Hebrews 1:8-10 Commentary

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CONSIDER JESUS OUR GREAT HIGH PRIEST
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Charts from Jensen's Survey of the NT - used by permission
Swindoll's Chart, Interesting Pictorial Chart of Hebrews, Another Chart 

The Epistle to the Hebrews
INSTRUCTION Hebrews 1-10:18				EXHORTATION Hebrews 10:19-13:25
Superior Person of Christ Hebrews 1:1-4:13	Superior Priest in Christ Hebrews 4:14-10:18			Superior Life In Christ Hebrews 10:19-13:25
BETTER THAN PERSON Hebrews 1:1-4:13	BETTER PRIESTHOOD Heb 4:14-7:28	BETTER COVENANT Heb 8:1-13	BETTER SACRIFICE Heb 9:1-10:18	BETTER LIFE
MAJESTY OF CHRIST	MINISTRY OF CHRIST			MINISTERS FOR CHRIST
DOCTRINE				DUTY
DATE WRITTEN: ca. 64-68AD

See ESV Study Bible "Introduction to Hebrews" 
(See also MacArthur's Introduction to Hebrews)

Borrow Ryrie Study Bible

Hebrews 1:8: But of the Son He says, "YOUR THRONE, O GOD, IS FOREVER AND EVER, AND THE RIGHTEOUS SCEPTER IS THE SCEPTER OF HIS KINGDOM. (NASB: Lockman)

Greek: pros de ton Huion, O thronos sou, o theos, eis ton aiona tou aionos, kai e rhabdos tes euthutetos rhabdos tes basileias sou.

KJV: But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom.

Phillips: But when he speaks of the Son, he says: 'Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of your kingdom. (Phillips: Touchstone)

Wuest: But with reference to the Son He says, Your throne, O God, is forever and ever. And the scepter of equity is the scepter of His kingdom. 

Young's Literal: and unto the Son: 'Thy throne, O God, is to the age of the age; a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy reign;

HEBREWS 1:4-14 JESUS IS BETTER THAN THE ANGELS: AS DEMONSTRATED BY SEVEN OT QUOTATIONS (All taken from the Septuagint - LXX)
HEBREWS	OT QUOTE	PROVES THAT…
Hebrews 1:5	Psalms 2:7	Jesus is God's only begotten Son
Hebrews 1:5	2Samuel 7:14	God is His Father Jesus is the Son
Hebrews 1:6	Psalms 97:7*	Jesus is to be worshipped by angels
Hebrews 1:7	Psalms 104:4	Angels are His Ministers
Hebrews 1:8, 1:9	Psalms 45:6-7	Jesus Christ is God Forever and ever
Hebrews 1:10, 11,12	Psalms 102:25-27	Jesus is Immutable and Eternal
Hebrews 1:13	Psalms 110:1	Jesus is Honored as Victor over All
*Psalm 97:7 - Some scholars favor this quotation as from Deut 32:43 which in the Greek (LXX) reads "Rejoice, ye heavens, with him, and let all the angels of God worship him". Either quote substantiates the writer's main premise.

BUT OF THE SON HE SAYS: pros de ton Huion:

• Hebrews 1 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries

But (de) is a strategic term of contrast.

He says - added by the translators but it is warranted as it speaks of the Father Who is describing His Son, the Messiah. Jews would have (or should have) been familiar with these psalms the writer uses to create a firm foundation for his premise that the non created, preexistent, eternal Jesus is far superior to all finite, created beings such as angels.

Be aware that in some cults purposely mistranslate Psalm 45:6-7 as "Thy divine throne," because they dislike this strong affirmation inherent in the phrase "Your throne O God" which clearly states that Jesus Christ is God. The words of the writer of Proverbs 30 ring true. "Do not add to His words Lest He reprove you, and you be proved a liar." (Pr 30:6)

But is the Greek particle de which serves to connect one clause to another, most frequently denoting transition to and serving to introduce another topic in the present case drawing a striking contrast with the angels. Such sound doctrine seems to have been greatly needed in the first century church for in his letter to the saints at Colossae Paul warned them "Let no one keep defrauding (present imperative with a negative implies they were already being defrauded!) you of your prize by delighting in self-abasement and the worship of the angels, taking his stand on visions he has seen, inflated without cause by his fleshly mind. (Col 2:18-note)

As MacDonald so beautifully phrases it "Now follows a galaxy of glories in which the Son is seen to be incomparable. (Believer's Bible Commentary: Thomas Nelson)

Spurgeon - Psalm 45:6–7. Angels are servants and not kings. They fly upon the divine errands like flames of fire, but they do not sway a scepter, and neither do they have a throne existing forever and ever.

What are some of the "stars" in this glorious galaxy? That Christ is God is a clear statement of His deity and is substantiated by the Old Testament quote from Psalm 45 (note that the writer uses at least one OT quote in every chapter in Hebrews!). Furthermore, He is forever and ever which speaks of His eternal sovereignty. Indeed, in one of my favorite hymns by Isaac Watts we joyfully concur that…

Jesus Shall Reign
(play hymn and sing to Him, the King)

Jesus shall reign where’er the sun
Does his successive journeys run;
His kingdom stretch from shore to shore,
Till moons shall wax and wane no more.

Behold the islands with their kings,
And Europe her best tribute brings;
From north to south the princes meet,
To pay their homage at His feet.

There Persia, glorious to behold,
There India shines in eastern gold;
And barb’rous nations at His word
Submit, and bow, and own their Lord.

To Him shall endless prayer be made,
And praises throng to crown His head;
His Name like sweet perfume shall rise
With every morning sacrifice.

People and realms of every tongue
Dwell on His love with sweetest song;
And infant voices shall proclaim
Their early blessings on His Name.

Blessings abound wherever He reigns;
The prisoner leaps to lose his chains;
The weary find eternal rest,
And all the sons of want are blessed.

Where He displays His healing power,
Death and the curse are known no more:
In Him the tribes of Adam boast
More blessings than their father lost.

Let every creature rise and bring
Peculiar honors to our King;
Angels descend with songs again,
And earth repeat the loud amen!

Great God, whose universal sway
The known and unknown worlds obey,
Now give the kingdom to Thy Son,
Extend His power, exalt His throne.

The scepter well becomes His hands;
All Heav’n submits to His commands;
His justice shall avenge the poor,
And pride and rage prevail no more.

With power He vindicates the just,
And treads th’oppressor in the dust:
His worship and His fear shall last
Till hours, and years, and time be past.

As rain on meadows newly mown,
So shall He send his influence down:
His grace on fainting souls distills,
Like heav’nly dew on thirsty hills.

The heathen lands, that lie beneath
The shades of overspreading death,
Revive at His first dawning light;
And deserts blossom at the sight.

The saints shall flourish in His days,
Dressed in the robes of joy and praise;
Peace, like a river, from His throne
Shall flow to nations yet unknown.

Indeed the glorious kingdom of the King of kings shall “stretch from shore to shore, till moons shall wax and wane no more.” And all God's people shout "Praise to Jehovah now and forevermore!"

Regarding this great hymn by Isaac Watts, G J Stevenson records an interesting note…

Perhaps one of the most interesting occasions on which this hymn was used was that on which King George, the sable, of the South Sea Islands, but of blessed memory, gave a new constitution to his people, exchanging a heathen for a Christian form of government. Under the spreading branches of the banyan trees sat some thousand natives from Tonga, Fiji, and Samoa, on Whitsunday, 1862, assembled for Divine worship. Foremost amongst them all sat King George himself. Around him were seated old chiefs and warriors who had shared with him the dangers and fortunes of many a battle—men whose eyes were dim, and whose powerful frames were bowed down with the weight of years. But old and young alike rejoiced together in the joys of that day, their faces most of them radiant with Christian joy, love, and hope. It would be impossible to describe the deep feeling manifested when the solemn service began, by the entire audience singing Dr. Watts’ hymn…

Who so much as they could realize the full meaning of the poet’s words? For they had been rescued from the darkness of heathenism and cannibalism and they were that day met for the first time under a Christian constitution, under a Christian king, and with Christ Himself reigning in the hearts of most of those present. That was indeed Christ’s kingdom set up in the earth. (Notes on the Methodist Hymn Book)

As Pink comments "How sharp is the antithesis! How immeasurable the gulf which separates between creature and Creator! The angels are but "spirits," the Son is "God." They are but "ministers," His is the "throne." They are but "a flame of fire," the executioners of judgment, He the One who commands and commissions them."

As discussed below this verse provides us with one of the most emphatic, unequivocal proofs of the Deity of Christ in the Scriptures because the Witness is no less that the Father Himself testifying to the Godhead of the Messiah, Who was despised and rejected by men. Pink adds

"how fittingly is this quotation from Psalm 45 introduced at the point it is in Hebrews 1. In verse 6 we are told that all the angels of God have received command to "worship" the Mediator, now we are shown the propriety of them so doing—He is "God!" They must render Divine honors to Him because of His very nature. Thus we may admire, once more, the perfect order of Scripture."

THY THRONE, O GOD IS FOREVER AND EVER: Ho thronos sou ho theos eis ton aiona tou aionos:

• Ps 45:6 45:7
• Heb 3:3-note; He 3:4-note Isa 7:14; 45:21;45:22, 45:25 Jer 23:6; Hos 1:7; Zech 13:9; Mal 3:1; Mt 1:23; Lk 1:16 17; Jn 10:30 33; 20:28; Ro 9:5-note; 1Ti 3:16; Titus 2:13-note 14-note; 1Jn 5:20
• Ps 145:13; Isa 9:7; 1Cor 15:25; 2Pe 1:11-note
• Hebrews 1 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries

Jonathan Edwards rightly reminds us that "Earthly monarchies that ever have been, those that have ruled over the bigger part of the known world, as particularly the Grecian and Roman monarchies, they have come to an end, but Christ's is an everlasting Kingdom, His throne is forever and ever.

ALL HAIL THE POWER OF JESUS’ NAME
by Edward Perronet

All hail the power of Jesus’ Name! Let angels prostrate fall;
Bring forth the royal diadem, and crown Him Lord of all.
Bring forth the royal diadem, and crown Him Lord of all.

This quotation is the fifth in this chapter and again is from the Septuagint (LXX) translation of Ps 45:6,7. This psalm was most likely a marriage ode written to celebrate a royal wedding, but later came to be understood by the Jewish rabbis as a Messianic hymn, being so classified because verses 6-7 referred to David's throne as eternal (2 Sa 7:16).

Ps 45:6 Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever; A scepter of uprightness is the scepter of Thy kingdom. 7 Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated wickedness; Therefore God, Thy God, has anointed Thee With the oil of joy above Thy fellows.

C H Spurgeon (in Treasury of David) writes the following thoughts on Psalm 45…

Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever. To whom can this be spoken but our Lord? The psalmist cannot restrain his adoration. His enlightened eye sees in the royal Husband of the church, God, God to be adored, God reigning, God reigning everlastingly. Blessed sight! Blind are the eyes that cannot see God in Christ Jesus! We never appreciate the tender condescension of our King in becoming one flesh with His church, and placing her at His right hand, until we have fully rejoiced in His essential glory and deity.

What a mercy for us that our Saviour is God, for who but a God could execute the work of salvation? What a glad thing it is that He reigns on a throne which will never pass away, for we need both sovereign grace and eternal love to secure our happiness. Could Jesus cease to reign we should cease to be blessed, and were He not God, and therefore eternal, this must be the case. No throne can endure for ever, but that on which God Himself sitteth.

The sceptre of thy kingdom is a right sceptre. He is the lawful monarch of all things that be. His rule is founded in right, its law is right, its result is right. Our King is no usurper and no oppressor. Even when He shall break His enemies with a rod of iron, He will do no man wrong; His vengeance and His grace are both in conformity with justice. Hence we trust Him without suspicion; He cannot err; no affliction is too severe, for He sends it; no judgment too harsh, for He ordains it. O blessed hands of Jesus! the reigning power is safe with you. All the just rejoice in the government of the King Who reigns in righteousness.

