Reading the Right Text
But of the Son He says, “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, and the righteous scepter is the scepter of His kingdom.” Hebrews 1:8 NASB
O God – Could there be a more powerful proof text for the Trinity than this? Here the author of Hebrews seems to clearly state that the Son is God. He cites Psalm 45:6 as a description of the Son. Settled! End of the argument!
Ah, but not quite. You see, the citation is based on the reading of the Psalm from the LXX and the LXX is a mistranslation of the Hebrew. The Hebrew of Psalm 45:6 applies to the human king, not to YHVH. See the article by Kleinknecht, where he notes that the use of elohim in the Psalm “undoubtedly refers to a man.” He continues in the related footnote: “Attempts have been made to avoid this explanation by adding a [kisse’ – throne] acc. to the sense: Thy throne is a divine throne.”[1] But this is not the meaning of the original Hebrew psalm. This is the interpolation of the LXX rendering of the psalm, picked up by the author of Hebrews. What this entails is the following: the author of Hebrews reads the Hebrew text as it applies to a human king. He recognizes that Yeshua is the paradigm case of human royalty, the only true and everlasting king on earth. Therefore he applies the Psalm to Yeshua as an appropriate designation of Yeshua’s kingship granted by YHVH and confirmed by the resurrection. Read in its original form, the verse from Psalm 45:6 has nothing to do with the equivalence of Yeshua and YHVH. The mistaken translation of the LXX sent subsequent renditions in the wrong direction and allowed Trinitarian theology to grasp the mistranslated verse as proof for the doctrine.
Ah, it’s all so deliciously complicated, isn’t it? All this technical stuff being manipulated to fit a preconceived idea. Wouldn’t it be great if we could just sit down with Yeshua and ask him, “Say, tell me, please. Are you God?” What do you suppose he would do? I imagine he would give a sly smile and ask a question in return. “Who do men say that I am?” Ah, but we already have the answer to that one, don’t we? We just haven’t paid very close attention to that conversation. Perhaps we need to take off our paradigm glasses and look at the text with fresh eyes.
Topical Index: Psalm 45:6, Hebrews 1:8, God, theos, elohim, Trinity
[1] Hermann Kleinknecht, qeov [theos], TDNT, Vol. 3, p. 90, fn. 174.
WHO, INDEED.
“He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”
Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ,
the Son of the living God.”
Jesus answered and said to him, ” Blessed are you,
Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not reveled
this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.” Mat 16:15-17
If Jesus were to ask us this question, what would we say?
Great question. Up to about 2 years ago, I thought I had this question answered pretty well and tucked away in my little theological box. Now, I have no idea. Each layer that gets pulled back, more questions than answers appear. So I keep walking….
When a woman has a child, even though that child may have characteristics of their father or mother…..that child is NOT their parent….I believe it’s the same with Jesus and YHVH….thanks for this understanding!
“You see, the citation is based on the reading of the Psalm from the LXX and the LXX is a mistranslation of the Hebrew.”
Is it a mistranlation of the masoretic text? If so, could it be possible that masoretic text is in error and the LXX retians a proper translation of an older Hebrew text? Didn’t a dead sea scroll prove that for Psalm 22?
This conversation has been going on and on. Has anyone looked at Jer. 23:5 & 6? Who is this Branch? What is His name? Has anyone looked at the name ONE, Echad?
I thought of a rhyme I learned as a child when I read your today’s word. “Last night, I saw upon the stair, a little man who wasn’t there. He wasn’t there again today. Oh, gee, I wish he’d go away.”
So, are you saying the verse should read, “Your throne, (O King,) is forever and ever…” ???
Are you asking if we should say of Yeshua that “Your kingship is forever?” What do the prophets say?
Jer 23:6 In his days both Juda shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell securely: and this is his name, which the Lord shall call him, Josedec among the prophets. (Brenton’s English Translation of the LXX, 1851). This translation is different from other English translations! Thoughts?
Jer. 23:5-6 from the Hebrew, wooden which means each word translated from Hebrew into Eng reads: Behold the days come said YHVH that I will raise to David Branch righteous and shall reign as king and prosper and shall execute judgment and justice in the land. In His days shall be saved Judah and Israel shall dwell safely and this (is) his name whereby he shall be called YHVH OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.
BUT WHO DO YOU SAY I AM? That is a question that all those who expect to be in the Kingdom of Heaven need to answer for themselves. To me, I join with Peter in exclaiming, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the Living God!”
No He is not YHWH,(proper noun) but He is God (adjective) as the Son. Otherwise, I have no Saviour. Only the One who bears the title Creator can redeem His creation. If my husband, the one I am one with cannot save me, how can the son of Joseph and Mary. I do not understand why men are seeking to strip Yahshua of His divinity.
Thank you Yahshua for leaving the bosom of your Father by a process that man cannot understand but by which Your Word says so, and coming here to sinful men in order to restore us back to oneness with Your Father. Thank you, that you saw “the travail of Your soul and was satisfied”. Worship and honour belong to You and Your Father. Amein!
Your devotion for the role of the Savior is understandable, but that isn’t the issue. Of course he is the Savior. The issue is WHAT DOES THE TEXT SAY, not how I feel about it, not what I want it to say, not what I have been taught about it. If the text does not say that the Savior is the divine Lord of all creation, the one and only God, then that’s what it says even if I have been taught otherwise. Read again the claims about the TEXT from those who espouse a Trinitarian view. They all agree that there is NO definitive textual support of the nocturne. It is an inference from hints in the text. Is that a problem? That’s what we are trying to determine.
in the original context was the king of Israel. One can see this by looking further down in the text to see a reference, in context, the Queen’s attendants or bridesmaids.
Jesus a on key in the Messianic line of David, can be Spoken of as God as could other leaders in Israel. Psalms 82:6.
I am not sure I understand your second sentence.