The New Testament Use Of The Old Testament (Hebrews 1:6)

Hebrews 1:6

A. The Immediate NT Context. The chain quotation at 1:5–14 builds overwhelming biblical support for the superiority of the Son of God to the angels (see commentaries on Heb. 1:5 above). Contributing to the chain quotation of 1:5–14 in this way, the quotation of Deut. 32:43 LXX in 1:6 comes as the first in a pair of passages focusing on the unique role of the angels, as that role is set over against the superior status of the Son. It is joined by verbal analogy to the quotation of Ps. 104:4 (103:4 LXX), which follows, by virtue of their common reference to “the angels” (angelos). Several aspects of the introductory formula require attention. First, some have suggested that the term rendered “again” (palin) should be given temporal significance and associated with the verb “he brings into” (eisagō) (e.g., Michel 1986: 113), referring to a second entrance into the “world” by the Son. Rather, palin should be read as a connective of which the author is fond in his introductory formulae. As such, he uses it simply to communicate “and here is another passage.” Second, the reference to the “firstborn” (prōtotokos) may stem from Ps. 89:27 (88:28 LXX), which refers to God exalting David above the kings of the earth. Significantly, in light of Hebrews’ use of Ps. 2:7 and 2 Sam. 7:14 in 1:5, God says that David will call him “Father,” and he will make David prōtotokos (Ps. 89:26–27 [88:27–28 LXX]). This, then, continues the theme of the unique relationship of the Messiah as God’s Son, established thus far in Hebrews. Third, although the term for “world” (oikoumenē) most often refers to the world inhabited by humans, here it probably refers to the heavenly realm, as it does in 2:5 (Lane 1991: 1:27; contra Attridge 1989: 56). The author does not turn to a consideration of the incarnation until the transition effected by the quotation of Ps. 8:4–6 at 2:5–9, and not with full force until 2:10–18. Reading oikoumenē in 1:6 as referring to the heavenly realm keeps the emphasis of the chain quotation on the exaltation of Christ and thus fits better with the immediate context. The point of the introductory formula is that the angels react a certain way upon the Son’s entrance into the heavenly realm: they worship him. This posture of worship demonstrates the stark contrast between the person of the Son and the angels.

B. The Original OT Context. Traditionally, Deut. 32:1–43 is referred to as the Song of Moses. The passage, called “hauntingly beautiful” by one scholar (Christensen 2002: 785), has received more attention by both ancient scribes and modern researchers than any other passage in Deuteronomy and more than most other passages of the OT. The song was used for liturgical purposes in the temple, synagogue, and early church, and its popularity among Greek-speaking Jews is evidenced by its presence in the Odes at the end of the Greek version of Psalms (Lane 1991: 1:28). In the Talmud, rules are given that require two hymns from the Pentateuch, Exod. 15 and Deut. 32, to be written in a specific way (b. Meg. 16b). Thus, Deut. 32 was a very important text to the Jews of the ancient world. The Song of Moses occurs near the end of the book of Deuteronomy, in a final movement (Deut. 31:1–34:12) in which Moses anticipates the Israelites’ entrance into the promised land. The song is situated in the narrative, just after the law is finished (31:24–29) and just prior to Moses’ final exhortation to the people (32:44–47) and God’s command for Moses to ascend Mount Nebo to view the land (32:48–52).

The song constitutes Moses bearing witness to heaven and earth concerning the people (31:28; 32:1–3). Aspects of the chapter recount God’s experience thus far with his people, and other parts, including 32:43, are a mixture of exhortation and prophecy, anticipating what is to come. The song has three main movements. The first concerns the past blessings of God on the people (32:1–14), the second addresses Israel’s provocation of God’s anger by their sin (32:15–29), and the third proclaims God’s judgment and salvation (32:30–43) (Christensen 2002: 788, 799, 809). Therefore, our quotation from 32:43 occurs in the final movement of the LXX version of the song, indeed, its last verse. In this final movement Moses proclaims the downfall of God’s enemies (32:30–35) and his ultimate deliverance of his people (32:36–43). This final verse of the song constitutes a climactic celebration of God’s victory over the enemies and just treatment of his people. The exhortation to worship is in parallel with an exhortation to find strength, but the subject of the verbs depends on the textual tradition with which one is dealing (see §D below). The basis for the exhortations, however, is clear: God’s judgment on his enemies provides a basis for worship and strength. Therefore, the theme of “the defeat of enemies,” seen also in Ps. 2 and 2 Sam. 7, is continued and serves as a basis for exhorting to worship.