Ray Stedman comments that "The contrast between a royal personage and his servant-companions is the point of the quotation. This king is addressed twice as God ("O God" in this verse and "God, Your God" in the next); possesses a throne, a scepter and a kingdom; loves righteousness and hates wickedness; has a special anointing of joy; and continues as king forever and ever. No angel could claim these attributes. The cause of the king's joy is traced to his love of righteousness and hatred of wickedness. Here, by contrast, may be a hint of the moral defection of the host of angels who fell with Satan. Angels could and did sin, but the Son's love of righteousness kept him safe through the most severe temptations. Even those unfallen angels who also, presumably, love righteousness do so on the basis of choice, while the Son's love of righteousness is inherent in his very nature. For this reason (therefore) God has set him above his companions." (Hebrews Commentary)

Thy throne O God is translated by some cults as “Thy divine throne,” because they are attempting to refute this strong affirmation by the Father ("O God") that Jesus Christ is God. The First Person of the Trinity spoke to the Second Person of the Trinity and called Him God introducing unique and powerful evidence of the deity of Jesus. It is notable that the assignment of Deity to Christ here represents one of only a few places in the NT where Christ is directly referred to as God. (cf Jn 1:1, 20:28, Ro 9:5-note)

A key point in the writer's argument is the fact that in this verse Christ is explicitly addressed as “God.” It is not just that the Son has a superior status and more important functions in redeeming and ruling. He is a different category of person. He is a different kind of being. No angel can be addressed as “O God.” He can, because of His divine nature.

"Let him be crowned with majesty
Who bowed His head to death,
And be His honours sounded high
By all things that have breath."
-CHS

Andrew Murray writes…

Christ is God: to many Christians this has been a dead article of faith, held fast and proved out of Scripture, but without any living influence on the soul. To the true believer it is one of the deepest and most precious truths for the nourishment of the inner life.

Christ is God: the soul worships Him as the Almighty One, able to do a divine work in the power of divine omnipotence.

Christ is God: even as God works in all nature from within, and in secret, so the soul trusts Christ as the everywhere present and the Indwelling One, doing His saving work in the hidden depths of its being.

Christ is God: in Him we come into living contact with the person and life of God Himself The truth lies at the foundation of our Epistle, and the Christian life it would build up: Christ is God. (Andrew Murray. The Holiest of All)

Forever and ever (aion) (literally unto the aeon of the aeon) is used ten times (click here for uses) and at least six uses refer specifically to the enduring nature of the priesthood of Jesus Christ. The Scriptures repeatedly affirm the endlessness of Christ’s kingdom.

Andrew Murray writes that "Christ is the King eternal. His dominion is an everlasting dominion. The full meaning of the word eternal will become clear to us later on. Eternal is that which each moment and always exists in its full strength, immoveable, unchangeable. "We receive a kingdom that cannot be moved," because our King is God, and His kingdom for ever and ever. The rule of Christ our Priest-King, even now, in our souls, is in the power of an endless, an imperishable life: the faith that receives this will experience it." (Ibid)

Ps 145:13 Thy kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and Thy dominion endures throughout all generations.

Spurgeon comments that…

The point upon which the Psalmist's mind rests is the eternity of the divine throne, -- "thy reign is a reign of all eternities." The Lord's kingdom is without beginning, without break, without bound, and without end. He never abdicates His throne, neither does He call in a second to share His empire. None can overthrow His power, or break away from His rule. Neither this age, nor the age to come, nor ages of ages shall cause His sovereignty to fail. Herein is rest for faith. "The Lord sitteth King for ever."

And Thy dominion endureth throughout all generations. Men come and go like shadows on the wall, but God reigneth eternally. We distinguish kings as they succeed each other by calling them first and second; but this King is Jehovah (Jehovah/Jesus), the First and the Last. Adam in his generation knew His Creator to be King, and the last of his race shall know the same. All hail, Great God I Thou art ever Lord of lords!

CROWN HIM WITH MANY CROWNS
by Matthew Bridges

Crown Him with many crowns, the Lamb upon His throne.
Hark! How the heavenly anthem drowns all music but its own.
Awake, my soul, and sing of Him who died for thee,
And hail Him as thy matchless King through all eternity

Crown Him the virgin’s Son, the God incarnate born,
Whose arm those crimson trophies won which now His brow adorn;
Fruit of the mystic rose, as of that rose the stem;
The root whence mercy ever flows, the Babe of Bethlehem.

Crown Him the Son of God, before the worlds began,
And ye who tread where He hath trod, crown Him the Son of Man;
Who every grief hath known that wrings the human breast,
And takes and bears them for His own, that all in Him may rest.

Crown Him the Lord of life, who triumphed over the grave,
And rose victorious in the strife for those He came to save.
His glories now we sing, who died, and rose on high,
Who died eternal life to bring, and lives that death may die.

Crown Him the Lord of peace, whose power a scepter sways
From pole to pole, that wars may cease, and all be prayer and praise.
His reign shall know no end, and round His piercèd feet
Fair flowers of paradise extend their fragrance ever sweet.

Crown Him the Lord of love, behold His hands and side,
Those wounds, yet visible above, in beauty glorified.
No angel in the sky can fully bear that sight,
But downward bends his burning eye at mysteries so bright.

Crown Him the Lord of Heaven, enthroned in worlds above,
Crown Him the King to Whom is given the wondrous name of Love.
Crown Him with many crowns, as thrones before Him fall;
Crown Him, ye kings, with many crowns, for He is King of all.

Crown Him the Lord of lords, who over all doth reign,
Who once on earth, the incarnate Word, for ransomed sinners slain,
Now lives in realms of light, where saints with angels sing
Their songs before Him day and night, their God, Redeemer, King.

Crown Him the Lord of years, the Potentate of time,
Creator of the rolling spheres, ineffably sublime.
All hail, Redeemer, hail! For Thou has died for me;
Thy praise and glory shall not fail throughout eternity.

And so Isaiah affirms that "the government will rest on (Messiah's) shoulders; and His Name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness from then on and forevermore" and if there was any doubt this would come to pass Isaiah adds that "The zeal of the LORD of hosts will accomplish this." (Isa 9:6 9:7)

Daniel speaks of the endless duration of Messiah's dominion writing "I kept looking in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven One like a Son of Man (the Messiah) was coming, and He came up to the Ancient of Days (God the Father) and was presented before Him. And to Him (the Messiah) was given dominion, glory and a kingdom, that all the peoples, nations, and men of every language might serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion which will not pass away; and His kingdom is one Which will not be destroyed." (Dan 7:13, 14) (See Dr Walvoord's notes on Chapter 7 Daniel’s Vision Of Future World History) (Or Dr Richison's notes Daniel 7:13; Daniel 7:14)

Luke records that the Messiah "will reign over the house of Jacob forever; and His kingdom will have no end." (Lk 1:33).

Even in the new earth John describes "the throne of God and of the Lamb." (see note Revelation 22:1)!

AND THE RIGHTEOUS SCEPTER IS THE SCEPTER OF HIS KINGDOM: kai he rhabdos tes euthutetos kai he rhabdos tes euthutetos rhabdos tes basileias sous:

• 2Sa 23:3; Ps 72:1, 2, 3, 4;72:7 Ps 72:11, 12, 13, 14, 99:4; Isa 9:7; 32:1, 32:2; Jer 23:5; Zech 9:9
• Hebrews 1 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries

"the scepter of equity is the scepter of His kingdom" (Wuest)

"the rod of your kingdom is a rod of righteousness" (BBE)

Jeremiah records that "the days are coming… when (the LORD) shall raise up for David a righteous Branch; and He will reign as King and act wisely and do justice and righteousness in the land. In His days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely; and this is His name by which He will be called, 'The LORD our righteousness." (Jer 23:5-6)

Scepter (4464) (rhabdos probably related to rhapis = a rod or stick ) is literally a relatively narrow piece of wood of variable length. Depending on the context, rhabdos can describe a rod (including that with which one is beaten or used as an instrument of punishment - see 1 Cor 4:21 below), a staff (as used by shepherd [cp Lxx use in Mic 7:14] and figuratively speaking of such authority in Re 2:27, 12:5, 19:15 (see notes Rev 2:27, 12:5, 19:15), a stick (including a walking stick - cp Mt 10:10, Mk 6:8, Lk 9:3) or a measuring stick (Re 11:1-note)

Clearly in the present context rhabdos is a ruler's staff and as such is the badge of royalty and the emblem of authority as is well illustrated in the book of Esther. When King Ahasuerus desired to show evidence of his authoritative favor to Esther, he held out his scepter to her (Esther 5:2; 8:4). Therefore the scepter is the emblem or badge of royal authority and power.

The Messiah's scepter of is not merely one of power, arbitrarily exercised, but praise God is a "righteous" scepter which assures us of it's fair and just use, in contrast to the capriciousness and cruelty often manifest by earthly monarchs.

Here are the 12 uses of rhabdos in the NT…

Matthew 10:10 or a bag for your journey, or even two tunics, or sandals, or a staff; for the worker is worthy of his support.

Mark 6:8 and He instructed them that they should take nothing for their journey, except a mere staff; no bread, no bag, no money in their belt;

Luke 9:3 And He said to them, "Take nothing for your journey, neither a staff, nor a bag, nor bread, nor money; and do not even have two tunics apiece.

1 Corinthians 4:21 What do you desire? Shall I come to you with a rod or with love and a spirit of gentleness?

Hebrews 1:8 (note) But of the Son He says, "Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever, And the righteous scepter is the scepter of His kingdom.

Hebrews 9:4 (note) having a golden altar of incense and the ark of the covenant covered on all sides with gold, in which was a golden jar holding the manna, and Aaron's rod which budded, and the tables of the covenant.

Hebrews 11:21 (note) By faith Jacob, as he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, and worshiped, leaning on the top of his staff.

Revelation 2:27 (note) and he shall rule them with a rod of iron, as the vessels of the potter are broken to pieces, as I also have received authority from My Father;

Revelation 11:1 (note) And there was given me a measuring rod like a staff; and someone said, "Rise and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and those who worship in it.

Revelation 12:5 (note) And she (speaking of Messiah's origin from Israel, His Jewish lineage, His Davidic ancestry) gave birth to a son, a male child (Messiah), Who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron; and her child was caught up to God (Messiah ascended after His crucifixion and resurrection, cp Acts 1:8-11) and to His throne (where He now sits as our Mediator and Intercessor, cp Hebrews 1:3 -note).

Revelation 19:15 (note) And from His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may smite the nations; and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty.

There are 93 uses of rhabdos in the non-apocryphal Septuagint (LXX)

Gen. 30:37ff, 41; 32:10; 38:18, 25; 47:31; Exod. 4:2, 4, 17, 20; 7:9f, 12, 15, 17, 19f; 8:5, 16f; 10:13; 14:16; 17:5, 9; 21:19f; Lev. 27:32; Num. 17:2f, 5ff; 20:8f, 11; 22:23, 27; Jdg. 5:14; 6:21; 1 Sam. 17:43; 2 Sam. 7:14; 23:21; 2 Ki. 18:21; 1 Chr. 11:23; Est. 4:11; 5:2; 8:4; Job 9:34; Ps. 2:9; 23:4; 45:6; 74:2; 89:32; 110:2; 125:3; Prov. 10:13; 22:15; 23:13f; 26:3; Isa. 9:4; 10:5, 15, 24; 11:1; 28:27; 36:6; Jer. 48:17; Lam. 3:1; Ezek. 7:5; 19:11f, 14; 20:37; 21:21; 29:6; 37:16f, 19f; 39:9; Hos. 4:12; Mic. 5:1; 7:14; Nah. 1:13; Zech. 8:4; 11:7, 10, 14

Righteousness will reign when the King of kings reigns…

2Sa 23:3 — "The God of Israel said, The Rock of Israel spoke to me, 'He who rules over men righteously, Who rules in the fear of God,

Ps 72:1-4 — Give the king Thy judgments, O God, And Thy righteousness to the king's son. 2 May he judge Thy people with righteousness, And Thine afflicted with justice. 3 Let the mountains bring peace to the people, And the hills in righteousness. 4 May he vindicate the afflicted of the people, Save the children of the needy, And crush the oppressor.

Ps 72:7 — In his days may the righteous flourish, And abundance of peace till the moon is no more.

Ps 72:11-14 — And let all kings bow down before him, All nations serve him. 12 For he will deliver the needy when he cries for help, The afflicted also, and him who has no helper. 13 He will have compassion on the poor and needy, And the lives of the needy he will save. 14 He will rescue their life from oppression and violence; And their blood will be precious in his sight;

Psalm 99:4 And the strength of the King loves justice; Thou hast established (or prepared) equity (mesar = evenness, uprightness; Lxx = euthutes); Thou hast executed justice and righteousness in Jacob. (Spurgeon's note)

Jer 23:5 — "Behold, the days are coming," (to be completely fulfilled in the Millennium) declares the LORD, "When I shall raise up for David (Messiah comes from the lineage of David) a righteous Branch (the Messiah Himself); and He will reign as king and act wisely and do justice and righteousness in the land.

