisdom 7:26: For she (Wisdom) is the effulgence of the everlasting light, and the spotless mirror of the power of God. Glory. That is, his majesty, his sublime perfection, is reflected in this Son. The very image of his substance. I.e., the exact stamp of his nature. The completeness and exactness of the revelation made through the Son are thus emphasized. Upholding. The Son is the maintainer of the universe, as well as its heir and the medium of its creation. By the word of his power. Better, by his word of power; that is, by his mighty word, his omnipotent command (Thayer). Made purification. I.e., cleansed sinners from the guilt of their sins, by his sacrifice of himself. See 7:26, 27; 9:11, 12, etc. Sat down. Better, took his seat on high, at the right hand of Majesty. Majesty is here a way of suggesting God in his sublimity. Cf. the sitting at the right hand of power, Matt. 26: 64. The words echo a representation of the exalted state of the Messiah, found in Ps. 110: I, and quoted in the earliest gospels. The right hand is the place of preeminent honor. 4. Angels. The beings through whom, in Jewish belief, the Law was given to Moses (Gal. 3: 19), and God's word was revealed to the prophets. It is as the mediators of the old revelation that they are mentioned here, in contrast with the Son, the medium of the new. His station is as much superior to that of the angels as his name of Son is above theirs. This contrast is continued in the following verses: he is Son and Firstborn, they are servants and worship him; he is eternal King, they are created ministers. In this identification of Jesus, the Saviour of the believer, with the loftiest conception of Jewish speculative thought, the Messiah, the Son of God, the writer draws attention away from what they were likely to consider the lowly origin and humble life of Jesus and his 5. hath inherited a more excellent name than they. unto which of the angels said he at any time, 1 "I will be to him a Father, And he shall be to me a Son? 2 For 6. 1 And when he again bringeth in the firstborn into 3 the world he saith, And let all the angels of God wor 1 Or, And again, when he bringeth in Or, shall have brought in 3 Gr. the inhabited earth Ps. 2:7 2 Sam. 7: 14 Deut. 32: 43 LXX.; Ps. 97:7 disgraceful death, which constituted a serious stumbling-block for believers of the first centuries. See the careful interpretation of Jesus' sufferings given by the writer in the second chapter, and the words of II Clement, ch. 1: We ought not to think meanly of our Salvation, for when we think meanly of him, we expect also to receive meanly. The Son's preeminence over angels in name, eternal dignity, and exalted office is shown from scripture, 1:5-14. 5. In this and the following verses a series of seven Old Testament passages bearing upon the Messianic Son of David are applied to Jesus, to show his superiority as Son of God to the angels who are God's servants. Thou art my Son. Ps. 2:7. This is God's solemn acknowledgment of the anointed of David's house as his chosen representative. This day have I begotten thee. An intensely graphic way of saying, To-day I have acknowledged thee as begotten by me, that is, as indeed my son. The writer applies these words to Jesus as the true and consummate anointed (Messiah) of God. I will be to him a Father. 2 Sam. 7:14. The words were first spoken of Solomon, but were extended in application to the line of Davidic kings. 6. The words applied in Deut. 32: 43 in the LXX to God himself, are here applied to the Son of God, and understood to be spoken of him when God brings him again into the world, on the occasion of his triumphant Messianic return. The words of Ps. 977 may have influenced the language used here. Firstborn. A Messianic title, expressive not of physical generation, but of moral dignity, applied by Paul to Jesus, although never precisely as here. Col. 1:15, Rom. 8:29. Cf. Ps. 89:27, where God says of the Messi Ps. 104:4 Ps. 45: 6,7 7. ship him. And of the angels he saith, And his ministers a flame of fire: 8. but of the Son he saith, 9. I 03 2 Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever; Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; With the oil of gladness above thy fellows. 2 SVm, Thy throne is God for ever and ever 3 The two oldest Greek Or, spirits manuscripts read his. The title here anic king, I also will make him the firstborn. 