When in polemic discussion with Social Trinitarians, the book of Hebrews chapter one is often presented by the Pluralists as a proof for plural rational persons in the Godhead. Although I have written on most of all the passages of holy Scripture concerning Christology (including this one), it seems that not enough attention has been given to this section of Scripture by those of us who hold to a Modalistic view of the Godhead. With that in mind I feel as though a more exhaustive investigation of this text should be undertaken. Therefore, what follows is Part IV of my exegesis of Chapter One of the Book of Hebrews. In this final episode of our series we cover verses 10-14.
V10. καί, Σὺ κατ' ἀρχάς, κύριε, τὴν γῆν ἐθεμελίωσας, καὶ ἔργα τῶν χειρῶν σού εἰσιν
οἱ οὐρανοί: (And, “You, Lord, in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth, And the heavens are the works of Your hands;)
V10. And, “You, Lord, (καί, Σὺ … κύριε,). The word "Lord" (κύριε) is vocative, masculine, singular. See the note on verse eight. This is an illustration of how θεός of verse 8 should have been given in the vocative "Θεέ " if, indeed, it was intended to be vocative.
"This is a quote from the LXX (Psalm 102:25). The word “LORD” (κύριε) is employed here as referencing Yahweh (the tetragrammaton - YHWH). This is seen by working ones way antecedently through Psalm 102 to identify the one being spoken unto; when this is done it is revealed by vv24, 22, 12 and 1 that the addressee is Yahweh. Once that is established it may be stated with certainty that our Author to the Hebrews has raised his focus from the servant Christ who had ‘fellows” and who was “made” better than the Angels, and has returned to his exaltation from v3; here, once again he shows us the Christ who was not “made” but was the MAKER: the Christ that was Emmanuel, the Christ that told Philip that if he had seen Him he had seen the Father, the Christ before whom Thomas bowed and cried in hush tones, “The Lord of me and the God of me” ( Ὁ κύριός μου καὶ ὁ θεός μου).
in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth, And the heavens are the works of Your hands (ἀρχάς, … τὴν γῆν ἐθεμελίωσας, καὶ ἔργατῶν χειρῶν σού εἰσιν οἱ οὐρανο:).
- Θεέ could have been used as it was in Matthew 27:46.
- And two, if ὁ θεός
Our Author to the Hebrews declares Jesus to have been the Creator of the heavens and the earth. Psalm 102:25 (of which this is a quote) is the voice for which Isaiah 44:24 is the echo: “Thus saith the LORD (YHWH), thy redeemer, and he that formed thee from the womb, I am the LORD (YHWH) that maketh all things; that stretcheth forth the heavens alone; that spreadeth abroad the earth by myself;” (KJV). Now, unless some get it mixed up and say both Jesus and the Father created, it should be pointed out that the prophet Malachi proscribes that understanding: “Have we not all one Father? hath not one God created us?” Malachi 2:10. So, then, whereas it is unbiblical to say that both Jesus and the Father created the heavens and earth, it is biblical to say: Jesus, as the Father, created the heavens and earth. The apostle John wrote it this way: “In the beginning was the Word, … and the Word was God. … All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. … And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth” (John 1:1-3, 14 KJV).
V11. αὐτοὶ ἀπολοῦνται, σὺ δὲ διαμένεις: καὶ πάντες ὡς ἱμάτιον παλαιωθήσονται, (They will perish, but You remain; And they all will wear out like a garment,).
V11. They will perish, but You remain (αὐτοὶ ἀπολοῦνται, σὺ δὲ
διαμένεις:). In a world where everything changes, Christ changes not. Our Author will later write, in this epistle, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today, and forever.” (Hebrews 13:8). Here, our Author to the Hebrews is declaring the eternality of the Christ Jesus. The heavens and the earth will perish, is, in very fact, perishing; but, Jesus remains (διαμένεις, diameneis, St’s #G1265): to stay permanently, remain permanently, continue (Thayer)—the opposite of ἀπολοῦνται. That our author is, here, writing of Jesus as God Almighty is seen from the Pauline statement found in 1 Timothy 6:16 where Jesus is said to be the only one with immortality (eternal). Speaking of Jesus, Paul wrote: “Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to whom be honour and power everlasting. Amen.”