Righteous (2118)(euthutes from euthus = straight, immediate) is only here in NT and which means rectitude (the quality or state of being straight, moral integrity or righteousness, the quality or state of being correct in judgment or procedure), straightness, uprightness, evenness.

In other words the Messiah rules in absolute honesty and integrity and is opposed to wickedness, unevenness and injustice. Messiah's government will be right, upright, just, equal, and impartial. Dear believer, does this glorious truth not make you yearn for His soon return or as Paul puts it love "His appearing" (see note 2 Timothy 4:8)?

This passage parallels many passages in the Old Testament that predict the Messiah’s righteous rule (e.g., Isa 9:7; 11:4 ; Isaiah 58-66 ).

Although this is the only NT use of euthutes, this noun is found some 20 times in the in the non-apocryphal Septuagint (LXX)

Jos. 24:14; 1 Ki. 3:6; 9:4; Ps. 9:8; 11:7; 17:2; 26:12; 37:37; 45:6; 67:4; 75:1; 96:10; 98:9; 99:4; 111:8; 119:7; Eccl. 12:10; Cant. 1:4; 7:9; Dan. 6:22).

Here are some examples of uses of euthutes…

Joshua 24:14 "Now, therefore, fear the LORD and serve Him in sincerity (Hebrew = tamiym = speaks of integrity; Lxx = euthutes) and truth (what does such fear and service look like? It is very practical - read on); and put away the gods which your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD.

1 Kings 3:6 Then Solomon said, "Thou hast shown great lovingkindness to Thy servant David my father, according as he walked before Thee in truth and righteousness and uprightness (Heb = yishrah from yasar = to be straight, upright, pleasing, ethically blameless; Lxx = euthutes) of heart toward Thee; and Thou hast reserved for him this great lovingkindness, that Thou hast given him a son to sit on his throne, as it is this day.

Psalm 9:8 And He (Jehovah/Jesus) will judge the world in righteousness; He will execute judgment for the peoples with equity (Heb = meyshar also related to yasar [see above] = uprightness; Lxx = euthutes). (Spurgeon's note)

Psalm 11:7 For the LORD (Jehovah/Jesus) is righteous; He loves righteousness (Heb = tsedaqah = blameless conduct, right attitudes and actions; Lxx = euthutes); The upright will behold His face. (Spurgeon's note)

Psalm 17:2 Let my judgment come forth from Thy presence; Let Thine eyes look with equity (Heb = meyshar also related to yasar [see above] = uprightness; Lxx = euthutes). (Spurgeon's note)

Psalm 26:12 My foot stands on a level (Heb = miysor = speaks of evenness, straight as opposed to crooked; Lxx = euthutes - so here is used literally which helps us understand the predominantly figurative uses) place; In the congregations I shall bless the LORD. (Spurgeon's note)

Psalm 37:37 Mark the blameless man, and behold the upright (yasar = straight, just, right; Lxx = euthutes); For the man of peace will have a posterity. (Spurgeon's note)

Psalm 67:4 Let the nations be glad and sing for joy; For Thou wilt judge the peoples with uprightness (mishor = a level place; uprightness; Lxx = euthutes), And guide the nations on the earth. Selah. (Spurgeon's note)

Psalm 96:10 Say among the nations, "The LORD reigns; Indeed, the world is firmly established, it will not be moved; He will judge the peoples with equity (mesar = evenness, uprightness; Lxx = euthutes)." (Spurgeon's note)

Psalm 98:9 Before the LORD; for He is coming to judge the earth; He will judge the world with righteousness, And the peoples with equity (mesar = evenness, uprightness; Lxx = euthutes). (Spurgeon's note)

Psalm 99:4 And the strength of the King loves justice; Thou hast established (or prepared) equity (mesar = evenness, uprightness; Lxx = euthutes); Thou hast executed justice and righteousness in Jacob. (Spurgeon's note)

Psalm 111:8 They (The works of His hands are truth and justice; All His precepts are sure) are upheld forever and ever; They are performed in truth and uprightness (yasar = straight, just, right; Lxx = euthutes). (Spurgeon's note)

Psalm 119:7 I shall give thanks to Thee with uprightness (Heb = yosher = straightness often speaks of 2 paths of life and warns to stay on the "straight" path, Pr 2:13; Lxx = euthutes) of heart, when I learn Thy righteous judgments. (Spurgeon's note)

Kingdom (932) (basileia from basileus = a sovereign, king, monarch) denotes sovereignty, royal power, dominion and refers therefore to the territory or people over whom a king rules. The Kingdom of Heaven/God is the sphere in which God is acknowledged as King (In hearts giving Him obedience). In this sense the Kingdom has a spiritual aspect, a present physical aspect, and a future eternal aspect (beginning with the millennium, cf Mt 25:31,34 - see Dr Walvoord's article The Future Work of Christ — Part IV: The Millennial Kingdom and the Eternal State), all of course depending on the context of the passage in which basileia is found. Paul is careful to remind us that the Kingdom of Heaven/God is not in observance of ordinances, external and material, but in the deeper matters of the heart, which are spiritual and essential

for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. (see note Romans 14:17)

Click here to study over 100 uses of the "Kingdom" most of which refer to the Kingdom of Heaven/God.

See also related discussion on the Kingdom of Heaven

Hebrews 1:9 "YOU HAVE LOVED (2SAAI) RIGHTEOUSNESS AND HATED (2SAAI) LAWLESSNESS; THEREFORE * GOD, YOUR GOD, HAS ANOINTED (3SAAI) YOU WITH THE OIL OF GLADNESS ABOVE YOUR COMPANIONS." (NASB: Lockman)

Greek: egaphesas (2SAAI) dikaiosunen kai emisesas (2SAAI) anomian; dia touto echrisen (3SAAI) se o theos sou, elaion agalliaseos para tous metochous sou;

Amplified: You have loved righteousness [You have delighted in integrity, virtue, and uprightness in purpose, thought, and action] and You have hated lawlessness (injustice and iniquity). Therefore God, [even] Your God (Godhead), has anointed You with the oil of exultant joy and gladness above and beyond Your companions (Amplified Bible - Lockman)

KJV: Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.

Phillips: You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness more than your companions' . (Phillips: Touchstone)

Wuest: You loved righteousness and hated lawlessness. On this account there has anointed you, God, your God, with the oil of exultant joy above your associates.

Young's Literal: thou didst love righteousness, and didst hate lawlessness; because of this did He anoint thee -- God, thy God -- with oil of gladness above thy partners;'

THOU HAST LOVED RIGHTEOUSNESS AND HATED LAWLESSNESS: egaphesas (2SAAI) dikaiosunen kai emisesas (2SAAI) anomian:

• Heb 7:26; Ps 11:5; 33:5; 37:28; 40:8; 45:7; Isa 61:8) (Ps 119:104; 128 Pr 8:13; Amos 5:15; Zech 8:17; Ro 12:9; Rev 2:6, 2:7, 2:15
• Hebrews 1 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries

The writer is quoting from Psalm 45:7 "Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated wickedness; Therefore God, Thy God, has anointed Thee With the oil of joy above Thy fellows."

C H Spurgeon (in Treasury of David) writes the following thoughts on Psalm 45…

Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever. To whom can this be spoken but our Lord? The psalmist cannot restrain his adoration. His enlightened eye sees in the royal Husband of the church, God, God to be adored, God reigning, God reigning everlastingly. Blessed sight! Blind are the eyes that cannot see God in Christ Jesus! We never appreciate the tender condescension of our King in becoming one flesh with His church, and placing her at His right hand, until we have fully rejoiced in His essential glory and deity.

What a mercy for us that our Saviour is God, for who but a God could execute the work of salvation? What a glad thing it is that He reigns on a throne which will never pass away, for we need both sovereign grace and eternal love to secure our happiness. Could Jesus cease to reign we should cease to be blessed, and were He not God, and therefore eternal, this must be the case. No throne can endure for ever, but that on which God Himself sitteth.

The sceptre of thy kingdom is a right sceptre. He is the lawful monarch of all things that be. His rule is founded in right, its law is right, its result is right. Our King is no usurper and no oppressor. Even when He shall break His enemies with a rod of iron, He will do no man wrong; His vengeance and His grace are both in conformity with justice. Hence we trust Him without suspicion; He cannot err; no affliction is too severe, for He sends it; no judgment too harsh, for He ordains it. O blessed hands of Jesus! the reigning power is safe with you. All the just rejoice in the government of the King Who reigns in righteousness.

Thou lovest righteousness, and hatest wickedness. Christ Jesus is not neutral in the great contest between right and wrong: as warmly as He loves the one He abhors the other. What qualifications for a sovereign! what grounds of confidence for a people! The whole of our Lord's life on earth proved the truth of these words; His death to put away sin and bring in the reign of righteousness, sealed the fact beyond all question; His providence by which He rules from His mediatorial throne, when rightly understood, reveals the same; and His final assize will proclaim it before all worlds. We should imitate Him both in His love and hate; they are both needful to complete a righteous character.

Therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows. Jesus as Mediator owned God as His God, to Whom, being found in fashion as a man, He became obedient. On account of our Lord's perfect life He is now rewarded with superior joy. Others there are to whom grace has given a sacred fellowship with Him, but by their universal consent and His own merit, He is prince among them, the gladdest of all because the cause of all their gladness.

At Oriental feasts oil was poured on the heads of distinguished and very welcome guests; God Himself anoints the man Christ Jesus, as He sits at the heavenly feasts, anoints Him as a reward for His work, with higher and fuller joy than any else can know; thus is the Son of man honoured and rewarded for all His pains.

Observe the indisputable testimony to Messiah's Deity in verse six, and to His manhood in the present verse. Of Whom could this be written but of Jesus of Nazareth? Our Christ is our Elohim. Jesus is God with us.

Phillips outlines these verses as follows…

1. THE SOVEREIGNTY OF CHRIST

"thy throne"

2. THE DEITY OF CHRIST

"O God"

3. THE DYNASTY OF CHRIST

"for ever and ever"

4. THE AUTHORITY OF CHRIST

"the sceptre"

5. THE INTEGRITY OF CHRIST

"righteousness"

6. THE SPIRITUALITY OF CHRIST

"God … hath anointed"

7. THE VIVACITY OF CHRIST

"the oil of gladness"

-- Phillips Sermon Outlines

Psalms 89:14 Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Thy throne; Lovingkindness and truth go before Thee.

Spurgeon writes: They are the basis of the divine government, the sphere within which His sovereignty moves. God as a sovereign is never unjust or unwise. He is too holy to be unrighteous, too wise to be mistaken; this is constant matter for joy to the upright in heart.

Hast loved… and hated - note the past tense here, the Father commending His Son for the moral perfection He had manifested upon earth in the days of His humiliation. But these attitudes remain true of Him still, for He changeth not.

The writer of Hebrews again alludes to Jesus' love of righteousness and hatred for sin writing (of Jesus) that…

it was fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners and exalted above the heavens (see note Hebrews 7:26)

Andrew Murray - Christ is a righteous King: He is Melchizedek, the King of Righteousness. In His kingdom all is righteousness and holiness. There "grace reigns through righteousness." It is the kingdom of heaven: in it the will of God is done on earth as in heaven. And when it is farther said, Thou hast loved righteousness and hated iniquity, we are reminded that the righteousness is not only His as a divine attribute, but His too as the fruit of His life on earth. There He was tested, and tried, and perfected, and found worthy as man to sit upon the throne of God. The throne which belonged to Him, as Son of God and heir of all things, He had as Son of Man to win. And now He reigns over His people, teaching them by His own example, enabling them by His own Spirit to fulfil all righteousness. As the King of Righteousness He rules over a righteous people. (Ibid)

Loved (25) (agapao - see related study of noun agape) means to love unconditionally and sacrificially and by its verbal nature calls for action. This quality of love is not so much an emotion as it is an action initiated by a volitional choice. Agapao expresses the purest, noblest form of love, not motivated by superficial appearance, emotional attraction, or sentimental relationship. It pictures a love awakened by a sense of value in an object which causes one to prize it and thus this love springs from an apprehension of the preciousness of the object. It is the love of esteem and approbation.

Jonathan Edwards writes that love of righteousness in this context "refers to that unparalleled instance of the love of moral Rectitude which Christ has given in becoming a Sacrifice for sins by his atonement doing more than ever hath been done, by any rational agent towards displaying his love of Righteousness and Hatred of Iniquity.

Righteousness (1343) (dikaiosune from dikaios [word study] = just, righteous = root idea of conforming to a standard or norm) is derived from a root word that means “straightness.” It refers to a state that conforms to an authoritative standard or norm and so is in keeping with what God is in His holy character.

