Mazmur 45:6-7

45:6 Your throne, ¹  O God, is permanent. ² 

The scepter ³  of your kingdom is a scepter of justice.

45:7 You love ⁴  justice and hate evil. ⁵ 

For this reason God, your God ⁶  has anointed you ⁷ 

with the oil of joy, ⁸  elevating you above your companions. ⁹ 

Roma 8:29

8:29 because those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that his Son ¹⁰  would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. ¹¹ 

Titus 2:14

2:14 He ¹²  gave himself for us to set us free from every kind of lawlessness and to purify for himself a people who are truly his, ¹³  who are eager to do good. ¹⁴ 

Ibrani 1:8

1:8 but of ¹⁵  the Son he says, ¹⁶ 

“Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, ¹⁷ 

and a righteous scepter ¹⁸  is the scepter of your kingdom.

Ibrani 12:14

Do Not Reject God’s Warning

12:14 Pursue peace with everyone, and holiness, ¹⁹  for without it no one will see the Lord.

Ibrani 12:1

The Lord’s Discipline

12:1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, ²⁰  we must get rid of every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and run with endurance the race set out for us,

Yohanes 3:3

3:3 Jesus replied, ²¹  “I tell you the solemn truth, ²²  unless a person is born from above, ²³  he cannot see the kingdom of God.” ²⁴ 

[45:6]  ¹ sn The king’s throne here symbolizes his rule.

[45:6]  ² tn Or “forever and ever.”

[45:6]  sn O God. The king is clearly the addressee here, as in vv. 2-5 and 7-9. Rather than taking the statement at face value, many prefer to emend the text because the concept of deifying the earthly king is foreign to ancient Israelite thinking (cf. NEB “your throne is like God’s throne, eternal”). However, it is preferable to retain the text and take this statement as another instance of the royal hyperbole that permeates the royal psalms. Because the Davidic king is God’s vice-regent on earth, the psalmist addresses him as if he were God incarnate. God energizes the king for battle and accomplishes justice through him. A similar use of hyperbole appears in Isa 9:6, where the ideal Davidic king of the eschaton is given the title “Mighty God” (see the note on this phrase there). Ancient Near Eastern art and literature picture gods training kings for battle, bestowing special weapons, and intervening in battle. According to Egyptian propaganda, the Hittites described Rameses II as follows: “No man is he who is among us, It is Seth great-of-strength, Baal in person; Not deeds of man are these his doings, They are of one who is unique” (see Miriam Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Literature, 2:67). Ps 45:6 and Isa 9:6 probably envision a similar kind of response when friends and foes alike look at the Davidic king in full battle regalia. When the king’s enemies oppose him on the battlefield, they are, as it were, fighting against God himself.

[45:6]  ³ sn The king’s scepter symbolizes his royal authority.

[45:7]  ⁴ sn To love justice means to actively promote it.

[45:7]  ⁵ sn To hate evil means to actively oppose it.

[45:7]  ⁶ tn For other examples of the repetition of Elohim, “God,” see Pss 43:4; 48:8, 14; 50:7; 51:14; 67:7. Because the name Yahweh (“Lord”) is relatively rare in Pss 42-83, where the name Elohim (“God”) predominates, this compounding of Elohim may be an alternative form of the compound name “the Lord my/your/our God.”

[45:7]  ⁷ sn Anointed you. When read in the light of the preceding context, the anointing is most naturally taken as referring to the king’s coronation. However, the following context (vv. 8-9) focuses on the wedding ceremony, so some prefer to see this anointing as part of the king’s preparations for the wedding celebration. Perhaps the reference to his anointing at his coronation facilitates the transition to the description of the wedding, for the king was also anointed on this occasion.

[45:7]  ⁸ sn The phrase oil of joy alludes to the fact that the coronation of the king, which was ritually accomplished by anointing his head with olive oil, was a time of great celebration and renewed hope. (If one understands the anointing in conjunction with the wedding ceremony, the “joy” would be that associated with the marriage.) The phrase “oil of joy” also appears in Isa 61:3, where mourners are granted “oil of joy” in conjunction with their deliverance from oppression.

