Hebrews 1:3-4

1:3 The Son is ¹  the radiance of his glory and the representation of his essence, and he sustains all things by his powerful word, ²  and so when he had accomplished cleansing for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high. ³  1:4 Thus he became ⁴  so far better than the angels as ⁵  he has inherited a name superior to theirs.

---

¹ tn Grk “who being…and sustaining.” Heb 1:1-4 form one skillfully composed sentence in Greek, but it must be broken into shorter segments to correspond to contemporary English usage, which does not allow for sentences of this length and complexity.

² tn Grk “by the word of his power.”

³ sn An allusion to Ps 110:1, quoted often in Hebrews.

⁴ tn Grk “having become.” This is part of the same sentence that extends from v. 1 through v. 4 in the Greek text.

⁵ tn Most modern English translations attempt to make the comparison somewhat smoother by treating “name” as if it were the subject of the second element: “as the name he has inherited is superior to theirs” (cf. NAB, NIV, NRSV, CEV). However, the Son is the subject of both the first and second elements: “he became so far better”; “he has inherited a name.” The present translation maintains this parallelism even though it results in a somewhat more awkward rendering.

sn This comparison is somewhat awkward to express in English, but it reflects an important element in the argument of Hebrews: the superiority of Jesus Christ.