Righteousness is a moral concept. God’s character is righteous (see notes on this attribute) and as such is the definition and source of all righteousness. Thus God is totally righteous because He is totally as He should be. The righteousness of human beings is defined in terms of God’s perfect standard of righteousness. Righteousness in Biblical terms describes the righteousness acceptable to God and thus which is in keeping with what God is in His holy character. Rightness (a way of expressing the idea of righteousness) means to be as something or someone should be. In short, the righteousness of God is all that God is, all that He commands, all that He demands, all that He approves and all that He provides (through faith in the gospel of Jesus Christ, the perfectly Righteous One).

In the OT God's character is described as righteous. The Mesopotamian term comes from a river reed which was used as a construction tool to judge the horizontal straightness of walls and fences. God uses this term to be used metaphorically of His own nature. He is the straight edge (ruler) by which all things are evaluated. This concept asserts God's righteousness as well as His right to judge.

Rightness describes right as opposed to wrong, good as opposed to evil, sinless as opposed to sinful. Righteousness is the opposite of "lawlessness" here (and also in 2Cor 6:14)

Righteousness is being right and doing what is right, based upon the unerring standard as the revealed will of God. From that standard the incarnate Son never deviated because He truly loved righteousness. The psalmist writes…

He loves righteousness and justice.

The earth is full of the lovingkindness of the LORD. (Psalms 33:5)

Spurgeon Comments on Jesus' love of righteousness

The theory and practice of right He intensely loves. He doth not only approve the true and the just, but His inmost soul delights therein. The character of God is a sea, every drop of which should become a wellhead of praise for His people. The righteousness of Jesus is peculiarly dear to the Father, and for its sake He takes pleasure in those to whom it is imputed.

Sin, on the other hand, is infinitely abhorrent to the Lord, and woe unto those who die in it; if He sees no righteousness in them, He will deal righteously with them, and judgment stern and final will be the result.

Pink writes that "The same Lord Jesus that loved with boundless consuming love also hated with terrible consuming fire and will continue to do so while the ages roll. The goodness of God requires that God cannot love sin." (Attributes of God)

Lawlessness (458) (anomia) signifies everything that is contrary to the will and law of God.

Lawlessness is living as though your own ideas are superior to God's.

Lawlessness says, "God may demand it but I don't prefer it."

Lawlessness says, "God may promise it but I don't want it."

Lawlessness replaces God's law with my contrary desires. I become a law to myself.

Lawlessness is rebellion against the right of God to make laws and govern His creatures. All these things the Son hated in the days of His flesh (and still hates).

Jesus not only acted in righteousness (His conduct) but He also loved righteousness (His character). Because Christ loved (loves) righteousness, He hated (hates) lawlessness. Is this basic spiritual dynamic true in your life? Is it not true that where there is true love for God, there is abhorrence of sin? Yes, believers still sin, but we hate it as it is a direct affront to the grace and mercy of our loving Master and King. When we love God’s right standards (all of His standards are right!), we will hate lawlessness in every shape, form or fashion. We will be like the men described in Ezekiel who "sigh and groan over all the abominations which are being committed." (Ezekiel 9:4-note)

But let us read the full passage in Ezekiel 9:4 (the context being the imminent and final destruction of the Temple and the Holy City of Zion or Jerusalem by King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon in 586BC, his third and final attack on the city)

And the LORD said to him (Ezekiel), "Go through the midst of the city, even through the midst of Jerusalem, and put a mark (literally in Hebrew = taw) on the foreheads of the men who sigh and groan over all the abominations which are being committed in its midst."

Comment: Taw (or Tav) is the last letter of the Hebrew alphabet, written at that time like a cross and in context marking those persons who would be spared. The Septuagint translates Taw with the Greek word semeion which means sign by which the character and truth of any person or thing is known. In ancient Mesopotamia, a cross-shaped mark on the forehead was called ishpalurtum in Akkadian, written sometimes with the Sumerian logograph BAR which looks exactly like the older forms of the taw. A somewhat similar procedure is described also in Gen 4:15, although a different Hebrew word is used there and the forehead is not mentioned. Since God’s departure (and Shekinah - see studies - Glory of God: Past, Present and Future; The Glory of God) from the Holy of holies removed all protection and gave the people over to destruction, it was necessary for the angelic scribe to mark for God’s preservation of the righteous who had been faithful to Him. Those left unmarked were subject to death in Babylon’s siege (Ezekiel 9:5). Here was a respite of grace for the remnant. The rest were to be killed (Ezekiel 9:5-7).

Righteousness and lawlessness are like oil and water! Don't think you can mix them! Dear believer don't think you can practice lawlessness and then expect righteousness to emanate from you because you have a quiet time each morning! You can mark it down -- Oil and water do not mix beloved! There is a secular saying that "opposites attract" but not in the spiritual sphere! A love of righteousness cannot exist without a hatred of lawlessness. Don't be deceived by saying or hearing others say say, “I love righteousness, but I also like sin.” These two entities are as far apart as are the two poles of a magnet and when there is true love for God, there will be a true love of righteousness and true hatred of sin. And so the writer of Hebrews says that our Lord hated sin just as surely as He loved righteousness.

Recall His entry into the Temple at the time of the first Passover in John chapter 2…

13 And the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.

14 And He found in the temple those who were selling oxen and sheep and doves, and the moneychangers seated.

15 And He made a scourge of cords, and drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen; and He poured out the coins of the moneychangers, and overturned their tables;

16 and to those who were selling the doves He said, "Take these things away; stop making My Father's house a house of merchandise."

17 His disciples remembered that it was written, "ZEAL FOR THY HOUSE WILL CONSUME ME."

And as we grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (2Pe 3:18-note), we too will find that that the joy of fellowship with Him (Php 3:10-note) and progressive conformation to His image (Ro 8:29-note), will bring forth an increasing love of the things He loves (righteousness) and the hatred of the things He hates (lawlessness). You can mark it down - By one's attitude toward righteousness on one hand and sin on the other, believers can tell how close they are walking with the Lord. It is good for us all to do a David like (man after God's own heart) inventory from time to time pleading with our Perfect Father "Search (command in Hebrew and LXX! David came boldly to the throne of grace! cp note Hebrews 4:16) me, O God, and know (command) my heart; Try (command) me and know (command) my anxious thoughts and see (command) if there be any hurtful way in me, and lead (command) me in the everlasting way. (Spurgeon on v23 on v24)

THEREFORE GOD THY GOD HATH ANOINTED THEE: dia touto echrisen (3SAAI) se o theos o theos sou:

• Ps 89:26; Jn 20:17; 2Cor 11:31; Eph 1:3; 1Pe 1:3
• Ps 2:2 Ps 2:6; 89:20; Isa 61:1; Lk 4:18; Jn 1:41; 3:34; Acts 4:27; 10:38
• Hebrews 1 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries

for this reason God, your God anointed You with [the] oil of great happiness above Your companions. (Analyzed Literal)

therefore God, your God, has anointed you (Philips)

That is why I your God have chosen you (UBS)

Why therefore (dia touto) (term of conclusion)? Because He loved righteousness and hated lawlessness.

Andrew Murray comments…

Therefore, because He loved righteousness and hated iniquity, therefore God anointed Him. When He ascended to heaven, and sat down on the right hand of the throne, He received from the Father anew and in fullest measure, as the Son of Man, the gift of the Holy Ghost to bestow on His people (Acts 2:33). That Spirit was to Him the oil of joy, the joy that had been set before him, the joy of His crowning day when He saw of the travail of His soul. An anointing above His fellows (but see MacArthur), for there was none like Him; God gave Him the Spirit without measure. And yet for His fellows, His redeemed, whom, as Head, He had made members of His body. They become, partakers of His anointing and His joy. As He said,

"The Lord hath anointed Me to give the oil of joy."

Christ, our King, our God, is anointed with the oil of joy, anointed, too, to give the oil of joy: His kingdom is one of everlasting gladness, of joy unspeakable and full of glory.

O ye souls, redeemed by Christ, behold your God! the Son in whom the Father speaks. Let this be the chief thing you live for--to know, to honour, to serve your God and King. This is the Son in whom God speaks to you in all the divine mystery, but also in all the divine power and blessing, which marks all God's speaking. Let our hearts open wide to receive the King God hath given us.

And as often as we are tempted with the Hebrews to sloth or fear or unbelief, let this be our watchword and our strength:

My Redeemer is God! In this faith let me worship Him.

My Redeemer is God! let my whole heart be opened to Him, to receive, as a flower does the light of the sun, His secret, mighty, divine working in me.

My Redeemer is God! let me trust this omnipotent Lord to work out in me His every promise, and to set up His throne of righteousness in my soul in a power that is above all we ask or think.

My Redeemer is God! let me wait for Him, let me count upon Him, to reveal Himself in the love that passeth knowledge. Blessed be the name of God for ever and ever: My Redeemer is God!

1. Who is God? And what is God to us? "He in whom me live and move end have our being." He is the life of the universe. And how wonderfully perfect all that life is in nature. When we know this God as our Redeemer, "in whom we live and move and have our being" in a higher sense, what an assurance that He will make His new life in us as wonderful and perfect.

2. "Thou heat loved righteousness and hated iniquity, therefore." . . This was His way to the throne; this is the only way for us, living and doing right, and hating everything that is sin. (Andrew Murray. The Holiest of All)

If the first God in the text is an address, Christ is again addressed as divine. Thus Jerome, Augustine, and others translate Psalm 45:7…

O God (referring to the Son), Thy God (referring to the Father), hath anointed thee.

Anointed (5548) (chrio) means literally to daub, smear, anoint with oil or ointment, to rub oneself with oil. The figurative use means to consecrate or set apart for sacred work. It means to assign a person to a task, and in the present context conveys the implication of supernatural sanctions.

Christ is the Greek word Christos (Anointed = Greek equivalent of Hebrew word transliterated Messiah) which is derived from this verb chrío., first used in the NT in Luke 4:18 (see below)

We see the NT "definition" of the OT term Messiah in John's gospel…

He (Andrew) found first his own brother Simon, and said to him, "We have found the Messiah" (which translated means Christ). (Jn 1:41)

Kenneth Wuest writes that "Kings were anointed in Israel with oil when they ascended the throne. Our Lord was anointed with the Holy Spirit for His three-fold office of prophet, high priest, and king, at His baptism in the Jordan, which was at the time of His entrance into His ministry." Christ has been anointed rather than appointed and this anointing is that of the victorious one ruling eternally. Recall that the title Messiah (Christ) means “anointed one"

In the clearly Messianic Psalm 2 the writer records "The kings of the earth take their stand, And the rulers take counsel together Against the LORD and against His Anointed: (Ps 2:2)

In Psalm 89 we read of David's anointing which pictured the anoint of the greater David "I have found David My servant; With My holy oil I have anointed him (Ps 89:20)

Spurgeon comments: By the hand of Samuel, David was anointed to be king long before he ascended the throne. The verse must also be expounded of the Prince Emmanuel; He became the servant of the Lord for our sakes, the Father having found for us in His person a mighty Deliverer, therefore upon Him rested the Spirit without measure, to qualify Him for all the offices of love to which He was set apart. We have not a Saviour self appointed and unqualified, but one sent of God and divinely endowed for his work. Our Saviour Jesus is also the Lord's Christ, or anointed. The oil with which He is anointed is God's own oil, and holy oil; He is divinely endowed with the Spirit of holiness.

Jesus applied Isaiah 61:1-2 to Himself in Nazareth (see Luke 4:16-21) at the beginning of his ministry, reading in the synagogue on the Sabbath.

The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the afflicted. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to captives, and freedom to prisoners, to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord, (notice below that Jesus stopped in the middle of the verse - the first part was fulfilled in His First Coming and the last part - the "day of vengeance" - will one day be fulfilled at His Second Coming in glory to judge and wage war) and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn. (Isaiah 61:1-2)

Luke records…

And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up; and as was His custom, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath, and stood up to read.

17 And the book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. And He opened the book, and found the place where it was written,

18 "THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD IS UPON ME, BECAUSE HE ANOINTED ME TO PREACH THE GOSPEL TO THE POOR. HE HAS SENT ME TO PROCLAIM RELEASE TO THE CAPTIVES, AND RECOVERY OF SIGHT TO THE BLIND, TO SET FREE THOSE WHO ARE DOWNTRODDEN,

19 TO PROCLAIM THE FAVORABLE YEAR OF THE LORD."

20 And He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant, and sat down; and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed upon Him.

