Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Hebrews 1:9

"Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; Therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee With the oil of gladness above thy fellows." — Hebrews 1:9 (ASV)

The quotation here is from Ps 45:6–7, which refers to the Son, who is then addressed as “God.” His royal state is brought out by the references to the “throne,” “scepter,” and “kingdom” and by his moral concern for the “righteousness” that is supreme where he reigns. This concern continues with his loving righteousness and hating “wickedness” (lit., “lawlessness”; GK 490), which lead to the divine anointing. We should perhaps take the first occurrence of the word “God” in v.9 as another vocative: “Therefore, O God, your God has set you.” Anointing was usually a rite of consecration to some sacred function (e.g., Exodus 28:41; 1 Samuel 10:1; 1 Kings 19:16). This is in view here as the Son is set above his companions, who are probably the “brothers” of 2:11.