Cambridge Greek Testament Commentary

Hebrews 1:6

ὅταν δὲ πάλιν εἰσαγάγῃ. The older and literal rendering is as in the margin of the R. V., “and when he, again, shall have brought in …” The A.V. takes the word “again” (πάλιν) as merely introducing a new quotation, as in Hebrews 1:5, and in Hebrews 2:13; Hebrews 4:5, &c. The word “again,” says Bp Wordsworth, serves the purpose of inverted commas (see Romans 15:10-12). In that case it is displaced by an accidental hyperbaton or trajection, as this transmission of a word into another clause is called. If however the “again” belongs to the verb it can only be explained of Christ’s second coming to judge the world (Matthew 25:31), unless the writer, assuming the point of view of the ancient prophet, alludes to the Resurrection. Chrysostom and others refer it to the Incarnation. But since the mere displacement of the πάλιν is certainly possible, it is better to accept this simple explanation than either to adopt these latter theories or to suppose that there had been some previous and premundane presentation of the Son to all created beings. Hypotheses non fingo is a rule even more necessary for the theologian than for the scientist.

εἰσαγάγῃ. The aorist subjunctive means “shall have brought in,” exactly as in Exodus 13:5; Exodus 13:11 (where the same word occurs in the LXX.) and as in Luke 17:10, “when ye shall have done all that is commanded you” (ποιήσητε). It is the Latin futurum exactum implying uncertainty of time.

τὸν πρωτότοκον, “first-born.” This title (see Psalms 89:27) was always applied in a Messianic sense to Christ as “the first-born of all creation” (Colossians 1:15); and the first-born of many brethren (Hebrews 2:10-11).

εἰς τὴν οἰκουμένην, “into the inhabited earth.”

λέγει. The language of the Scriptures is regarded as a permanent, continuous, and living utterance (Hebrews 3:7; Hebrews 5:6; Hebrews 8:8-10; Hebrews 10:5, &c.).

Καὶ προσκυνησάτωσαν αὐτῷ πάντες ἄγγελοι θεοῦ. It is doubtful whether the quotation is from Psalms 97:7 “worship Him all ye gods (Elohim)”—where the word Elohim is rendered “angels” in the LXX. as in Psalms 8:5—or rather from Deuteronomy 32:43, where there is an “and,” and where the LXX. either added these words or found them in the Hebrew text. The Messianic application of the word is natural in the latter passage, for there Jehovah is the speaker, and if the “him” is applied to the ideal Israel, the ideal Israel was the Jashar or “upright man,” and was the type of the Messiah. The Apostles and Evangelists always describe Christ as returning “with the Holy Angels” (Matthew 25:31; Mark 8:38), and describe “all Angels and authorities” as “subject unto him” (1 Peter 3:22; Revelation 5:11-13).

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Cambridge Greek Testament Commentary

Hebrews 1:6

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