21 And He began to say to them, "Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing." (Luke 4:16-21)

Peter told Cornelius - You know of Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how He went about doing good, and healing all who were oppressed by the devil; for God was with Him. (Acts 10:38)

Spurgeon comments that "Jesus is the anointed king, and though we share in the anointing yet is He far above us. Christ is infinitely greater than Christians. We are right glad to have it so.

John MacArthur feels that "Jesus was officially anointed as king when He went to heaven after His resurrection. At that time the Father exalted Him and gave Him a name above every name (Eph 1:20-22-notes Eph 1:20; 21; 22). He assumed His kingship at His ascension. Although He has not yet brought all of His kingdom together, someday soon He will. Jesus’ nature (that is, His deity), like His title and His being worshiped, show His superiority to angels. (MacArthur, John: Hebrews. Moody Press)

A GOODLY THEME IS MINE

Thy throne is ever sure,

Establishèd of God;

Its scepter is of righteousness,

Of equity its rod.

Thou lovest perfect right,

Hatest iniquity;

Therefore with oil of festive joy

The Lord anointed Thee.

Play Hymn

WITH THE OIL OF GLADNESS ABOVE THY COMPANIONS: elaion agalliaseôs para tous metochous sou:

• Ro 15:13; Gal 5:22
• Heb 2:11; 1Cor 1:9; 1Jn 1:3
• Hebrews 1 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries

more than your companions (Phillips)

with the oil of exultant joy above your associates (Wuest)

above thy partners (YLT)

above thy fellows (KJV)

Anointing with oil is associated with happiness in the OT, Isaiah referring to "the oil of gladness instead of mourning (Isa 61:3)

Guests were anointed at feasts, where oil was used as an emblem of the highest honors.

Jamieson feels that "The anointing here meant is not that at His baptism, when He solemnly entered on His ministry for us; but that with the "oil of gladness," or "exulting joy" (which denotes a triumph, and follows as the consequence of His manifested love of righteousness and hatred of iniquity), wherewith, after His triumphant completion of His work, He has been anointed by the Father above His fellows (not only above us, His fellow men, the adopted members of God's family. whom "He is not ashamed to call His brethren," but above the angels, fellow partakers in part with Him, though infinitely His inferiors, in the glories, holiness, and joys of heaven; "sons of God," and angel "messengers," though subordinate to the divine Angel -- "Messenger of the covenant").

Spurgeon - Jesus as Mediator owned God as His God, to whom, being found in fashion as a man, He became obedient. On account of our Lord’s perfect life He is now rewarded with superior joy. Others there are to whom grace has given a sacred fellowship with Him, but by their universal consent and His own merit, He is prince among them—the gladdest of all because the cause of all their gladness. At ancient Near Eastern feasts, oil was poured on the heads of distinguished and very welcome guests; God Himself anoints the man Christ Jesus, as He sits at the heavenly feasts—anoints Him as a reward for His work, with higher and fuller joy than any else can know. Thus the Son of Man is honored and rewarded for all His pains. As man, Christ claims all people as His companions; but as God, He counts it no robbery to be thought equal to God. As man, He is most truly man and only superior to man by reason of the purity of His birth, the perfection of His nature, and the exaltation of his manhood by God. As God, He is nothing less than God, though He took upon Himself the nature of men. Jesus is the anointed king, and though we share in the anointing, yet is He far above us. Christ is infinitely greater than Christians. We are right glad to have it so.

F B Meyer writes of the oil of gladness that "Here is the secret of perennial joy. So far as we enter into Christ's spirit, we shall share in His joy, a joy such as our fellows cannot know." (Gems From the Psalms)

Along the same line David writes that God

dost prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. Thou hast anointed my head with oil; My cup overflows. (Ps 23:5-note)

Spurgeon comments:

May we live in the daily enjoyment of this blessing, receiving a fresh anointing for every day's duties. Every Christian is a priest, but he cannot execute the priestly office without unction, and hence we must go day by day to God the Holy Ghost, that we may have our heads anointed with oil. A priest without oil misses the chief qualification for his office, and the Christian priest lacks his chief fitness for service when he is devoid of new grace from on high.

In the East the people frequently anoint their visitors with some very fragrant perfume; and give them a cup or glass of some choice wine, which they are careful to fill till it runs over. The first was designed to show their love and respect; the latter to imply that while they remained there, they should have an abundance of everything. To something of this kind the psalmist probably alludes in this passage. Samuel Burder

Anointing the head with oil is a great refreshment. There are three qualities of oil -- laevor, nitor, odor, a smoothness to the touch, brightness to the sight, fragrancy to the smell, and so, gratifying the senses, it must needs cause delight to those anointed with it. To this Solomon alludes when persuading to a cheerful life, he saith, "Let thy head lack no ointment." How fully doth this represent the Spirit's unction which alone rejoices and exhilarates the soul! It is called the "oil of gladness", and the "joy of the Holy Ghost." Nathanael Hardy

It is an act of great respect to pour perfumed oil on the head of a distinguished guest; the woman in the gospel thus manifested her respect for the Saviour by pouring "precious ointment" on his head. An English lady went on board an Arabian ship which touched at Trincomalee, for the purpose of seeing the equipment of the vessel, and to make some little purchases. After she had been seated some time in the cabin, an Arabian female came and poured perfumed oil on her head. Joseph Roberts.

In the East no entertainment could be without this, and it served, as elsewhere a bath does, for (bodily) refreshment. Here, however, it is naturally to be understood of the spiritual oil of gladness. T. C. Barth.

Thou hast not confined thy bounty merely to the necessaries of life, but thou hast supplied me also with its luxuries. In "A plain Explanation of Difficult Passages in the Psalms", 1831.

The unguents of Egypt may preserve our bodies from corruption, ensuring them a long duration in the dreary shades of the sepulchre, but, O Lord, the precious perfumed oil of thy grace which thou dost mysteriously pour upon our souls, purifies them, adorns them, strengthens them, sows in them the germs of immortality, and thus it not only secures them from a transitory corruption, but uplifts them from this house of bondage into eternal blessedness in thy bosom. Jean Baptiste Massillon, 1663-1742.

Above Thy companions - This is the key phrase regarding the superiority of Jesus. The question one must address is "Who are the 'companions'"? Are they men or angels? To be sure, Jesus is over both groups but recall that context is the key to accurate interpretation. Who has the writer been discussing in Hebrews 1:4-14? Clearly the context the favors companions as a reference to the angels. Otherwise we would have to accuse the writer of taking a brief "rabbit trail" stating that Jesus is superior to men.

MacArthur - Some commentators believe companions refers to men. But angels, not men, are being discussed in the passage. The Greek word simply connotes an association, nothing more. The point being made here is that Jesus Christ is greater than angels, who are His associates, His heavenly companions. But they are only messengers of God. Christ, too, is a messenger of God, but much more than a messenger and therefore much greater than they. He is exalted, anointed, above all others. (MacArthur, John: Hebrews. Moody Press)

Companions (3353) (metochos [word study] from metecho = have with, describing participation with another in common blessings) describes one who shares with someone else as an associate in an enterprise or undertaking. It speaks of one who is a co-participant, companion or sharer with someone else in a common undertaking - a business partner, a companion, an accomplice, a comrade.

Metochos - 6x in 6v - Luke 5:7; Heb 1:9; He 3:1, 14, 6:4, 12:8-see notes Heb 3:1, 3:14 ; 6:4 ; 12:8 NAS = companions(1), partakers(4), partners(1).

Metochos was used in classical Greek to refer to a wife, a business partner, a member of a board of officials, and a joint owner of a house. (Liddell and Scott) In Koiné Greek usage outside the New Testament, the word metochos was commonly used in the sense of a “sharer” or “partner.” It was used of the “associate collectors of public clothing for the guards,” of payment “to Sotas and associates, collector of money-taxes,” of “colleagues,” and a “joint-owner of a holding whose price is under discussion.” (Moulton and Milligan).

F B Meyer has the following devotional thoughts on Psalm 45 that relate to this section of Hebrews…

The inscription of this exquisite Psalm, To the chief musician, indicates that it was intended to be employed in God's service. Therefore, though it was probably suggested by Solomon's marriage with the daughter of Pharaoh, we must pass beyond the mere outward interpretation to consider these glowing words in their relation to Christ and his Church. The Psalm is distinctly applied to Him (Heb 1:8). The union between Him and his people is often described in such imagery (2 Cor. 11:2; Eph. 5:23). Let us pray for the time when the universe shall ring with this marriage-ode: when the hour of the marriage of the Lamb shall have come and heathen nations partake the joy (Rev. 19:7). (Gems From the Psalms)

(Meyer in Our Daily Walk writes) IT IS difficult to decide the occasion of this Psalm, which was written to celebrate a royal marriage. But there is much which goes far beyond the immediate circumstances out of which it sprang. We recognize its prophetic character, as well as its historic basis, and that it points onward to Christ the King. It is so quoted in Hebrews 1:8-9, and we may therefore certainly appropriate the Psalm as directly addressed to our Lord, who is our rightful King.

Christ's claim rests on these grounds: The Righteousness of His Rule. His sceptre is not a rod of iron, but of "uprightness." Our King loves righteousness and hates wickedness. Therefore His throne stands firm, and He claims the allegiance of all pure and upright souls. Would that all rulers and leaders realized that right makes might!

The Gladness of His Reign. The righteous heart is the joyful one; and our King teaches us that so far from holiness meaning gloom and depression, it is the root and fountain of true and abiding joy. Jesus was "the Man of Sorrows, and acquainted with grief," but underneath was an abiding and eternal joy, like the spring flowers that nestle under the warm coverlet of snow. There is a blessed attractiveness in Christian joy and gladness, which is characteristic of our King, and should mark all His subjects.

GREEK WORD STUDY
CHRIO - TO ANOINT

Anointed (5548) (chrio see study of derivative word Christos = Christ) means literally to daub, smear, anoint with oil or ointment, to rub oneself with oil. The figurative use means to consecrate or set apart for sacred work. It means to assign a person to a task, and in the present context conveys the implication of supernatural sanctions.

Friberg on chrio - anoint; figuratively in the NT, of God’s activity in appointing someone to an office, function, or privilege; appoint, assign, give a task; (1) of Jesus, the Christ (Lk 4.18); (2) of Christian workers (2Cor 1.21)

Thayer on chrio -

Properly ‘to touch with the hand’, ‘to besmear’; from Homer down; Sept. for מָשַׁח; (masah/maschah); to anoint (on the persons who received anointing among the Hebrews, see chrisma); in the NT only trop. of God

(a) Consecrating Jesus to the Messianic office, and furnishing him with powers necessary for its administration (see chrisma): Lk. 4:18 (after Isaiah 61:1); contrary to common usage with an aec. of the thing, elaion (olive oil) (like verbs of clothing, putting on, etc, Heb 1:9 (from Ps. 45:7; Acts 10:38; Acts 4:27.

(b) enduing Christians with the gifts of the Holy Spirit [cf. 1Jn. 2:20, 1Jn 2:17]: 2Cor 1:21. (Thayer Unabridged)

Liddell-Scott-Jones on chrio (summarized) -

Touch the surface of a body slightly, especially of the human body, graze, hence,

(I) rub, anoint with scented unguents or oil, as was done after bathing, frequently in Homer, (Odyssey quote "I alone recognized him in this disguise, and questioned him, but he in his cunning sought to avoid me. Howbeit when I was bathing him and anointing him with oil, and had put on him raiment, and sworn a mighty oath not to make him known among the Trojans as Odysseus"); of a dead body, ("day alike and by night, and with oil anointed she him, rose-sweet" from The Illiad); To anoint a suppliant (one who begs or makes a humble entreaty); To rub or infect with poison: metaphorically: — Medium, anoint oneself, ("bathed and anointed themselves richly with oil" Odyssey 6.96); anoint (i.e. poison) one's arrows (Odyssey 1.262)

In Septuagint, anoint in token of consecration, 2Ki 9:3 = king = 1Sa 10:1; 1Ki 19:16 = prophet; also Jdg 9:15

(II) wash with color, coat, smear their bodies, Herodotus 4.191 ("they paint their bodies with vermilion").

