Hebrews 1:7

Hebrews 1:7. As to angels, moreover, they were made by Him (not begotten). They are spirits, not sons; and His servants or ministers, a ‘flame of fire.' Some render ‘spirits' by ‘winds,' and read, ‘He maketh His angels as winds, passive, swift, and untiring.' They do His will, as do the tempest and the lightning. In the Hebrew of the Psalm (Psalms 104:4) either meaning is possible, ‘He maketh the winds or spirits His messengers,' or ‘His messengers spirits' or winds. In the Septuagint, and so here, on the other hand, the only allowable meaning is, ‘His angels or messengers winds' or ‘spirits.' The rendering of the Greek by winds is very rare in the New Testament, and is indeed found only here, and possibly in John 3:8. In Hebrews 1:14, the angels are expressly called ‘ministering spirits' a name that recalls both the names given in Hebrews 1:7, spirits and ministers. They are His workmanship, not His sons; and they are all either ‘spirits' or material elements, or as material elements; ‘a flame of fire,' an allusion perhaps to a Jewish interpretation of seraphim ‘the burning ones.' On the whole, therefore, the A.V. seems preferable to the marginal rendering.