V12.
καὶ ὡσεὶ περιβόλαιον ἑλίξεις αὐτούς, ὡς ἱμάτιον καὶ ἀλλαγήσονται: σὺ δὲ ὁ αὐτὸς εἶ καὶ τὰ ἔτη σου οὐκ ἐκλείψουσιν. (And like a robe You will roll them up; Like a garment they will also be changed. But You are the same, And Your years will not come to an end.)
V12. And like a robe You will roll them up; (καὶ ὡσεὶ περιβόλαιον
ἑλίξεις αὐτούς). The created works of the heavens and the earth are but garments that have clothed the Majesty of the Autotheos. They are His adornment but for a time. They are not eternal. He is.
Like a garment they will also be changed. (ὡς ἱμάτιον καὶ ἀλλαγήσονται:). Though the present heavens and earth are to pass away, God has promised a New Heaven and a Hew Earth wherein dwells righteousness (Revelation 21:1).
But You are the same, And Your years will not come to an end (σὺ δὲ ὁ αὐτὸς εἶ
καὶ τὰ ἔτη σου οὐκ ἐκλείψουσιν). “Thus, from Psalms 45 and Psalm 102 the writer has demonstrated that Christ, the Son of God, is greater than Angels. He is God; He is king; He is just; He has been especially anointed; He is creator; He is immutable; He is eternal. None of these things are true of the Angels” (Renaissance New Testament).
V13. πρὸς τίνα δὲ τῶν ἀγγέλων εἴρηκέν ποτε, Κάθου ἐκ δεξιῶν μου ἕως ἂν θῶ τοὺς ἐχθρούς σου ὑποπόδιον τῶν ποδῶν σου; (But to which of the angels has He ever said, “Sit at My right hand, Until I make Your enemies A footstool for Your feet”?)
V13. But to which of the angels has He ever said, (πρὸς τίνα δὲ τῶν ἀγγέλων
εἴρηκέν ποτε,) Here, our Author to the Hebrews returns to his routine from vv5 and 7 in contrasting the Son of God with the Angels. During this first chapter the author has moved, not so seamlessly, back and forth from presenting a Christ who is Almighty God the Creator, and a Christ who is all but in the category of created beings and who was a product of God’s making, who has fellows that are His equals. I say that our author has not moved seamlessly between this two natures of Christ, because when he crosses from one aspect of the Savior to the other the path is very clear. We may think the Jesus being presented by our author is a contradiction, a paradox: because He is said to be the very radiance of the glory of God and not a reflection of that glory (v3), and that He upholds all things by the word of His power (v3), yet He had to “become” better that the Angels (meaning: at some point He was not better) (v4), He is said to have received His name by inheritance (v4)—meaning someone had it before Him, He is said to be begotten by Father God (v5), yet He is worshipped by the Angels (v6) when only God is to be worshipped (Matthew 4:10), He is said to have God for His throne (v8) and to have equals, fellows and companions (v9), but, yet, reported to have, Himself, created the heavens and the earth (v10) and who alone is the Eternal One (v11-12), then, here, our author ends his praise of the Son of Man with concluding remarks describing, again, his submissive role as being instructed by God to rest from His work until total victory over His enemies is realized through the act of God in the Son’s behalf. Although this may seem to be a paradox it is only describing the two natures of Christ: the God-man. In his opening remarks our author to the Hebrews introduces, to his readers, both the Deity of Christ and the humanity of Christ. He shows us a Jesus that has existence on two planes: God and man. He introduces the Son of God and the Son of man. Both are true and necessary for salvation of a fallen universe.
