(Note this page is a part of a study of Hebrews 1:8-10, which is part of the Effective Bible Study group of pages.)
"You have loved righteousness and hated iniquity,
therefore God, Your God, has anointed You with the oil of gladness above Your fellows."
Hebrews 1:9, is sometimes misinterpreted, and is then used to bolster the contention that Jesus Christ was a god but not the One, True, God. It is reasoned that since there is only One True God, that Jesus must be some lesser Diety. Conveniently overlooked is the fact that Heb 1:8 declares that the Son, Jesus Christ, is the One True God; and, that verse 10, names Him as the Creator, which again names Him God Almighty and Eternal ( ho theos and Jehovah ).
(Note: See Hebrews 1:8 & 10 if you haven't arrived here from that page.)
This misinterpretation of Heb 1:9, is in direct contradiction to 1 Timothy 3:16,
- - " And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifested in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen by angels, preached among nations, believed on in the world, and received up into glory."
To correctly interpret Hebrews 1:9, it is necessary to consider it in the entire context of Holy Scripture. It cannot be interpreted on a stand-alone, or isolated, basis. The Holy Bible provides a great deal of testimony showing that Jesus, the Messiah, is Jehovah God. Some of this evidence is provided on the following pages:
Jesus - God
We find a Biblical explanation of the part of the verse, Heb 1:9, which states, "therefore God, Your God" in Phillipians 2:5-8.
Jesus - Creator
More Biblical Testimony
The First & the Last
The Holy One of Israel.
The problem of misreading hebrews 1:9, stems from the reliance upon verses such as:
- - "It was shown to you so that you might know that Jehovah is God, and no one else beside Him."
(Deut 4:35)
- - "Hear, O, Israel. Jehovah our God is one Jehovah."
(Deu 6:4)
- - "You are My witnesses, says Jehovah, and My servant whom I have chosen; that you may know and believe Me, and understand that I am He. Before Me no God was formed, nor shall there be after Me. I, I am Jehovah; and there is none to save besides Me."
(Isa 43:10-11)
These verses seem to indicate that the Father and the Son can not both be God. After all, Deu 6:4 flatly states that there is only one Jehovah, God. However we find the following, and similar, verses, which indicate that this singular interpretation of the above verses is not true.
- - "Come near to Me, hear this; I have not spoken in secret from the beginning. From its being, I was there; and now the Lord Jehovah, and His Spirit, has sent Me. So says Jehovah, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, I am Jehovah your God who teaches you to profit, who leads you by the way that you should go."
(Isa 48:16-17)
- - "The Spirit of the Lord Jehovah is on Me; because Jehovah has anointed Me to preach the Gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to preach the acceptable year of Jehovah and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn; to appoint to those who mourn in Zion, to give to them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the mantle of praise for the spirit of heaviness; so that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of Jehovah, that He might be glorified.
For I am Jehovah."
(Isa 61:1-3 & 8)
(Note: By reading Luke 4:17-21, you will find that Jesus identifies Himself as Jehovah of Isa 61:8)
In the above two verse selections, it is clear that the name Jehovah, Yaweh is applied to two separate entities. One entity named Jehovah is doing the anointing and sending, while the other Jehovah is making the statements, being anointed, and sent. There is no doubt that there is only One God as proclaimed by Holy Scripture and further that Scripture proclaims His Name to be 'JHVH or YHVH'. (See Exo 3:15, Lev 19:12, & Isa 42:8). Also, considering the application of the title 'Creator' to both God and the Son, it is apparent that although God is singular, His Nature is not! Otherwise there would be a significant contradiction in Holy Scripture, which would bring into question the validity of the entire Bible.