Hebrews 1:5-7

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. Hebrews 1:5 tn Grk “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
2. Hebrews 1:5 tn Grk “I have begotten you.”sn A quotation from Ps 2:7.
3. Hebrews 1:5 tn Grk “And again,” quoting another OT passage.
4. Hebrews 1:5 tn The words “he says” are not in the Greek text but are supplied to make a complete English sentence. In the Greek text this is a continuation of the previous sentence, but English does not normally employ such long and complex sentences.
5. Hebrews 1:5 tn Grk “I will be a father to him and he will be a son to me.”sn A quotation from 2 Sam 7:14 (cf. 1 Chr 17:13).
6. Hebrews 1:6 tn Or “And again when he brings.” The translation adopted in the text looks forward to Christ’s second coming to earth. Some take “again” to introduce the quotation (as in 1:5) and understand this as Christ’s first coming, but this view does not fit well with Heb 2:7. Others understand it as his exaltation/ascension to heaven, but this takes the phrase “into the world” in an unlikely way.
7. Hebrews 1:6 sn A quotation combining themes from Deut 32:43 and Ps 97:7.
8. Hebrews 1:7 sn The Greek correlative conjunctions μέν and δέ (men and de) emphasize the contrastive parallelism of vs. 7 (what God says about the angels) over against vv. 8-9 and vv. 10-12 (what God says about the son).
9. Hebrews 1:7 tn Grk “He who makes.”
10. Hebrews 1:7 tn Or “spirits” (so KJV, NKJV). The Greek word πνεῦμα (pneuma) can mean either “wind” or “spirit” depending on the context. Since the context here concerns the superiority of the Son to the angels, many interpreters and most modern English translations see the present verse emphasizing the transitory or ephemeral nature of God’s other servants, the angels, and thus underscoring their inferiority to the Son.
11. Hebrews 1:7 sn A quotation from Ps 104:4.