“Sit at My right hand, Until I make Your enemies A footstool for Your feet”? Κάθου ἐκ δεξιῶν μου ἕως ἂν θῶ τοὺς ἐχθρούς σου ὑποπόδιον
τῶν ποδῶν σου;). Our author is quoting from the Old Testament. This time the quote is from Psalm 110:1. To understand how this Old Testament quote is to be applied to Christ we should look to the first clause of the verse “The LORD said to my Lord:” (Notice the first LORD is all upper case: this is the tetragrammaton [YHWH]; the second Lord is with uppercase “L” but lowercase “ord”: this is the Hebrew Adonai, as lesser Lord.) Here David is prophetically referencing his future son, Mary’s Baby, as his human Adonai (Lord). The king reports, prophetically, that the Yahweh (“LORD” in the English text—all uppercase letters) said to his Adonai … . Although Jesus was the LORD (Yahweh) in His pre-existence, He became the human Lord over the human condition through living a human life, experiencing and overcoming every temptation know to man, and experiencing the Cross as our kinsman redeemer: thus, he was David’s Lord, in the human sense. So, it must be understood that this statement placed in the month of Father God by David and echoed here by our Author to the Hebrews, is not one God-person speaking to a second god-person as the Pluralists suppose. No. Here Yahweh God is addressing a very human Son of man. Here, as in verse 5, the subject is the resurrection from the dead. As far as the Psalmist is concerned, the resurrection had not taken place, it was far into the future, but David speaks as though it had already happened, as though the Father had already said to the Son of man, “Sit at My right hand, Until I make Your enemies A footstool for Your feet.” This is speaking of the glorification of Christ to the “Right Hand of God.” The apostle Paul explains it (1 Timothy 6:16), and Stephen, the deacon, gave testimony to its realization (Acts 7:55ff). This is a proleptic statement. The Bible employs such figures of speech often, where something that has not yet taken place is referenced as though it has already happened. An example of prolepsis is found in John 17: 11, 12, 24. Jesus says, “I am no longer in the world,” and He prays that the disciples may “be with Me where I am.” He had not yet left the world, but spoke as if He had. Prolepsis.
V14. οὐχὶ πάντες εἰσὶν λειτουργικὰ πνεύματα εἰς διακονίαν ἀποστελλόμεναδιὰ τοὺς μέλλοντας κληρονομεῖν σωτηρίαν; (Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?)
v14. Are they not all ministering spirits, (οὐχὶ πάντες εἰσὶν λειτουρ-γικὰ πνεύματα). Our Author returns his focus to the Angels, at this point. This verse really belongs with chapter 2 and should be considered closely with 2:1ff.
sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation? (εἰς
διακονίαν ἀποστελλόμεναδιὰ τοὺς μέλλοντας κληρονομεῖν σωτηρίαν;) There have been other questions in chapter one ( vv5 and 13 in particular), but none that demonstrates the Pauline character of the Epistle to the Hebrews as strongly as does this question. While it is doubtful that Paul actually wrote Hebrews because our author indicates that he never saw nor heard the Lord (2:3) and Paul did see and hear the Lord on the road to Damascus. Yet, this entire epistle bears the markings of Pauline thought and doctrine. Here, is an example: In Paul’s letters he often cast a positive in the form of a negative. That is to say, he often used a question to teach an affirmative. An example (there are many) is his question, “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?” (1 Corinthians 13:6). So, here, the question is asked about Angels: “Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?” Meaning: Angels are ministering spirits, etc. Paul may not have written the words, but the question is surely his style.
Apostolically Speaking,
☩ Jerry L Hayes
Be sure to read the other parts of this essay at the following links:
Hebrews Chapter One, Part iI vv5-7.
https://bishopjerrylhayes.blogspot.com/2021/05/hebrews-chapter-one-exegesis-part-ii.html
Hebrews Chapter One, Part I vv1-4
https://bishopjerrylhayes.blogspot.com/2021/05/hebrews-chapter-one-prologue-exegesis.html
Hebrews Chapter One, Part III (vv8-9)
http://bishopjerrylhayes.blogspot.com/2021/05/hebrews-chapter-one-exegesis-part-iii.html
Video of Hebrews 1:8-14
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S36EWfKFmt8&t=286s
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