a "name" (literally or figuratively) (authority · noun — accusative singular neuter
than
παρ᾽par᾽
G3844
properly · preposition
they
αὐτοὺςautous
G846
the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — accusative plural masculine
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Ephesians 1:21 Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which…
Philippians 2:9-11 Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:
1 Peter 3:22 Who is gone into heaven, and is on the right hand of God; angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto him.
Hebrews 2:9 But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grac…
Revelation 5:11-12 And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and the elders: and the number of them was ten thou…
Psalms 2:7-8 I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee.
2 Thessalonians 1:7 And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels,
Colossians 1:18 And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preemine…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Hebrews 1:4–end
The apostle, having proved the pre-eminence of the gospel above the law from the pre-eminence of the Lord Jesus Christ above the prophets, now proceeds to show that he is much superior not only to the prophets, but to the angels themselves. In this he obviates an objection that the Jewish zealots would be ready to make, that the law was not only delivered by men, but ordained by angels (Gal 3:19), who attended at the giving forth of the law, the hosts of heaven being drawn forth to attend the Lord Jehovah on that awful occasion. Now the angels are very glorious beings, far more glorious and excellent than men; the scripture always represents them as the most excellent of all creatures, and w…
Being made . . . better--by His exaltation by the Father (Heb 1:3, Heb 1:13): in contrast to His being "made lower than the angels" (Heb 2:9). "Better," that is, superior to. As "being" (Heb 1:3) expresses His essential being so "being made" (Heb 7:26) marks what He became in His assumed manhood (Phi 2:6-9). Paul shows that His humbled form (at which the Jews might stumble) is no objection to His divine Messiahship. As the law was given by the ministration of angels and Moses, it was inferior to the Gospel given by the divine Son, who both is (Heb 1:4-14) as God, and has been made, as the exalted Son of man (Heb 2:5-18), much better than the angels. The manifestations of God by angels (and e…
So much better than the angels - Another argument in favor of the Divinity of our Lord. The Jews had the highest opinion of the transcendent excellence of angels, they even associate them with God in the creation of the world, and suppose them to be of the privy council of the Most High; and thus they understand Gen 1:26 : Let us make man in our own image, in our own likeness; "And the Lord said to the ministering angels that stood before him, and who were created the second day, Let us make man," etc. See the Targum of Jonathan ben Uzziel. And they even allow them to be worshipped for the sake of their Creator, and as his representatives; though they will not allow them to be worshipped for…
The Church Fathers
Both in the verse before us then and throughout he ascribes the word "better" to the Lord, who is better and other than originated things. For better is the sacrifice through him, better the hope in him, and also the promises through him, not merely great as compared with small, but the one differing from the other in nature, because he who conducts this economy is "better" than things originated.
This is spoken with reference to the humanity. As God he is maker of angels and Lord of angels, while as man he became superior to angels after the resurrection and ascension into heaven since he was also less than angels on account of experiencing death.… So just as he was less than angels as man, since they have an immortal nature whereas he endured the passion, so after the ascension into heaven he became superior to the angels.
"Being made," saith he, "so much better than the angels, as He hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they." The "being made," here, is instead of "being shown forth," as one may say. Then also from whence does he reason confidently? From the Name. Seest thou that the name Son is wont to declare true relationship? And indeed if He were not a true Son (and "true" is nothing else than "of Him"), how does he reason confidently from this? For if He be Son only by grace, He not only is not "more excellent than the angels," but is even less than they. How? Because righteous men too were called sons; and the name son, if it be not a genuine son, doth not avail to show the "excellency." When too he would point out that there is a certain difference between creatures and their maker, hear what he saith:
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Angel — A word signifying, both in the Hebrew and Greek, a “messenger,” and hence employed to denote any agent God sends forth to execute his purposes. It is used of an ordinary messenger (Job 1:14: 1 Sam.…
Birthright — (1.) This word denotes the special privileges and advantages belonging to the first-born son among the Jews. He became the priest of the family. Thus Reuben was the first-born of the patriarchs, and…
Preciousness Of Christ · On account of his: Name — On account of his: Name
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
Being made so much better than the angels,.... Christ is so much better than the angels, as the Creator, than the creature; as an independent being, than a dependent one; as he that blesses, than he that is blessed; as he that is worshipped, than he that worships: as a king, than his subjects; as a master, than his servants; and as he that sends, than he that is sent: and Christ may be said to be "made so", when he was manifested and declared to be so; and he was actually preferred to them, and exalted above them in human nature, after he had expiated the sins of his people, and when he was set down at the right hand of God, as in the latter part of the preceding verse, with which these word…
Hebrews 1:4-6
4. Being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.
4. Tanto praestantior angelis factus, quanto excellentius prae ipsis sortitus est nomen.
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?
5. Cui enim inquam angelorum dixit, Filius meus es tu, ego hodie genui te? Et rursus, ego illi in Patrem, et ipse erit mihi in Filium.
6. And again, when he bringeth in the first begotten into the world, he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him.
6. Rursus autem quum introducit filium in orbem dici…
The Son’s exalted position shows that the Son is far greater than the angels in status or rank. First-century Jews were fascinated with angels and held them in high esteem, so the author of Hebrews establishes the Son’s superiority to them. • just as the name . . . is greater: Cp. 2 Sam 7:8-14. Some commentators believe that the title “Son” is the name implied here. Others think the name is Yahweh, the covenant name of God in the Old Testament (Exod 3:14-15; cp. Phil 2:9-11).