C. Relevant Uses of the OT Reference in Jewish Sources. As we noted, the Song of Moses in Deut. 32 was widely published as a liturgical piece in ancient Judaism. The song is cited or alluded to in, for example, 4 Macc. 18:18–19; Rom. 10:19; 11:11; 12:19; 15:10; 1 Cor. 10:20, 22; Phil. 2:15; Luke 21:22; Rev. 6:10; 10:5; 15:3; 18:20; 19:2; Justin, Dial. 130. It later was used in an Easter vigil liturgy (Attridge 1989: 57; Thomas 1965: 304; Kistemaker 1961: 22). Given the popularity of the song as a whole, it is not surprising that Deut. 32:43 finds a place in various Jewish traditions and in a variety of forms.

D. The Textual Background. Here we encounter one of the most interesting and most difficult histories of the quotations in Hebrews. In 1:6 the quotation reads, “And let all the angels of God worship him” (kai proskynēsatōsan autō pantes angeloi theou). First, the part of Deut. 32:43 that finds expression in 1:6 is not found in the MT at all (Tg. Onq. Deut. 32:43 is very similar to the MT). Additionally, at the beginning of Deut. 32:43 the MT reads, “Rejoice, O nations” (gôy), whereas the LXX reads, “Rejoice, O heavens” (ouranoi); and where the MT says that the Lord will avenge the blood of his “servants” (ʿebed), the LXX says “sons” (tōn huiōn). With reference to these elements, the LXX parallels a reading from Qumran (4Q44) rather than the MT or the Samaritan Pentateuch. Yet, neither does the LXX form of our quotation match Hebrews’ form of the text, but rather reads as follows:

O heavens, rejoice together with him,

and let all the sons of God worship him.

Rejoice, O Gentiles, with his people,

and let all the angels of God regain their strength.

Note that in this form of the text “the sons of God” (huioi theou) are those exhorted to worship. Of course, it is possible that Hebrews has conflated the parallel second and fourth lines, so that “angels” in the fourth line replaces “sons” in the second, especially since the designation “sons of God” at times is interpreted as referring to angels (e.g., Gen. 6:2, 4; Job 1:6; 2:1; 38:7). Yet, there are other possibilities to be considered.

It has been pointed out that the wording of the Hebrews quotation also resembles Ps. 97:7 (96:7 LXX), which reads, “Worship him, all his angels” (proskynēsate autō, pantes hoi angeloi autou). In this reading, and unlike a conflated reading from Deut. 32:43 LXX, no conjunction (kai) is found before the verb, the form of the verb is different, and the “of God” (theou) of the quotation is “of him” (autou). Motyer (1999: 18–19), while affirming that the Hebrews quotation is influenced by Deut. 32:43, prefers the psalm reading, since, given the context and the heading of Ps. 96 LXX, it moves “into the orbit of the David ideology of Psalm 2.” Other scholars have suggested that the quotation in 1:6 results from the conflation of this psalm with the Greek form of Deut. 32:43 (e.g., Thompson 1976: 356; D. Guthrie 1983: 74–75); yet, this solution, although possible, has no advantages over a conflation within the Greek form of Deut. 32:43, and it has several liabilities.

To complicate matters further, however, the reading from Qumran associated with Deut. 32:43 (4Q44), mentioned above, parallels the wording of Ps. 97:7c MT: “and bow down to him, all you gods” (Skehan 1954). The term here for “gods” (ʾĕlōhîm) at times was interpreted by the LXX as referring to angels, as the Greek translation of the psalm (96:7 LXX) demonstrates (cf. Ps. 137:1 LXX [138:1 MT/ET]). Thus, it may be that some scribes of ancient Judaism associated the passage from Deuteronomy and Ps. 97:7c.

