One of things people don't do is read the bible the way it is written. And especially the way it was intended.
However, there are times when it's not really the fault of the reader, but the translaters fault for not translating original
scripture correctly. Hebrews 1:8 is such a verse as you will soon see. The verse typically reads like this:
"But to the Son He says: "Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; A scepter of righteousness is the scepter
of Your Kingdom." MKJV.
Now, when I say typically, understand there are many version of this verse and each one has their own version of what was said.
However, most of them are as I have shown here. This is why I will use it for the analogy, as the result will be the same for all of them.
There are two things you need to think about. One is the author, and the other is the translator. The author of Hebrews is unknown.
As such, many of the translators are also unknown. The author worte it in Greek, the translator changes it from Greek to
whatever language they speak in, or others they know how to speak. The author and translator is not the same person, or persons.
There's no doubt the translators intended to make people think of Jesus as God, or a God in Heb 1:8. You can tell this by the
way it is written. As such, the Trinitarian believers then use this verse all the time to convince people that God Almighty is
claiming Jesus to be a God, or worse yet, they claim Jesus is God Almighty himself.
The absuridty of this is self convincing that something is wrong about that concept. First, we have God talking about his son, and
then quickly claiming it is himself. If that isn't enough to get you searching deeper into the scripture, then you should be ashamed.
Satan is very active and seeks to lead people astray in any direction he can deliver to someone who will accept it. Yet people
constantly ignore the possibility of any such attempt concerning bible scriptures, or that they could be wrong, because "it's God's
word" and he would never lie. It seems they forget about Satan and his followers who have had their hands on the scritures.
Hebrews 1:8 was written in Greek, and it goes like this after a common translation word for word: But - unto - Son - Thy -
throne - God - for - ever - ever - sceptre - righteousness - sceptre - thy - kingdom. As you can see, that is not the way we
talk these days. The translators have made it read as it does in most bibles. Namely because they copy each other and are
not considering any changes for accuracy.
Comma's and period's came much later after the bible was assembled and after it was translated. Consider these for an example
where I have moved the comma around:
But unto Son, Thy throne God for ever ever sceptre righteousness sceptre thy kingdom.
But unto Son Thy throne, God for ever ever sceptre righteousness sceptre thy kingdom.
But unto Son Thy throne God, for ever ever sceptre righteousness sceptre thy kingdom.
But unto Son Thy throne, God, for ever ever sceptre righteousness sceptre thy kingdom.
By simply movng the commas to a different place, you can change the entire meaning of a verse, and that happens all too often
in bible translations. So let's look at the original and go from there.
The original goes like this:
De Pros Huios Sou Thronos Theos Eis Aion Aion Rhabdos Euthutes Rhabdos Sou Basileia. Or rather:
πρὸς δὲ τὸν υἱόν Ὁ θρόνος σου ὁ θεός εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα τοῦ αἰῶνος ῥάβδος εὐθύτητος ἡ ῥάβδος τῆς βασιλείας σου.
While most of the Greek is very consistent in going from bible to bible, there is slight variation. In this verse, one of
the variables is this: πρὸς δὲ τὸν υἱόν, ὁ θρόνος σου, ὁ θεός, εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα
τοῦ αἰῶνος, [ καὶ ] ἡ ῥάβδος τῆς εὐθύτητος ῥάβδος τῆς βασιλείας σου.
The word καὶ is the variable in this verse. This doesn't show up on some of the translations, but it's important to mention.
The word καὶ means "and." The following word ἡ in Greek means: this, that, these, etc. Strong #: 3588. So now we have a variable
that can change meaning. It can be read as "and that," or "and these," or "and this," and so on. But fortunately, this only
refers to "scepters" in this verse.
Now let's look at the word "O" from the phrase O God. As in "Your throne, O God." There is no "O" in the phrase at all. It has
been added. It was changed from this Greek word ὁ to an English word O in the English language and left there. It should read
"This God," or "That God." But by no means should it read or mean "O God, as that is mixing Greek with English, without any e
xplanation as to why.
It was wrong for any translator to do that, and it's difficult to detect unless you really look or have the ability to look at
Greek and compare it to English. In the early days only a scholar would be able to see this error because reading for
most people was not available. Most people couldn't read, and didn't read, let alone understand Greek. But with the modern
age of computers and online books, just about anyone can see this error now.
