Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Hebrews 1:5

"For unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my Son, This day have I begotten thee? and again, I will be to him a Father, And he shall be to me a Son?" — Hebrews 1:5 (ASV)

The opening question, “For to which of the angels did God ever say,” implies that Christ is to be seen in all the Scriptures because there is no explicit reference to him in the passage cited. In the OT angels are sometimes called “sons of God” (cf. NIV note on Job 1:6; 2:1); and the term was applied to Israel (Exodus 4:22; Hosea 11:1) and Solomon (2 Samuel 7:14; 1 Chronicles 28:6). But none of the angels nor anyone else was ever singled out and given the kind of status this passage gives to Christ. The first quotation comes from Ps 2:7. Among the rabbis, the “Son” is variously identified as Aaron, David, the people of Israel in the messianic period, or the Messiah himself. Our writer is clearly taking the psalm as messianic and sees it as conferring great dignity on Jesus. The second quotation comes from 2 Samuel 7:14 (= 1 Chronicles 17:13). Though the words were originally used of Solomon, the writer of Hebrews applies them to the Messiah. There was a widespread expectation that the Messiah would be a descendant of David. The quotation points to the father-son relationship as the fundamental relationship between God and Christ. No angel can claim such a relationship. This and 12:9 are the only passages in Hebrews in which the term “Father” is applied to God.