Hebrews 1:8

Hebrews 1:8 sou (2) {B}

Although the reading auvtou/, which has early and good support (î⁴⁶ a B), may seem to be preferable because it differs from the reading of the Old Testament passage that is being quoted ( Psalms 45:7 [= LXX 44:7] sou), to which, on this point of view, presumably the mass of New Testament witnesses have been assimilated, a majority of the Committee was more impressed (a) by the weight and variety of the external evidence supporting sou, and (b) by the internal difficulty of construing auvtou/. Thus, if one reads auvtou/ the words o` qeo,j must be taken, not as a vocative ⁴ (an interpretation that is preferred by most exegetes), but as the subject (or predicate nominative), ⁵ an interpretation that is generally regarded as highly improbable. Even if one assumes that kai,, which is absent from the Hebrew and the Septuagint of the Psalm, was inserted by the author with the set purpose of making two separate quotations, with ver. Hebrews 1:8 in the second person and Hebrews 1:8 in the third person, ⁶ the strangeness of the shift in persons is only slightly reduced.

⁴ “Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever, and the scepter of righteousness is the scepter of thy kingdom.”

⁵ “God is thy throne (or, Thy throne is God) for ever and ever, and the scepter of righteousness is the scepter of his [i.e. God’s] kingdom.”

⁶ “‘Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever,’ and ‘the scepter of righteousness is the scepter of his kingdom.’”