[45:7]  ⁹ tn Heb “from your companions.” The “companions” are most naturally understood as others in the royal family or, more generally, as the king’s countrymen.

[45:7]  sn Verses 6-7 are quoted in Heb 1:8-9, where they are applied to Jesus.

[8:29]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “he”; the referent (God’s Son) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[8:29]  ¹¹ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:13.

[2:14]  ¹² tn Grk “who” (as a continuation of the previous clause).

[2:14]  ¹³ tn Or “a people who are his very own.”

[2:14]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “for good works.”

[1:8]  ¹⁵ tn Or “to.”

[1:8]  ¹⁶ tn The verb “he says” (λέγει, legei) is implied from the λέγει of v. 7.

[1:8]  ¹⁷ tn Or possibly, “Your throne is God forever and ever.” This translation is quite doubtful, however, since (1) in the context the Son is being contrasted to the angels and is presented as far better than they. The imagery of God being the Son’s throne would seem to be of God being his authority. If so, in what sense could this not be said of the angels? In what sense is the Son thus contrasted with the angels? (2) The μέν…δέ (men…de) construction that connects v. 7 with v. 8 clearly lays out this contrast: “On the one hand, he says of the angels…on the other hand, he says of the Son.” Thus, although it is grammatically possible that θεός (qeos) in v. 8 should be taken as a predicate nominative, the context and the correlative conjunctions are decidedly against it. Hebrews 1:8 is thus a strong affirmation of the deity of Christ.

[1:8]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “the righteous scepter,” but used generically.

[12:14]  ¹⁹ sn The references to peace and holiness show the close connection between this paragraph and the previous one. The pathway toward “holiness” and the need for it is cited in Heb 12:10 and 14. More importantly Prov 4:26-27 sets up the transition from one paragraph to the next: It urges people to stay on godly paths (Prov 4:26, quoted here in v. 13) and promises that God will lead them in peace if they do so (Prov 4:27 [LXX], quoted in v. 14).

[12:1]  ²⁰ tn Grk “having such a great cloud of witnesses surrounding us.”

[3:3]  ²¹ tn Grk “answered and said to him.”

[3:3]  ²² tn Grk “Truly, truly, I say to you.”

[3:3]  ²³ tn The word ἄνωθεν (anwqen) has a double meaning, either “again” (in which case it is synonymous with παλίν [palin]) or “from above” (BDAG 92 s.v. ἄνωθεν). This is a favorite technique of the author of the Fourth Gospel, and it is lost in almost all translations at this point. John uses the word 5 times, in 3:3, 7; 3:31; 19:11 and 23. In the latter 3 cases the context makes clear that it means “from above.” Here (3:3, 7) it could mean either, but the primary meaning intended by Jesus is “from above.” Nicodemus apparently understood it the other way, which explains his reply, “How can a man be born when he is old? He can’t enter his mother’s womb a second time and be born, can he?” The author uses the technique of the “misunderstood question” often to bring out a particularly important point: Jesus says something which is misunderstood by the disciples or (as here) someone else, which then gives Jesus the opportunity to explain more fully and in more detail what he really meant.

[3:3]  sn Or born again. The Greek word ἄνωθεν (anwqen) can mean both “again” and “from above,” giving rise to Nicodemus’ misunderstanding about a second physical birth (v. 4).

[3:3]  ²⁴ sn What does Jesus’ statement about not being able to see the kingdom of God mean within the framework of John’s Gospel? John uses the word kingdom (βασιλεία, basileia) only 5 times (3:3, 5; 18:36 [3x]). Only here is it qualified with the phrase of God. The fact that John does not stress the concept of the kingdom of God does not mean it is absent from his theology, however. Remember the messianic implications found in John 2, both the wedding and miracle at Cana and the cleansing of the temple. For Nicodemus, the term must surely have brought to mind the messianic kingdom which Messiah was supposed to bring. But Nicodemus had missed precisely this point about who Jesus was. It was the Messiah himself with whom Nicodemus was speaking. Whatever Nicodemus understood, it is clear that the point is this: He misunderstood Jesus’ words. He over-literalized them, and thought Jesus was talking about repeated physical birth, when he was in fact referring to new spiritual birth.