(III) wound on the surface, puncture, prick, sting, of the gadfly (Liddell-Scott-Jones)

W E Vine compares the two NT verbs for anoint - Aleipho and Chrio -

(1) Aleipho is "a general term used for "an anointing" of any kind, whether of physical refreshment after washing, e.g., in the Septuagint of Ru 3:3; 2Sa 12:20; Da 10:3; Mic 6:15; in the NT, Mt 6:17; Lk 7:38,46; Jn 11:2; 12:3; or of the sick, Mk 6:13; Jas 5:14; or a dead body, Mk 16:1. The material used was either oil, or ointment, as in Lk 7:38,46 . In the Sept. it is also used of "anointing" a pillar, Ge 31:13 or captives, 2Chr 28:15 or of daubing a wall with mortar, Ezek 13:10-12,14-15 and in the sacred sense, of "anointing" priests, in Ex 40:15 (twice), and Nu 3:3.

(2) Chrio "is more limited in its use than Aleipho; it is confined to "sacred and symbolical anointings;" of Christ as the "Anointed" of God, Lk 4:18; Acts 4:27; 10:38 , and Heb 1:9 , where it is used metaphorically in connection with "the oil of gladness." The title Christ signifies "The Anointed One," The word (Christos) is rendered "His Anointed" in Acts 4:26RSV. Once it is said of believers, 2Cor 1:21. Chrio is very frequent in the Septuagint and is used of kings (1Sa 10:1) and priests (Ex 28:41) and prophets (1Ki 19:16). Among the Greeks chrio was used in other senses than the ceremonial, but in the Scriptures it is not found in connection with secular matters. Note: The distinction referred to by Trench (Synonyms), that aleipho is the mundane and profane, chrio, the sacred and religious word, is not borne out by evidence. In a papyrus document chrisis is used of "a lotion for a sick horse" (Moulton and Milligan). (Vine's Expository Dictionary of NT Words)

TDNT on secular use of chrio -

1. chrio, found in Homer and then in the tragic dramatists, means “to rub,” “to stroke,” or, with oils etc., “to smear,” “to anoint.” Use varies, so that we find the oiling of weapons, their smearing with poison, the rubbing of birds’ wings with pitch, whitewashing or painting, and rubbing with a garment, as well as anointing after bathing, or the anointing of the sick or the dead.

2. Christos means “smeared on,” “anointed,” and as a noun (tó christón) “ointment.” It never relates to persons in the nonbiblical sphere.

3. chrisma (also chríma) means “what is rubbed on,” i.e., “ointment,” “whitewash.”

Medically it denotes a “healing ointment.”

The OT. General Data. Anointing, the rubbing of the body with grease or oil, is meant to promote physical well-being. Legal anointing by pouring oil over the head supposedly confers strength or majesty. The Hittites anoint their kings, in Egypt the king anoints high officials, the vassal princes of Syria and Canaan are anointed, and priesthood is at times associated with anointing.

Gilbrant on chrio

In classical Greek the verb chriō has a broad semantic range (cf. the related noun chrisma [5380]). It means “to smear something on something else” and could thus designate to “anoint with oil, apply paints or glazes,” etc. Even when an author of the Homeric school used chriō for the “anointing” of a person by a god by smearing ambrosia on him (Hymn to Demeter 237), the word chriō itself carried no special religious significance.

Septuagint Usage - The range of meaning of chriō in the Septuagint is more limited. It is used for the ritual anointing with oil to consecrate and appoint someone to a special office such as priest or king. Only once (1Ki 19:16) is it used for a literal anointing with oil to appoint someone to the office of prophet. Phrases such as “to anoint to the kingship/for the purpose of ruling” are found frequently in the Septuagint. As a result of this ceremonial anointing, a person received the abilities or rights needed for the execution of the office. This effect led to the figurative use of the verb to indicate any endowment of spiritual gifts or even the very Spirit of God. It is with this figurative meaning that chrio most often appears with reference to the prophets. They would describe themselves as “anointed” when they had received the Spirit of God and thereby been “appointed” to the office of prophet (see Isa 61:1). These symbolic uses of chrio caused it to be distinguished from aleipho, “to anoint,” which designated the physical act of anointing. (Complete Biblical Library)

We see the NT "definition" of the OT term Messiah in John's gospel "He (Andrew) found first his own brother Simon, and said to him, "We have found the Messiah (messias)" (which translated means Christ [Christos]). (Jn 1:41)

Kenneth Wuest - Kings were anointed in Israel with oil when they ascended the throne. Our Lord was anointed with the Holy Spirit for His three-fold office of prophet, high priest, and king, at His baptism in the Jordan (cp Acts 10:37-38, cp Lk 4:18, Isa 61:1-3), which was at the time of His entrance into His ministry." Christ has been anointed rather than appointed and this anointing is that of the victorious one ruling eternally. Recall that the title Messiah (Christ) means “anointed one."

Chrio - 5x in 5v - Always translated anointed in NAS.

Luke 4:18+ "THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD IS UPON ME, BECAUSE HE ANOINTED ME TO PREACH THE GOSPEL TO THE POOR. HE HAS SENT ME TO PROCLAIM RELEASE TO THE CAPTIVES, AND RECOVERY OF SIGHT TO THE BLIND, TO SET FREE THOSE WHO ARE OPPRESSED, (19) TO PROCLAIM THE FAVORABLE YEAR OF THE LORD.”

Context - And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up; and as was His custom, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath, and stood up to read. 17 And the book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. And He opened the book, and found the place where it was written, 18 "THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD IS UPON ME, BECAUSE HE ANOINTED (chrio) ME TO PREACH THE GOSPEL TO THE POOR. HE HAS SENT ME TO PROCLAIM RELEASE TO THE CAPTIVES, AND RECOVERY OF SIGHT TO THE BLIND, TO SET FREE THOSE WHO ARE DOWNTRODDEN, 19 TO PROCLAIM THE FAVORABLE YEAR OF THE LORD." (See Isa 61:1-2a below) 20 And He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant, and sat down; and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed upon Him. 21 And He began to say to them, "Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing." (Luke 4:16-21)

Quoted from Isaiah 61:1-2a - The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, Because the LORD has anointed (Hebrew = masah/maschah; Lxx = chrio) me To bring good news to the afflicted; He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to captives, And freedom to prisoners 2 To proclaim the favorable year of the LORD, (Jesus Stopped in Mid Sentence! The first part of Isaiah's prophecy was fulfilled at Jesus' first coming. The last part of the prophecy will not be fulfilled until His Second Coming. And one is "forced" to invoke a GAP of TIME in the middle of Isaiah 61:2--the time between the first and second advent. We are in the middle of that time as I write this note. Time GAPS are not uncommon in the OT prophetic passages and failure to recognize them or accept them makes some of the passages almost impossible to read and interpret Literally!) And the day of vengeance of our God; To comfort all who mourn (When Christ returns it will be a day of judgment for all who have rejected His gracious offer of salvation, but a day of comfort for all who have gladly, willingly received Him as Lord and Savior!)

Acts 4:27+ "For truly in this city there were gathered together against Your holy servant Jesus, Whom You (God the Father) anointed (Mt 3:14-17, Lk 3:21-23), both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, (28) to do whatever Thy hand and Thy purpose predestined to occur.

Acts 10:38+ "You know of Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power (Mt 3:14-17, Lk 3:21-23), and how He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.

Comment: For context read Acts 10:37 "you yourselves know the thing which took place throughout all Judea, starting from Galilee, after the baptism which John proclaimed."

2 Corinthians 1:21 Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and anointed us is God,

Comment: Compare 1Jn 2:20-note, 1Jn 2:27-note

Hebrews 1:9-note "YOU HAVE LOVED RIGHTEOUSNESS AND HATED LAWLESSNESS; THEREFORE GOD, YOUR GOD, HAS ANOINTED YOU WITH THE OIL OF GLADNESS ABOVE YOUR COMPANIONS."

Girdlestone says four of the five NT uses refer "to the anointing of Christ by His Father, namely: Luke 4:18, which is quoted from Isa. 61:1; Heb. 1:9, quoted from Ps. 45:7; Acts 4:27, where it is used with special reference to the quotation from the second Psalm, which immediately precedes it; and Acts 10:38, where we are told that God anointed Jesus with the Spirit. What, then, is the idea which we ought to connect with the name Christ or Messiah? It points to One who is King by Divine authority, and signifies that God would set His mark upon Him by giving Him the Holy Spirit without measure. Perhaps also it teaches that the ministrations of the prophet, priest, altar, and tabernacle with all its vessels, were foreshadowings of the work which He was to accomplish."

Jesus applied Isaiah 61:1-2 to Himself in Nazareth (see Luke 4:16-21) at the beginning of his ministry, reading in the synagogue on the Sabbath.

The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the afflicted. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to captives, and freedom to prisoners, to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord, (notice below that Jesus stopped in the middle of the verse - the first part was fulfilled in His First Coming and the last part - the "day of vengeance" - will one day be fulfilled at His Second Coming in glory to judge and wage war) and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn. (Isaiah 61:1-2)

Chrio - 65v in the Septuagint -

Ex 28:41; 29:2, 7, 29, 36; 30:26, 30, 32; 40:9-10, 13; Lev 4:3; 6:20; 7:36; 8:10, 12; 16:32; Nu 6:15; 7:1, 10, 84, 88; 35:25; Dt 28:40; Jdg 9:8, 15; 1Sa 9:16; 10:1; 11:15; 15:1, 17; 16:3, 12-13; 2Sa 1:21; 2:4, 7; 5:3, 17; 12:7; 19:10; 1Ki 1:34, 39, 45; 5:1; 19:15-16; 2Ki 9:3, 6, 12; 11:12; 23:30; 1Chr 11:3; 14:8; 29:22; 2Chr 23:11; 36:1; Ps 27:1; 45:7; 89:20; Isa 25:6; 61:1; Jer 22:14; Ezek 16:9; 43:3; Da 9:24; Hos 8:10; Amos 6:6

In Psalm 89 we read of David's anointing which pictured the anoint of the greater David

"I have found David My servant; With My holy oil I have anointed (Hebrew - masah/maschah; ) him (Ps 89:20-note)

Spurgeon: By the hand of Samuel, David was anointed to be king long before he ascended the throne. The verse must also be expounded of the Prince Emmanuel; He became the servant of the Lord for our sakes, the Father having found for us in His person a mighty Deliverer, therefore upon Him rested the Spirit without measure, to qualify Him for all the offices of love to which He was set apart. We have not a Saviour self appointed and unqualified, but one sent of God and divinely endowed for his work (Ed: Not self appointed but Spirit anointed!). Our Savior Jesus is also the Lord's Christ, or anointed. The oil with which He is anointed is God's own oil, and holy oil; He is divinely endowed with the Spirit of holiness (cf Ro 1:4-note).

Chrio is used in the Septuagint for 3 Hebrew words…

מָשַׁח masah/maschah, Qal: spread with oil (Ex 29:2); anoint (1Sa 15:1, Isa 61:1); niphal: be anointed (Nu 7:10,84, 1Chr 14:8).

מָשִׁיחַ mashiach/masiyah (5081), Something covered with oil (2Sa 1:21).

סוּךְ suk Anoint (Dt 28:40); hophal: be poured out (Ex 30:32).

Louis Goldberg on Anoint -

To smear or rub with oil or perfume for either private or religious purposes. The Hebrew term for "anoint, " masah [ Isaiah 21:5 ), smearing paint on a house (Jeremiah 22:14 ), or anointing the body with oil (Amos 6:6 ). The theological meaning of masah [ 1 Chronicles 29:22 ); this anointing made him both responsible for and accountable to the people. Anointed kings sometimes failed in their tasks, and were reminded of their accountability (1 Samuel 15:17; 2 Samuel 12:7 ). Second, when people were anointed, God empowered them to accomplish his tasks (1 Samuel 10:6; 16:13 ). Third, no one was allowed to harm God's anointed (1 Samuel 24:10; 26:9 ). Finally, the term mashiyach [ Psalm 84:9; 89:38,51 ). In the New Testament, Christ is portrayed as the Messiah. Jesus is the promised deliverer (John 1:41; 4:25 ), anointed with the Holy Spirit and with power (Acts 10:38 ). (Anoint - Baker's Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology)

A R S Kennedy on Anointing, Anointed -

1 . The Hebrews distinguished between anointing with oil in the sense of its application to the body in ordinary life ( suk ), and anointing by pouring sacred oil on the head as a rite of consecration ( mâshach ). As regards the former, olive oil, alone or mixed with perfumes, was largely used in the everyday toilet of the Hebrews, although among the poor its use would be reserved for special occasions ( Ruth 3:8 ). To abstain from anointing in this sense was one of the tokens of mourning ( 2 Samuel 14:2 ), its resumption a sign that mourning was at an end ( 2 Samuel 12:20 ). Honour was shown to a guest by anointing his head with oil ( Psalms 23:5 , Luke 7:46 ), and still more by anointing his feet ( Luke 7:38 ). For medicinal anointing see Oil.

