The NIV has a fitting introduction to this pivotal passage – and not I am not always that easy to please on those little sub-chapters provided by modern translations! It reads: “God's final word: his Son”. I like that. I will start by pasting the whole passage, but we will start our examination of it at verse 8.
1 In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways,
2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe.
3 The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.
4 So he became as much superior to the angels as the name he has inherited is superior to theirs.
5 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’?
6 And again, when God brings his firstborn into the world, he [or “Scripture”] says,
‘Let all God’s angels worship him.’
7 In speaking of the angels he says,
‘He makes his angels spirits,
and his servants flames of fire.’
8 But of the Son, he [or “Scripture”] says,
“Your throne, O God, is forever and ever,
the scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom.
9 You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness;
therefore God, your God, has anointed you
with the oil of gladness beyond your companions.”
Israelite kings were so entrusted with a rule that was commissioned from Yahweh himself that they could even be called, ever so occasionally, a god. The only proviso on that, of course, was that Yahweh maintained his ultimate standing in the larger scheme of things.
But just prior to this, in verses 3-4, we have what must be one of my favourite verses in the whole Bible since I began my theological quest back in 2014: “After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.”
What's so special about that verse, you might think?
Hang on a second. Of course, it is difficult to summarise everything that a Jew packed into what we call a “name”, but it clearly included very significant concepts like personal presence and authority. There was more crossover with what we refer to in English as someone's title. That might even be a better translation here: ...as the title he has inherited is more excellent... So what might the name or title actually be here, that special name-title that God has conferred onto his Son? The answer lies in that divine-rule again. Look - it was inherited. That's how this thing works. It's total. So it's totally “divine”. And it is “inherited”, which also helps us better understand Revelation's perspective on the dual ownership of the Kingdom in Revelation 11.
One final thing - but it's going to get me to my suggestion for how to present Jesus in the contexts that speak of him being an ultimate or divinely reigning KYRIOS, so please hear me out. In the Greek the context helps parse out what we differentiate by “name” or “title”. So in the Greek, KYRIOS does connect Yahweh to Christ, you can't help it. Yet it doesn't make them interchangeable. since we see clear distinctions between the two, one being the “God and father” of the other, the clear and absolute Inheritor of the Kingdom. Since we accept God as a translation for Yahweh in the Old Testament, what could be close to that to echo the divine rule batton-passing we have seen described in these passages? These questions and scriptural highlights suggest “The King”. This is the extension we were looking at when pondering the example of Colossians 1:10.
These options prepare us fruitfully for embracing the most difficult passages that connect Yahweh to Christ, in Romans 10 and 1 Corinthians 8. These now resemble the following, but I hope they make sense when read in context, which I hope I have been able to draw out in these posts on Acts 2, Philippians 2 and now Hebrews 1.
1 In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways,
2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe.
3 The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.
4 So he became as much superior to the angels as the name he has inherited is superior to theirs.
5 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’?
6 And again, when God brings his firstborn into the world, he [or “Scripture”] says,
‘Let all God’s angels worship him.’
7 In speaking of the angels he says,
‘He makes his angels spirits,
and his servants flames of fire.’
8 But of the Son, he [or “Scripture”] says,
“Your throne, O God, is forever and ever,
the scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom.
9 You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness;
therefore God, your God, has anointed you
with the oil of gladness beyond your companions.”
Israelite kings were so entrusted with a rule that was commissioned from Yahweh himself that they could even be called, ever so occasionally, a god. The only proviso on that, of course, was that Yahweh maintained his ultimate standing in the larger scheme of things.
But just prior to this, in verses 3-4, we have what must be one of my favourite verses in the whole Bible since I began my theological quest back in 2014: “After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.”
What's so special about that verse, you might think?
Hang on a second. Of course, it is difficult to summarise everything that a Jew packed into what we call a “name”, but it clearly included very significant concepts like personal presence and authority. There was more crossover with what we refer to in English as someone's title. That might even be a better translation here: ...as the title he has inherited is more excellent... So what might the name or title actually be here, that special name-title that God has conferred onto his Son? The answer lies in that divine-rule again. Look - it was inherited. That's how this thing works. It's total. So it's totally “divine”. And it is “inherited”, which also helps us better understand Revelation's perspective on the dual ownership of the Kingdom in Revelation 11.
One final thing - but it's going to get me to my suggestion for how to present Jesus in the contexts that speak of him being an ultimate or divinely reigning KYRIOS, so please hear me out. In the Greek the context helps parse out what we differentiate by “name” or “title”. So in the Greek, KYRIOS does connect Yahweh to Christ, you can't help it. Yet it doesn't make them interchangeable. since we see clear distinctions between the two, one being the “God and father” of the other, the clear and absolute Inheritor of the Kingdom. Since we accept God as a translation for Yahweh in the Old Testament, what could be close to that to echo the divine rule batton-passing we have seen described in these passages? These questions and scriptural highlights suggest “The King”. This is the extension we were looking at when pondering the example of Colossians 1:10.
These options prepare us fruitfully for embracing the most difficult passages that connect Yahweh to Christ, in Romans 10 and 1 Corinthians 8. These now resemble the following, but I hope they make sense when read in context, which I hope I have been able to draw out in these posts on Acts 2, Philippians 2 and now Hebrews 1.
Romans 10:9, 12-13
if you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lordcarries God’s name and authority as KING,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved... For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile – the same Lord king is King is Lordof all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, ‘Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord GOD[JB1] ’s name will be saved.’
[JB1]Textual variations: τῇ χάριτι τοῦ κυρίου: τ. χ. κυρίου (D) | τ. χ. τοῦ θεοῦ (P45 C E Ψ et al.), Hurtado, p. 6.
For even if there are so-those called gods do exist, whether in heaven or on earth (as indeed there are many referred to as ‘gods’ and many ‘lords’‘masters’ or ‘kings’), yet for us there is but one true God, the Father, from whom all things came come and for whom we live; and there is but one true MasterLord, Jesus Christ the KING[1], through whom all things came come and through whom we live.
[1] Or: 5…many referred to as ‘gods’ and ‘masters’ … 6and there is but one true Master, Jesus Christ
Scripture taken and adapted from The Holy Bible, New International Version® (Anglicised), NIV®. Copyright © 1979, 1984, 2011 Biblica, Inc. Used by permission of Hodder & Stoughton Limited, a division of Hachette UK.
Scripture taken and adapted from The Holy Bible, New International Version® (Anglicised), NIV®. Copyright © 1979, 1984, 2011 Biblica, Inc. Used by permission of Hodder & Stoughton Limited, a division of Hachette UK.
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