Hebrews 1:8Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

"Of the angels He says: Thou makest Thine angels spirits, and Thy ministers a flame of fire." But to the Son: "Thy throne, O God, is unto the age of the age." Behold the greatest difference: they are created, but He is not created.

Why is it said of the angels, "Who makes," but of the Son it is not said, "Who makes"? Because in this way the difference between them is clearly expressed.

For this reason it is said of the angels: "Who makes His angels spirits." But though it is said of the Son, "The Lord created Me" (Prov 8:22), and again, "God has made this Jesus both Lord and Christ" (Acts 2:36), neither is said of Christ the Lord as Son.

“But to the Son: Thy throne, O God, is unto the age of the age” (Ps 44:7). The angels, he says, are created things and works, for of them it is said, “Thou makest.”

But the Son is not a creature. Of Him it is not said, “Thou makest,” but He is King, Master, and God. A throne is ascribed to Him, which is the sign of the Kingdom, and an eternal throne.

This is against Paul of Samosata, who presents the true God and eternal King as a mere man, and against Arius.

“The scepter of Thy Kingdom is a scepter of uprightness.” Here is another sign of kingship.

Exegesis of Ps 44:7-8. "But to the Son: Thy throne, O God" (Heb 1:8; cf. Ps 44:7). The co-eternity of the Son with the Father.

How irrational and audacious it is to scrutinize the nature through which all things were brought into being, the nature older than every time. For all things were created by Him, and the Word from God the Father exists before all ages.

Yet the insolent, that is, the Arians, charge Him with novelty and say that He is created, not knowing that they oppose the words of the Holy Spirit.

For those who speak in the Spirit say that the ages were created by Him (cf. Heb 1:2c). But they assert that He Who is above word and reason is created, and they even accept this against sound understanding.

But concerning His Son God speaks thus: “Thy throne is unto the age of the age.” Notice that he did not call His flesh created here.

This is not because it was not created, but so that the Arians would not refer creation according to the flesh to the creation of the Son according to nature.

“The scepter,” he says, “of Judah’s uprightness, the scepter of Thy Kingdom,” and the rest that David said of Christ according to the flesh, the Apostle cites here (Ps 44:7-8).

[...] The Only-begotten Son is uncreated and eternal, for it is said: “Thy throne, O God, is unto the age of the age.” By this he taught us that the words, “He sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty on high,” were spoken of His humanity.

For as God He has an eternal throne, and a Kingdom without beginning and without end.

"But to the Son." Likewise here "to the Son" is used in place of "concerning the Son," and refers to the verb "He says." The Father says it, or David, as was said above.

"Thy throne, O God, is unto the age of the age." Behold the greatest superiority of the Son over the angels. All of them are created, while the Son according to His divinity is not created. On the contrary, He Himself is their Creator.

They are His servants, while He is their Master and King. For the throne is a symbol of royal authority. "Unto the age of the age" signifies His eternal reign.

"A scepter of uprightness is the scepter of Thy kingdom." Behold another symbol of royal rank and judicial authority. Thus, he says, Thy authority that judges is an authority of justice, judging rightly.

In another sense, understand by the scepter a power that educates. Justice belongs to it, since it chastises rightly.

Since the Son is not a creature, but a true offspring, he no longer said “who makest,” as he did concerning the angels. What then did he say? “Thy throne, O God, is unto the age of the age.”

The throne is the sign of kingship, and the scepter of justice. “The scepter of uprightness.” Here is another sign of kingship: the “scepter of the kingdom” and royal staff.

“But to the Son: Thy throne, O God, is unto the age of the age.” In contrast to the ministering state of the angels, the eternal reign of the Son of God is presented, and He is called God.

The psalmist wrote, and the Apostle interpreted, the psalmist's saying about the Son of God: "Thy throne, O God, is unto the age of the age" (Heb 1:8).

Let no one think that this signifies only eternity in the future, or the endless kingdom of the Son of God. For the same Apostle, in the same discourse about the Son of God, says that "through Him also the ages were made," and that "He upholds all things by the word of His power" (Heb 1:2-3).

Consequently His royal might is eternal in the full meaning of the word. It has neither a temporal beginning nor a temporal end, and He truly rules over creatures throughout the whole duration of their existence.

On the other hand, Ps 44:7-8 presents the Messiah, the Son of God, as God, Who will reign eternally. His scepter will turn neither to the right nor to the left, ῥάβδος εὐθύτητος, but will indicate the path straightly.

He will be furnished with every kind of blessing, greater than those received by His partakers, that is, Christians, His co-heirs (Rom 8:17) and co-rulers (2 Tim 2:12).

Furthermore, Ps 101:26-28 bears witness to the Lord, the Creator of heaven and earth. From the Apostle's point of view, see verse 2 above, this means the Son of God.

He eternally remains equal to Himself, while He deals with the created world as He wills. Even the heavens themselves, which seem to us so unchanging, are in fact destined for destruction, even the highest, πάντες.

Finally, Ps 109:1 attributes to the Son the sitting at the right hand of Jehovah, that is, participation in the dominion of Jehovah.