2 . Anointing as a religious rite was applied to both persons and things. Kings in particular were consecrated for their high office by having oil poured upon their heads, a practice which seems to have originated in Egypt. Though first met with in OT in the case of Saul ( 1 Samuel 10:1 , cf. David, 2 Samuel 2:4; 2 Samuel 5:3 , Solomon, 1 Kings 1:39 etc.), the rite was practised in Canaan long before the Hebrew conquest. By the pouring of the consecrated oil upon the head (see 2 Kings 9:3 ), there was effected a transference to the person anointed of part of the essential holiness and virtue of the deity in whose name and by whose representative the rite was performed. By the Hebrews the rite was also believed to impart a special endowment of the spirit of J″ [Note: Jahweh.] ( 1 Samuel 16:13 , cf. Isaiah 61:1 ). Hence the sacrosanct character of the king as ‘the Lord’s anointed’ (Heb. meshiach [ Jahweh ], which became in Greek messias or, translated, christos both ‘Messiah’ and ‘Christ,’ therefore, signifying ‘the anointed’). The application of this honorific title to kings alone in the oldest literature makes it probable that the similar consecration of the priesthood ( Exodus 29:7; Exodus 40:13-15 , Leviticus 8:1-12 ) was a later extension of the rite. Only one exceptional instance is recorded of the anointing of a prophet ( 1 Kings 19:16 Isaiah 61:1 is metaphorical).

In the case of inanimate objects, we find early mention of the primitive and wide-spread custom of anointing sacred stones (Genesis 28:18 etc., see Pillar), and in the Priests’ Code the tabernacle and its furniture were similarly consecrated ( Exodus 30:29 ff; Exodus 40:9 ). For 2 Samuel 1:21 see War. (Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible) (See also Anointing Part 1 - Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament)

RELATED RESOURCES:

• American Church Dictionary Anointing the sick
• American Tract Society Anointing
• Bridgeway Bible Dictionary Anointing
• Baker Evangelical Dictionary Anointed One Anoint
• Easton's Bible Dictionary Anoint
• Fausset Bible Dictionary Anoint
• Holman Bible Dictionary Anoint
• Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible Anointing, Anointed
• Hastings' Dictionary of the NT Anointing Anointing (2)
• Hawker's Poor Man's Dictionary Anoint
• Morrish Bible Dictionary Anointing
• People's Dictionary of the Bible Anointing
• Vines' Expository Dictionary Anoint, Anointing
• Wilson's Bible Types Anoint
• Watson's Theological Dictionary Anoint
• 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica Anointing
• International Standard Bible Encyclopedia Anointing Anoint; Anointed Oil, Anointing
• Kitto Biblical Cyclopedia Anointing
• McClintock and Strong's Bible Encyclopedia Sick, Anointing Of. Anoint
• The Jewish Encyclopedia Anointed of the Lord, the Anointing

ISBE Article on Anointing : A distinction was made by the ancient Hebrews between anointing with oil in private use, as in making one's toilet (סוּך , ṣūkh ), and anointing as a religious rite (משׁח , māshaḥ ).

1. Ordinary Use

(1) As regards its secular or ordinary use, the native olive oil, alone or mixed with perfumes, was commonly used for toilet purposes, the very poor naturally reserving it for special occasions only (Rth 3:3). The fierce protracted heat and biting lime dust of Palestine made the oil very soothing to the skin, and it was applied freely to exposed parts of the body, especially to the face (Psalm 104:15 ).

(2) The practice was in vogue before David's time, and traces of it may be found throughout the Old Testament (see Deuteronomy 28:40; Rth 3:3; 2 Samuel 12:20; 2 Samuel 14:2; 2 Chronicles 28:15; Ezekiel 16:9; Micah 6:15; Daniel 10:3 ) and in the New Testament (Matthew 6:17 , etc.). Indeed it seems to have been a part of the daily toilet throughout the East.

(3) To abstain from it was one token of mourning (2 Samuel 14:2; compare Matthew 6:17 ), and to resume it a sign that the mourning was ended (2 Samuel 12:20; 2 Samuel 14:2; Daniel 10:3; Judith 10:3). It often accompanied the bath (Rth 3:3; 2 Samuel 12:20; Ezekiel 16:9; Susanna 17), and was a customary part of the preparation for a feast (Ecclesiastes 9:8; Psalm 23:5 ). One way of showing honor to a guest was to anoint his head with oil (Psalm 23:5; Luke 7:46 ); a rarer and more striking way was to anoint his feet (Luke 7:38 ). In James 5:14 , we have an instance of anointing with oil for medicinal purposes, for which see OIL .

2. Religious Use

Anointing as a religious rite was practiced throughout the ancient East in application both to persons and to things.

(1) It was observed in Canaan long before the Hebrew conquest, and, accordingly, Weinel (Stade's Zeitschrift , XVIII , 50ff) holds that, as the use of oil for general purposes in Israel was an agricultural custom borrowed from the Canaanites, so the anointing with sacred oil was an outgrowth from its regular use for toilet purposes. It seems more in accordance with the known facts of the case and the terms used in description to accept the view set forth by Robertson Smith (Religion of the Semites , 2nd ed., 233, 383ff; compare Wellhausen, Reste des arabischen Heidenthums , 2nd ed., 125ff) and to believe that the ṣūkh or use of oil for toilet purposes, was of agricultural and secular origin, and that the use of oil for sacred purposes, māshaḥ , was in origin nomadic and sacrificial. Robertson Smith finds the origin of the sacred anointing in the very ancient custom of smearing the sacred fat on the altar (maccēbhāh ), and claims, rightly it would seem, that from the first there was a distinct and consistent usage, distinguishing the two terms as above.

(2) The primary meaning of māshaḥ in Hebrew, which is borne out by the Arabic, seems to have been "to daub" or "smear." It is used of painting a ceiling in Jeremiah 22:14 , of anointing a shield in Isaiah 21:5 , and is, accordingly, consistently applied to sacred furniture, like the altar, in Exodus 29:36 and Daniel 9:24 , and to the sacred pillar in Genesis 31:13 : "where thou anointedst a pillar."

(3) The most significant uses of māshaḥ , however, are found in its application, not to sacred things , but to certain sacred persons . The oldest and most sacred of these, it would seem, was the anointing of the king , by pouring oil upon his head at his coronation, a ceremony regarded as sacred from the earliest times, and observed religiously not in Israel only, but in Egypt and elsewhere (see Judges 9:8 , Judges 9:15; 1 Samuel 9:16; 1 Samuel 10:1; 2 Samuel 19:10; 1 Kings 1:39 , 1 Kings 1:45; 2 Kings 9:3 , 2 Kings 9:6; 2 Kings 11:12 ). Indeed such anointing appears to have been reserved exclusively for the king in the earliest times, which accounts for the fact that "the Lord's anointed" became a synonym for "king" (see 1 Samuel 12:3 , 1 Samuel 12:5; 1 Samuel 26:11; 2 Samuel 1:14; Psalm 20:6 ). It is thought by some that the practice originated in Egypt, and it is known to have been observed as a rite in Canaan at a very early day. Tell el-Amarna Letters 37 records the anointing of a king.

(4) Among the Hebrews it was believed not only that it effected a transference to the anointed one of something of the holiness and virtue of the deity in whose name and by whose representative the rite was performed, but also that it imparted a special endowment of the spirit of Yahweh (compare 1 Samuel 16:13; Isaiah 61:1 ). Hence the profound reverence for the king as a sacred personage, "the anointed" (Hebrew, meshı̄aḥ YHWH ), which passed over into our language through the Greek Christos , and appears as "Christ".

(5) In what is known today as the Priestly Code, the high priest is spoken of as "anointed" (Exodus 29:7; Leviticus 4:3; Leviticus 8:12 ), and, in passages regarded by some as later additions to the Priestly Code, other priests also are thus spoken of (Exodus 30:30; Exodus 40:13-15 ). Elijah was told to anoint Elisha as a prophet (1 Kings 19:16 ), but seems never to have done so. 1 Kings 19:16 gives us the only recorded instance of such a thing as the anointing of a prophet. Isaiah 61:1 is purely metaphorical (compare Dillmann on Leviticus 8:12-14 with ICC on Numbers 3:3; see also Nowack, Lehrbuch der hebraischen Archaologie , II, 124). (Anointing - International Standard Bible Encyclopedia)

Zodhiates on anointing in the OT - It was a mark of luxury to use specially scented oils (Amos 6:6) such as those Hezekiah kept in his treasure house (2Ki 20:13). The use of ointment was a sign of joy (Pr 27:9), and was discontinued during times of mourning (Da 10:3 = different Hebrew word chamad; Lxx = aleimma = anything used for anointing); thus Joab instructed the woman of Tekoa to appear unanointed before David (2Sa 14:2). On the death of Bathsheba’s child, David anointed himself to show that his mourning had ended (2Sa 12:20). The cessation of anointing was to be a mark of God’s displeasure if Israel proved rebellious (Dt. 28:40; Mic. 6:15), and the restoration of the custom was to be a sign of God’s returning favor (Is. 61:3). Anointing is used as a symbol of prosperity in Ps. 92:10; Eccl. 9:8. Before paying visits of ceremony, the head was anointed. So Naomi told Ruth to anoint herself before visiting Boaz (Ru 3:3). Oil of myrrh was used for this purpose in the harem of Ahasuerus (Esth. 2:12). This must have been a custom in Palestine as Simon’s failure to show hospitality in this respect is commented upon by our Lord in Luke 7:46. Mary’s anointing of our Lord was according to this custom.

Rubbing with oil was practiced among the Jews in pre–Christian times as well as by the Apostles (Mark 6:13), recommended by James (James 5:14), mentioned in the parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:34), and used as a type of God’s forgiving grace when healing the sin–sick soul (Is. 1:6; Ezek. 16:9). In Egypt and Palestine the application of ointment and spices to the dead body was customary (Mark 16:1; Luke 23:56; John 19:40). They were externally applied and did not prevent decomposition (John 11:39).

Anointing had the significance of dedication to God. Jacob consecrated the stones at Bethel by pouring oil upon them (Gen. 28:18; 35:14), and God recognized the action (Gen. 31:13). The tabernacle and its furniture were thus consecrated (Ex. 30:26; 40:10; Lev. 8:11), and the altar of burnt offering was reconsecrated after the sin offering (Ex. 29:36). Other offerings, however, were anointed with oil (Lev. 2:1ff.), but no oil was to be poured on the sin offering (Lev. 5:11; Nu 5:15).

Priests were set apart by anointing. In the case of Aaron and probably all high priests, this was done twice, first by pouring the holy oil on his head after his robing, but before the sacrifice of consecration (Lev. 8:12; Ps. 133:2), and next by sprinkling after the sacrifice (Lev. 8:30). The ordinary priests were only sprinkled with oil after the application of the blood of the sacrifice. Hence the high priest is called the anointed priest (Lev. 4:3, 5).

Kings were designated by anointing, such as Saul (1Sa 10:1) and David (1Sa 16:13). This act was accompanied by the gift of the Spirit. So when David was anointed, the Spirit descended on him and departed from Saul. Also Hazael was anointed over Syria by God’s command (1Kgs. 19:15). Kings thus designated were called the Lord’s anointed. David thus speaks of Saul (1Sa 26:11) and of himself (Ps. 2:2). This passage is used by the apostles as prophetic of Christ (Acts 4:26). By anointing, kings were installed into office. David was anointed when made king of Judah and a third time when made king of united Israel (2Sa 2:4; 5:3).

Anointing also was used metaphorically to mean setting apart for the prophetic office. Elijah was told to anoint Elisha although the actual event is left unrecorded in Scripture (1Kg. 19:16). In Ps. 105:15 the words “anointed” and “prophets” are used as syn. The servant of the Lord says that he is anointed to preach (Is. 61:1), and Christ tells the people of Nazareth that this prophecy is fulfilled in Him (Lk 4:18).

Similarly in a metaphorical sense someone chosen of God is called an anointed one. Thus Israel as a nation is called God’s anointed (Ps. 84:9; 89:38, 51; Hab. 3:13) being promised deliverance on this account (1 Sam. 2:10). The name Christ comes from chríō, to anoint, equivalent to Messiah. The anointing of Ps. 45:7 is taken in Heb. 1:9 as prophetic of the Savior’s anointing.

