Hebrews 1:13

But to which of the angels said he at any time, Sit on my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool? () The image is from conquerors putting the feet on the necks of the conquered ()....

13._But to whom of the angels, etc. _He again by another testimony extols the excellency of Christ, that it might hence be evident how much he is above the angels. The passage is taken from Psalms 110:1, and it cannot be explained of any but of Christ. For as it was not lawful for kings to touch the priesthood, as is testified by the leprosy of Uzziah; and as it appears that neither David, nor any other of his successors in the kingdom, was ordained a priest, it follows, that a new kingdom as well as a new priesthood is here introduced, since the same person is made a king and a priest. Besides, the eternity of the priesthood is suitable to Christ alone. Now, in the beginning of the Psalm he is set at God’s right hand. This form of expression, as I have already said, means the same, as though it was said, that the second place was given him by the Father; for it is a metaphor w

4-14 Many Jews had a superstitious or idolatrous respect for angels, because they had received the law and other tidings of the Divine will by their ministry. They looked upon them as mediators between God and men, and some went so far as to pay them a kind of religious homage or worship. Thus it was necessary that the apostle should insist, not only on Christ's being the Creator of all things, and therefore of angels themselves, but as being the risen and exalted Messiah in human nature, to whom angels, authorities, and powers are made subject. To prove this, several passages are brought from the Old Testament. On comparing what God there says of the angels, with what he says to Christ, the inferiority of the angels to Christ plainly appears. Here is the office of the angels; they are God's ministers or servants, to do his pleasure. But, how much greater things are said of Christ by th...

Verse Hebrews 1:13. _BUT TO WHICH OF THE ANGELS_] We have already seen, from the opinions and concessions of the Jews, that, if Jesus Christ could be proved to be _greater than the angels_, it would necessarily follow that he was God: and this the apostle does most amply prove by these various quotations from their own Scriptures; for he shows that while he is the supreme and absolute Sovereign, they are no more than his _messengers_ and _servants_, and _servants_ even to his _servants_, i.e. to mankind....

BUT TO WHICH OF THE ANGELS - The apostle adduces one other proof of the exaltation of the Son of God above the angels. He asks where there is an instance in which God had addressed any one of the angels, and asked him to sit at his right hand until he should subdue his enemies under him? Yet that high honor had been conferred on the Son of God; and he was therefore far exalted above them. “Sit on my right hand;” see notes on Hebrews 1:3. This passage is taken from Psalms 110:1, a Psalm that is repeatedly quoted in this Epistle as referring to the Messiah, and the very passage before is applied by the Saviour to himself, in Matthew 22:43, and by Peter it is applied to him in...

EXPOSITION HEBREWS 1:1 EXORDIUM intimating in a succession of choice and pregnant phrases, the drift of the Epistle; a condensed summary of the coming argument. It briefly anticipates the views to be set forth in the sequel, of the revelation of God in Christ excelling far, and being destined to supersede, all that had preceded it, as being the ultimate Divine manifestation in the SON, according to the full meaning of the term involved in ancient prophecy;—of the eternal Divinity of him who was thus revealed in time as SON—of his accomplishing, as such, the reality signified by the ancient priesthood; and of his exaltation, as such, to his predestined glory and dominion on high. We find in the introduction to some of St. Paul's Epistles somewhat similar adumbrations of his subject, but none so finished

BUT TO WHICH OF THE ANGELS SAID HE AT ANY TIME,.... That is, he never said to any of them in his council, or covenant; he never designed to give them any such honour, as hereafter expressed; he never promised it to them, or bestowed it on them; he never called up any of them to so high a place, or to such a dignity: SIT ON MY RIGHT HAND, UNTIL I MAKE THINE ENEMIES THY FOOTSTOOL; yet this he said to his Son, Psalms 110:1 for to him, the Messiah, are they spoken, and have had their fulfilment in him: Matthew 22:44; and therefore he must be greater than the angels....

Hebrews 1:1. In this chapter our Saviour's glorious person is very plainly set before us, and it is made the ground of our faith, and a reason why we should give the more earnest heed to his words, lest at any time we should let them slip. Hebrews 1:1. _God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son,_ The best last is ever God's rule. «Thou hast kept the best wine until now.» Prophets are a very blessed means of communication, but how much more sure, how much more condescending is it for God to speak to us by his Son! Hebrews 1:2. Whom he hath appointed heir of all thing, by whom also he m

ANALYSIS AND ANNOTATIONS I. CHRIST, THE SON OF GOD AND His GLORY CHAPTER 1-2:4 _ 1. The Son in whom God hath spoken (Hebrews 1:1)_ 2. So much better than the angels (Hebrews 1:5) 3. Admonition and warning (Hebrews 2:1) Hebrews 1:1 Sublime is the beginning of this precious document. God who in many measures and in many ways spake of old to the fathers in the prophets, at the end of these days hath spoken to us in a Son, whom He constituted heir of all things, by whom also He made the worlds; who being the effulgence of His glory and the expression of His substance, and upholding all things by the wor

HEBREWS 1:5 TO HEBREWS 2:18. THE SON IS SUPERIOR TO THE ANGELS. For this theme the way has been prepared in the closing words of Hebrews 1:14. The section may possibly be directed against angel-worship, which in some churches, as we know from Colossians, was encroaching on the faith in Christ. More probably the writer's aim is simply to enforce the supremacy of Christ as compared with even the highest of created beings. In Hebrews 1:5 he collects a number of Scripture texts which illustrate the relative worth of Christ and the angels. These texts are interpreted by the allegorical method_ i.e._ they are taken not in their historical meaning