Nielsen’s Nook

“ Just as noblemen in the sixteenth century found it hard to refuse a challenge to a duel, so theologians were locked into a vicious  ... ”
John Patrick Donnelly, Introduction to Vermigli's Dialogue on the Two Natures in Christ, xviii.

Translation and Commentary on Hebrews 1:8-9

Translation

8 And unto the son: "Your [1] throne, O God, is forever and ever, the scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom. 9 You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness. For this reason, [2] God, your God, anointed you, with the olive oil of exultation beyond [3] your companions." [4]

Commentary

[1] ??? ? ???? See note in Metzger's Textual Commentary. To summarize, there is early and good support for ????? instead of ??? (P46 ? B). However, the great external witness to ??? and the internal difficulty that ????? presents both syntactically and grammatically left Metzger's committee and most scholars to believe that ??? ? ???? was the more likely original. [2] ??? ????? would seem to indicate that on account of Christ's love for righteousness and hatred of lawlessness he was exalted in the way that is being discussed by the writer of Hebrews. Righteousness the likeness of God and that likeness is described in the Law of God, namely the Decalogue. Lawlessness (??????) would then be the antithesis, the unlikeness of God. Human beings, created as the image of God to be the likeness of God, walking in fellowship with him, chose a course that was unlike God and consequently destroyed fellowship with him. The Son has been exalted because he has as the image of God (i.e., a human being) loved the likeness/righteousness of God and hated the willful unlikeness of God and in his exaltation his people are restored to fellowship with God (c.f., Colossians 1:15-21). [3] ???? when used with the accusative of person may be employed in a comparative sense (BAGD, 611). Luke 13:2 gives another scriptural example of this use of ????. ??? ?????????? ????? ??????· ??????? ??? ?? ????????? ????? ????????? ???? ?????? ???? ?????????? ????????, ??? ????? ??????????; And he answered them, "Do you think that these Galileans were sinners more than all Galileans because they have suffered these things?" (author's translation) [4] This is a direct quotation from Psalm 44:7-8 LXX.