More promising still is the insight that the quotation in 1:6 matches very well the representation of the Song of Moses found in Odes 2:43: “and let all the angels of God worship him” (kai proskynēsatōsan autō pantes hoi angeloi theou). The only difference between the two is the article (hoi) prior to “angels” (angeloi) in Odes. Thus, some hold this to be the source for Hebrews’ quotation (e.g., Kistemaker 1961: 22; Spicq 1952–1953: 1:336). It is, therefore, quite possible that the author of Hebrews accessed this form of Deut. 32:43, which would have been widely known among Greek-speaking Jews of the day, due to its reference to the angels and its emphasis on worship. This form seems to have been widely published in a liturgical tradition and, for instance, is reflected in Justin, Dial. 130 (Lane 1991: 1:28). Beyond this suggestion, it is also possible that Hebrews is reading a variant form of the LXX in which “angels” are the subject of the exhortation to worship.

E. How Deut. 32:43 Is Understood and Used Theologically at Heb. 1:6. A strand of rabbinic tradition recounts that when the first man, Adam, was created, God called the angels to worship him. This strand is reflected in the first-century AD pseudepigraphical work The Life of Adam and Eve (13:1–16:3), and it explains that Satan’s failure to worship Adam was the reason he and the angels under his influence were expelled from glory and cast to the earth. In this work we read the devil’s account:

And Michael himself worshiped first, and called me and said, “Worship the image of God, Yahweh.” And I answered, “I do not worship Adam.” And when Michael kept forcing me to worship, I said to him, “Why do you compel me? I will not worship one inferior and subsequent to me. I am prior to him in creation; before he was made, I was already made. He ought to worship me.” (14:2–3)

Satan declares further that he will set his throne above the stars of heaven and will be like God. Because of the great grief of being cast down to the earth and seeing the bliss of Adam and Eve, the devil tempted Eve to make sure that humans also fell and were expelled from God’s presence (16:1–3).

This interesting strand of Jewish thought may be placed in contradistinction to the clear strand of Christian teaching on the worship of the “second Adam,” Christ, upon his exaltation. For when the author of Hebrews quotes “and let all the angels of God worship him,” he understands the “him” (autō) to refer to Christ and this scriptural passage, Deut. 32:43, to have been explicitly fulfilled, as a prophetic portion of the chapter, at his exaltation to the right hand of God (Bruce 1990: 57–58). Thus, the quotation parallels that aspect of exaltation theology in the NT, also supported by Ps. 8:4–6 (quoted at Heb. 2:5–9), in which all things, including the angelic beings, are subjected to Christ upon his enthronement (see, e.g., Phil. 2:5–11; Eph. 1:20–21).

Deuteronomy 32:43 is the third of the texts used by the author to build his “string of pearls” chain quotation and is appropriated specifically for its reference to the angels’ posture of worship vis-à-vis the Son of God. It is also by virtue of its reference to “angels” that it is paired with Ps. 104:4 (103:4 LXX) based on the principle of verbal analogy. These texts focus on fundamental differences between the Son and the angels. This form of Deut. 32:43 specifically proclaims that the angels worship the Son as God. In this way, the quotation reinforces the author’s primary agenda for the chain quotation.

Yet, it may also be significant to note several points about the broader context of this quotation as it relates to Hebrews. Deuteronomy 32, as we stated, constituted a highly significant passage in broader Judaism and was an aspect of liturgical readings. It was originally given as a powerful word just prior to Israel’s entrance to the promised land, and “entrance into the rest” or “the inheritance” is an important theme for Hebrews (3:7–4:11). In that chapter Moses, leader of the people of God, confronts the people concerning the consequences of a lack of faithfulness to covenant with God. Hebrews too is concerned with a lack of faithfulness to covenant and even utilizes parts of Deut. 32 (32:35–36), later in the book (10:30), to speak of judgment against those who have “regarded the blood of the covenant as common” (10:29). Therefore, this significant OT passage works, by virtue of its broader context, to demonstrate the status—the Son, as equal with God, is worthy of worship—and cost of rejecting the Son of God. He is one with the God of radical judgment, who, through Moses, warned those about to cross into the promised land concerning dire consequences of such a rejection.

- Commentary on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament by G. K. Beale and D. A. Carson