Explainer / Messiah

Hebrews 1:8–9

but of the Son he says, Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; And the scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom. You have loved righteousness, and hated lawlessness; Therefore God, your God, has anointed you With the oil of gladness above your fellows.

πρὸς δὲ τὸν υἱόν· Ὁ θρόνος σου ὁ θεὸς εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα τοῦ αἰῶνος … διὰ τοῦτο ἔχρισέν σε ὁ θεός, ὁ θεός σου, ἔλαιον ἀγαλλιάσεως παρὰ τοὺς μετόχους σου.

Compare with the ASV

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

Why

1. The quotation

   The words come from Psalm 45:6–7, which is spoken to the king (45:1, "touching the king").

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   The Hebrew כִּסְאֲךָ אֱלֹהִים is "your throne, O God," with אֱלֹהִים in the place of address.

2. The grammar

   ὁ θεός in 1:8 is nominative.

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   Greek often uses the nominative with the article for direct address, in place of the vocative, so "O God" renders it as address, matching the Hebrew of the psalm.

3. "God, your God."

   In 1:9 ὁ θεός, ὁ θεός σου is the subject of ἔχρισεν, "anointed." The ASV's "God, thy God" follows the Greek word for word.

4. "Lawlessness."

   ἀνομία is the noun from ἄνομος, "without law." This version renders it "lawlessness" wherever it occurs, as in 1 John 3:4 ("sin is lawlessness").

Read Hebrews 1:8 in context