Hebrews 1:4

1:4 Thus he became so far better than the angels as he has inherited a name superior to theirs.

Hebrews 1:6

1:6 But when he again brings his firstborn into the world, he says, “Let all the angels of God worship him!

Hebrews 2:5

Exposition of Psalm 8: Jesus and the Destiny of Humanity

2:5 For he did not put the world to come, about which we are speaking, under the control of angels.

Hebrews 2:7

2:7 You made him lower than the angels for a little while.

You crowned him with glory and honor.

Hebrews 2:16

2:16 For surely his concern is not for angels, but he is concerned for Abraham’s descendants.

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

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.

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.

sn A quotation combining themes from Deut 32:43 and Ps 97:7.

sn The phrase the world to come means “the coming inhabited earth,” using the Greek term which describes the world of people and their civilizations.

sn See the previous reference to the world in Heb 1:6.

tc Several witnesses, many of them early and important (א A C D* P Ψ 0243 0278 33 1739 1881 al lat co), have at the end of v 7, “You have given him dominion over the works of your hands.” Other mss, not quite as impressive in weight, lack the words (Ì46 B D2 Ï). In spite of the impressive external evidence for the longer reading, it is most likely a scribal addition to conform the text of Hebrews to Ps 8:6 (8:7 LXX). Conformity of a NT quotation of the OT to the LXX was a routine scribal activity, and can hardly be in doubt here as to the cause of the longer reading.