Hebrews 1:6
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And again, when God brings His firstborn into the world, He says: “Let all God’s angels worship Him.”
Commentaries
Excerpts gathered from published commentaries to ground the reading.
And--Greek, "But." Not only this proves His superiority, BUT a more decisive proof is Psa 97:7, which shows that not only at His resurrection, but also in prospect of His being brought into the world (compare Heb 9:11; Heb 10:5) as man, in His incarnation, nativity (Luk 2:9-14), temptation (Mat 4:10-11), resurrection (Mat 28:2), and future second advent in glory, angels were designed by God to be subject to Him. Compare Ti1 3:16, "seen of angels"; God manifesting Messiah as one to be gazed at with adoring love by heavenly intelligences (Eph 3:10; Th2 1:9-10; Pe1 3:22). The fullest realization of His Lordship shall be at His second coming (Psa 97:7; Co1 15:24-25; Phi 2:9). "Worship Him all ye gods" ("gods," that is, exalted beings, as angels), refers to God; but it was universally admitted among the Hebrews that God would dwell, in a peculiar sense, in Messiah (so as to be in the Talmud phrase, "capable of being pointed to with the finger"); and so what was said of God was true of, and to be fulfilled in, Messiah. KIMCHI says that the ninety-third through the hundred first Psalms contain in them the mystery of Messiah. God ruled the theocracy in and through Him. the world--subject to Christ (Heb 2:5). As "the first-begotten" He has the rights of primogeniture (Rom 8:29); Col 1:15-16, Col 1:18). In Deu 32:43, the Septuagint has, "Let all the angels of God worship Him," words not now found in the Hebrew. This passage of the Septuagint may have been in Paul's mind as to the form, but the substance is taken from Psa 97:7. The type David, in the Psa 89:27 (quoted in Heb 1:5), is called "God's first-born, higher than the kings of the earth"; so the antitypical first-begotten, the son of David, is to be worshipped by all inferior lords, such as angels ("gods," Psa 97:7); for He…
Open source ↗In this chapter we have a twofold comparison stated: I. Between the evangelical and legal dispensation; and the excellency of the gospel above that of the law is asserted and proved (Heb 1:1-3). II. Between the glory of Christ and that of the highest creatures, the angels; where the pre-eminence is justly given to the Lord Jesus Christ, and clearly demonstrated to belong to him (Heb 1:4 to the end).
Open source ↗1:6 The supreme (or firstborn) Son shared the authority of the father, inherited most of his property, and was especially favored. In the New Testament, “firstborn” most frequently refers to Christ’s supremacy both in the church and in the created order; his resurrection is often given as the evidence for this status (Acts 13:33; Rom 1:4; 8:29; Col 1:15, 18; Rev 1:5; cp. Heb 12:23, where believers are called firstborn children). • “Let all of God’s angels worship him”: This quotation from Deut 32:43 demonstrates the lower status of the angels in that they worship the Son (see also Ps 97:7).
Open source ↗Cross-references
Other passages the community most often connects to this one. Tap to read.
All worshipers of images are put to shame— those who boast in idols. Worship Him, all you gods!
who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers subject to Him.
Rejoice, O heavens, with Him, and let all God’s angels worship Him. Rejoice, O nations, with His people; for He will avenge the blood of His children. He will take vengeance on His adversaries and repay those who hate Him; He will cleanse His land and His people.
And He is the head of the body, the church; He is the beginning and firstborn from among the dead, so that in all things He may have preeminence.
The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.
The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the one and only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him who loves us and has released us from our sins by His blood,
For those God foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brothers.
For to which of the angels did God ever say: “You are My Son; today I have become Your Father”? Or again: “I will be His Father, and He will be My Son”?
This is how God’s love was revealed among us: God sent His one and only Son into the world, so that we might live through Him.