7. He saith. Here, as in vs. I, and often in the epistle, God is by 8, 9. The quotation is from Ps. 45:6, 7. Its difficulty lies in the fact that in it the Messianic king, whose marriage is celebrated in that psalm, is addressed as God. Some would indeed translate, God is thy throne for ever and ever (Westcott), while others explain that the Messianic king, as representing God's will and government on earth, is here, by a bold figure, directly addressed as God. The central thought of the quotation lies not in this address, but in the lasting possession of royal dignity throne, sceptre, anointing God's favor secured through uprightness and righteousness. Thy kingdom. Better, his (God's) kingdom. The king's upright rule marks his kingdom as God's. This glowing prophecy and congratulation, addressed originally to some Jewish king, is here transferred to Christ, as the rightful heir of all Messianic hopes and affirmations. Thus while the angels are God's humble servants, Jesus as Christ is possessed of eternal kingly dignity. 10. And, II. 12. Thou, Lord, in the beginning 1hast laid the founda- Ps. 102 : 25- And the heavens are the works of thy hands: And they shall all wax old as doth a garment; As a garment, and they shall be changed: And thy years shall not fail. 13. But of which of the angels hath he said at any time, Sit thou on my right hand, Till I make thine enemies the footstool of thy feet? 14. Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to do service for the sake of them that shall inherit salvation? 27 Ps. 110: I SV didst lay 10-12. Words used of God by some exiled Jew are here applied to the Son, who as Messianic medium of creation and revelation, shares in the changeless and eternal nature of God himself. His infinite superiority to the angels is thus again manifest. The Son's creative work and eternal nature, already suggested in vss. 2 and 8, are brought out again in this quotation. The writer understands the Messiah, conceived in his creative rôle, to be addressed in the passage, and his nature, outlasting his own creation, marks him as far above mere angels. 13. Ps. 110, already echoed in vs. 3, supplies the crowning testimony to the exalted dignity of the Son. God has seated him at his own right hand, there to await the consummation of his triumph. On my right hand. This position associates the Son with God himself in dignity and authority. No such invitation was ever addressed to angels. 14. So far from sharing the supreme exaltation of the Son, angels are thus, by the testimony of the Jewish scriptures, serving spirits, sent on God's errands, for the benefit of the heirs of salvation. Their true position as compared with the Son, enthroned and eternal, and even with these heirs of salvation, becomes at once manifest. 2. The consequent peril of rejecting the salvation offered by the Son, 2: 1–4 2. 1 "Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things that were heard, lest haply we drift 2. away from them. For if the word spoken through angels proved stedfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompense of reward; 3. how shall we escape, if we neglect 1 so great salvation? which having at the first been spoken through the Lord, was confirmed unto us by them that heard; "God also bearing witness with them, both by signs and wonders, and by manifold powers, and by 2 gifts of the 3 Holy Ghost, according to his own will. 4. I SV so great a etc. this book. a Gr. distributions. 3 SV Holy Spirit: and so throughout 1. Therefore. That is, by reason of this great superiority of the Son to prophets and angels. The things that were heard. The Christian teaching. Lest. The readers are in danger of falling into indifference. 2. The old revelation, though mediated through humbler beings than the Son, proved valid, and transgression of it brought invariable penalty. Through angels. The Jewish belief that the law was communicated to Moses through angels appears also in Gal. 3: 19: The law. ordained through angels by the hand of a mediator. Cf. Acts 7:53. The writer's respect for the old law as the expression of God's will reappears in this verse. 3. A fortiori, the salvation offered through the Son demands attention and respect. Having at the first been spoken. Better, after beginning to be uttered. Jesus began the proclamation of salvation. Was confirmed unto us. The writer does not belong to those who heard the Lord speak, but, like his readers, received the word from those who had. In this he is unlike Paul, who conceives himself to have received his gospel directly from the risen Jesus. Yet cf. I Cor. 11:2, 23. 4. God also bearing witness. Better, While God joined in bearing witness (to it). Signs wonders... manifold powers. gifts (better, portions), of Holy Spirit. The extraordinary mani |