Before battle, shields were oiled so that their surfaces might be slippery and shining (Is. 21:5), as was done to the shield of Saul (2 Sam. 1:21). (Complete Word Study Dictionary- New Testament - Five Stars!)

Spurgeon comments that "Jesus is the anointed king, and though we share in the anointing yet is He far above us. Christ is infinitely greater than Christians. We are right glad to have it so.

John MacArthur feels that "Jesus was officially anointed as king when He went to heaven after His resurrection. At that time the Father exalted Him and gave Him a name above every name (Eph 1:20-22-notes Eph 1:20; 21; 22). He assumed His kingship at His ascension. Although He has not yet brought all of His kingdom together, someday soon He will. Jesus’ nature (that is, His deity), like His title and His being worshiped, show His superiority to angels. (MacArthur, John: Hebrews. Moody Press)

Anointing
R A Torrey

With Oil - Psalm 92:10

With ointment - John 11:2

WAS USED FOR

Decorating the person - Ruth 3:3

Refreshing the body - 2Chronicles 28:15

Purifying the body - Esther 2:12; Isaiah 57:9

Curing the sick - Mark 6:13; James 5:14

Healing wounds - Isaiah 1:6; Luke 10:34

Preparing weapons for war - Isaiah 21:5

Preparing the dead for burial - Mt 26:12; Mk 16:1; Lk 23:56

The Jews were very fond of - Pr 27:9; Amos 6:6

WAS APPLIED TO

The head - Ps 23:5; Ecclesiastes 9:8

The face - Ps 104:15

The feet - Lk 7:38,39; Jn 12:3

The eyes - Rev 3:18

OINTMENT FOR

Richly perfumed - Song 4:10; John 12:3

Most expensive - 2Kings 20:13; Amos 6:6; Jn 12:3,5

Prepared by the apothecary - Ecclesiastes 10:1

An article of commerce - Ezekiel 27:17; Revelation 18:13

Neglected in times of affliction - 2Sa12:20; 14:2; Da 10:3

Neglect of, to guests, a mark of disrespect - Luke 7:46

A token of joy - Eccl 9:7,8

Deprivation of, threatened as a punishment - Dt 28:40; Micah 6:15

Why recommended by Christ in times of Fasting - Mt 6:17,18

Girdlestone on Anointing -

In considering the ceremonial anointing of the OT, we have only to do with one word, viz. mashiach/masiyah (משׁח), from which the name Messiah is derived, and which is almost always rendered chrio in the LXX. Other words, indeed, are used, but not in a ceremonial sense. Among passages where such occur, two may be noted: the first is Isa 10:27, ‘The yoke shall be destroyed because of the anointing,’ or literally, ‘from the face of the oil;’ the other is Zech. 4:14, ‘These are the two anointed ones (literally, sons of oil or brightness) that stand by the Lord of the whole earth.’

Mashiach/masiyah is first used of the anointing of the pillar at Bethel (Ge 28:18, 31:13), and it does not occur again till Ex 25:6, where ‘the anointing oil’ is spoken of. We next meet with it in connection with the consecration and sanctification of Aaron (Exod. 28:41). The anointing came after the offering of atoning victims in Aaron’s case, as in the case of the altar (Exod. 29:36). The tabernacle, the ark, the table, and various vessels were to be anointed (Exod. 30:26–28). They were then regarded as sanctified or set apart, and whatever touched them had this sanctification communicated to it. The unleavened wafers and some other meat offerings were to be anointed (Lev. 2:4). In all these cases the unction was the mode of setting apart or sanctifying.

The anointing of a king is first mentioned in the parable of Jotham (Jdg 9:8, 15). It next occurs in the inspired hymn of Hannah (1Sa 2:10), ‘He shall give strength unto his king, and exalt the horn of his anointed.’ Saul was anointed captain over God’s people, that he might save them out of the hand of the Philistines (1Sa 9:16). Various references are found to the Lord’s anointed, that is to say, the king, both in the historical and poetical books. The following are the most important: Ps 2:2, ‘The rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against his anointed;’ Ps. 18:50, ‘He sheweth mercy to his anointed, to David, and to his seed for evermore;’ 20:6, ‘Now know I that the Lord saveth his anointed;’ Ps 45:7, ‘God hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows;’ 92:10, ‘I shall be anointed with fresh oil.’

The reference in Ps. 105:15, ‘Touch not mine anointed (ones), and do my prophets no harm,’ is thought to be to the priests (compare Hab 3:13). The meaning of the phrase ‘Anoint the shield’ (Isa. 21:5) is doubtful In Isa. 45:1, Cyrus is called the Lord’s anointed, because he was appointed king for a special purpose. In Isa. 61:1, the word receives a larger meaning, and teaches that the holy oil wherewith the priest and king and the vessels of the tabernacle were anointed was a symbol of the Holy Spirit. For we read, ‘The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because be hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek.’

In Ezek. 28:14, the king of Tyrus is described as ‘the anointed cherub.’ Some here translate the word ‘extended’ instead of anointed; but compare Isa. 45:1. In Dan. 9:24, we are told that seventy weeks were determined ‘… to anoint the Most Holy,’ i.e. either the Most Holy Being or the Most Holy Place. In Amos 6:6, the word appears to be used of personal decoration with oil, and not of the ceremonial anointing. If this be the case, it is the only place in the whole O.T. in which the word is so used. Possibly there is a reference here to the abuse of holy things, a view which would be most in accordance with the accusations implied in the two previous verses.

The verb chrio is used five times in the NT. In four of these passages it refers to the anointing of Christ by His Father, namely: Luke 4:18, which is quoted from Isa. 61:1; Heb. 1:9, quoted from Ps. 45:7; Acts 4:27, where it is used with special reference to the quotation from the second Psalm, which immediately precedes it; and Acts 10:38, where we are told that God anointed Jesus with the Spirit. What, then, is the idea which we ought to connect with the name Christ or Messiah? It points to One who is King by Divine authority, and signifies that God would set His mark upon Him by giving Him the Holy Ghost without measure. Perhaps also it teaches that the ministrations of the prophet, priest, altar, and tabernacle with all its vessels, were foreshadowings of the work which He was to accomplish.

The anointing of Christians is spoken of in 2Cor. 1:21, where we are told that ‘He who hath anointed us is God;’ and in accordance with this fact, St. John three times in his First Epistle reminds those to whom he writes that they have a chrism or unction from the Holy One (1Jn 2:20-note, 1Jn 2:27-note). This chrism includes not only the special temporary gifts of the Spirit, but also the indwelling and working presence of the Holy Ghost which the Christian receives from the Father through the Son.

The anointing of the sick is described by a different Greek word, namely, aleipho. It was a medical rather than a ceremonial act, and was performed by friction or rubbing, not by pouring. So far from St. James’s words (James 5:14) discouraging the use of medical help, they order it. The same word is used of the anointing of the head and of the body for purposes of decoration or preservation. (Anointing - Girdlestone's Synonyms of the Old Testament)

Hebrews 1:10 And, "THOU, LORD, IN THE BEGINNING LAID THE FOUNDATION (2SAAI) OF THE EARTH, AND THE HEAVENS ARE (3PPAI) THE WORKS OF THY HANDS; (NASB: Lockman)

Greek: kai, Su kat' archas, kurie, ten gen ethemeliosas, (2SAAI) kai erga ton cheiron sou eisin (3PPAI) oi ouranoi;

KJV: And, Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of thine hands:

Phillips: He also says: 'You, Lord, in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands; (Phillips: Touchstone)

Wuest: And as for you, in the beginning, O Lord, you laid the foundation of the earth. And the works of your hands are the heavens. 

Young's Literal: and, 'Thou, at the beginning, Lord, the earth didst found, and a work of thy hands are the heavens;

AND THOU, LORD IN THE BEGINNING DIDST LAY THE FOUNDATION OF THE EARTH: kai Su kat archas kurie ten gen ethemeliosas (2SAAI):

• Ps 102:25, 26, 27) (Ge 1:1; Jn1:1, 1:2, 1:3; Rev 3:14
• Pr 8:29; Isa 42:5; 48:13; 51:13; Jer 32:17; Zech 12:1
• Hebrews 1 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries

The writer of Hebrews quotes (Ps 102:25, 26, 27 [Spurgeon's notes], specifically verse 25 in Hebrews 1:10) and clearly identifies it as a Messianic psalm addressed to the Lord Jesus Christ as Creator of heaven and earth and thus confirms that the first 11 verses of Psalm 102 are especially applicable to the humiliation and suffering of Christ.

Psalm 102 is a psalm of an individual lamenting the victory of his enemies. The psalmist was overwhelmed by his enemies (Ps 102:1-11), but then he finds consolation in the fact that the Lord will not abandon those who love Him but will deliver them (Ps 102:12-22 ). The universe, seemingly so permanent and established, will be rolled up, changed, and replaced by new heavens and a new earth. The writer to the Hebrews quoted Psalm 102:25-27 to show that the Son is eternal and is Lord over the created order

Steven Cole explains that…

This sixth quotation is taken from Psalm 102:25-27, which begins, “A prayer of the afflicted when he is faint and pours out his complaint before the Lord.” The psalmist has gone through some difficult trials, which he describes in strong poetic language in the first part of the psalm. He feels as if he is about to be taken away in the midst of his days. But in his weakness and desperation, he considers the eternality, power, and unchangeableness of the Lord as Creator. He says that even though heaven and earth will perish, God remains. Like a man throws away old clothes, God will throw away the universe, but He remains the same, and His years will never come to an end.

The remarkable thing about the quote is that in the psalm, these verses clearly describe Almighty God, and yet the author of Hebrews applies them directly to Jesus. Oscar Cullman observed,

“We should generally give much more consideration to the by no means self-evident fact that after the death of Jesus the first Christians without hesitation transferred to him what the Old Testament says about God” (in P. Hughes, p. 68).

To this Jewish church, these words were not just a theological statement about Jesus’ superiority to the angels. They were also meant to be a source of great comfort in the midst of trials. The same eternal Creator who sustained the psalmist in the midst of his calamity would sustain them in the midst of their troubles. And that eternal Creator is none other than their Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ! He is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Heb 13:8note). Even if you are taken away in the midst of your days, you have a lasting refuge in the eternal, unchanging Lord Jesus Christ! (Hebrews 1:4-14 The Son's Superiority over Angels)

In the beginning - What does this time phrase indicate? Clearly one must conclude that if Jesus was present in the beginning of creation, then He is better than the creation including the angels. In other words, Jesus was was preexistent before they even came into existence.

John records the same truth this way…

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being by Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being (Ed: Including angels). (John 1:1-3)

Thou… didst lay the foundation of the earth clearly refers to God's creative power as described in (Proverbs 8:29)

When He set for the sea its boundary so that the water would not transgress His command, when He marked out the foundations of the earth.

Similarly in Isaiah declares that the LORD

"created the heavens and stretched them out" and "spread out the earth and its offspring" and "gives breath to the people on it and spirit to those who walk in it." (Isa 42:5).

Again in Isaiah God declares

surely My hand founded the earth, and My right hand spread out the heavens; when I call to them, they stand together. (Isa 48:13).

Jeremiah acknowledges the Lord God's role in creation declaring

Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and by Your outstretched arm! Nothing is too difficult for You. (Jer 32:17).

Zechariah says it is God Who

stretches out the heavens, lays the foundation of the earth, and forms the spirit of man within him. (Zec 12:1)

Lay the foundation (2311) (themelioo from themélios = foundational, fundamental, describing that which lies beneath, foundation [stone], base and reference is always to something secure and permanent in itself) means to lay a foundation or provide with a foundation and so to place on a firm, secure foundation. The radical notion of themelioo is to ground something securely. Figuratively, it refers to providing a firm basis for belief or practice establish, strengthen, settle (place so as to stay, establish or secure permanently), cause to be firm and unwavering.

AND THE HEAVENS ARE THE WORKS OF THY HANDS: kai erga ton cheiron sou eisin (3PPAI) oi ouranoi::

• Dt 4:19; Ps 8:3;8:4, 19:1; Isa 64:8
• Hebrews 1 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries

Note that the writer again quotes almost word for word from the Septuagint (see above).

David is overwhelmed by God's creative power writing

" When I consider Thy heavens, the work of Thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which Thou hast ordained. What is man, that Thou dost take thought of him? And the son of man, that Thou dost care for him?" (Ps 8:3;8:4)

Contrasting the superiority of Jesus with Moses, the author makes a similar appeal to Jesus' creative power arguing that He

"has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses, by just so much as the builder of the house has more honor than the house. For every house is built by someone, but the Builder of all things is God." (Heb 3:3-4)