So the phrase doesn't say "Your throne, O God." When the proper Greek word is used it becomes: "Your throne, this God. Or even
"the God." Take a look: "Your throne, this God." Now let's take out the comma: "Your throne this God." As you can see, this
changes the verbiage and meaning.
The word "Your" is also not accounted for in the Greek before the word Throne. Therefore, there is no "Your Throne."
The Greek phrase goes like this: πρὸς δὲ τὸν υἱόν, ὁ θρόνος(throne) σου (your), ὁ θεός. Which shows the word for Your comes
after the word for Throne, and not before it.
In modern age, we would write it something like this: the throne of your God . . .
Now let's put back the commas and see what it reads: "But to the Son, the throne, thy God." Now let's put them in proper location
and it will read like this: "But to the Son, this throne thy God." As you can see, an improper placed comma can change a simple verse.
But to the Son, the throne thy God is forever and ever; a scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your Kingdom.
But if someone persists in wanting all the commas put back in, this verse can read as follows and still mean the same thing:
"But to the Son, this throne, thy God, is forever and ever; A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your Kingdom."
As you can see, Hebrew 1:8 does not call Jesus God or even refer to him as a God and never has. The author of Hebrews is saying
the Throne of Jesus will get the support of God from now to eternity.
BUT WHAT IF YOU DON'T HAVE ACCESS TO GREEK?
Can someone see by other means that Jesus is not God and learn how to interpret it without going into the Greek language?
The answer is Yes. This is what's been done for centuries by those who know Jesus is not God.
So let me break it down for you.
The best possible meaning comes from the word "God." Thomas said to Jesus "my Lord and my God." This can be an understatement
just as it was when God Almighty called Moses a God.
"So he shall be your spokesman to the people. And he himself shall be as a mouth for you, and you shall be to him as
God." Gen 4:16.
Mosses wasn't God, but God said he was going to be as God to the people, as if he was God. We can use this same scenerio
for jesus, where Jesus isn't God, but can be called God, only because he is working for God just as Mosses did.
Jesus isn't God but came down to teach the word of God and to speak for him to the people. Therefore, the phrase "O God" may
carry the same intention as calling Mosses God. Therefore, the Translator (not the author) of Hebrews may have thought God was
doing the very same thing and translated it to "your throne O God."
Therefore, once again, Hebrews 1:8 cannot be proven to show that Jesus was being called God Almighty or that he was being
referred to as God Almighty. No matter if you use the Greek, or just stay with what is written, there is absolutely no proof
that Hebrews 1:8 is calling Jesus God Almighty, or even calling him what we would call a "real God." Jesus has no power of
his own. He only used God's power when he was here. He never used his own power, because he didn't have any.
OK, BUT WHAT ELSE IS THERE?
Try breaking it down to modern language.
"But to the Son He says: "Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; A scepter of righteousness is the scepter
of Your Kingdom." MKJV.
"But to the Son, God Almighty says:" Right there we can clearly see the subject is for two and not for one. One is God Almighty,
and the other is his Son Jesus. Nowhere in this verse does it say they are one in the same.
"Your throne, O God," comes next. The phrase "O God" only shows up 3 times in Hebrews, and is no where else in the New Testament.
These Verses are 1:8, 10:7 and 10:9. They go as follows:
1:8 "Your throne, O God,"
10:7 "To do Your will, O God."
10:9 "I have come to do Your will, O God."
As you can see, 1:8 contradicts 10:7 and 10:9 by the way the scripture and Translator is referring to God. 10:7 and 10:9 are
talking about Jesus doing the will of God, while it seems 1:8 is also calling Jesus a God. If Jesus was God Almighty, then it
would be "to do my will," not "your will," and 1:8 would refer to "My throne" and not "Your throne." Therefore, once again we
Jesus is not being called God Almighty in this verse.
A person could say that Jesus is to be God over the New Heaven and New earth as he sits on his throne: "but the throne of
God and of the Lamb shall be in it," Rev 22:3. And then claim that God is telling Jesus about his (future) throne and roll
playing as a God. But then that would not leave the one single God there is.
I am the Lord, and there is no other; There is no God besides Me. Isa 45:5
For thus says the Lord, Who created the heavens, Who is God, Who formed the earth and made it, Who has
established it, Who did not create it in vain, Who formed it to be inhabited: "I am the Lord, and there is no other."
Isa 45:18
A person could say God is talking about the throne Jesus had when he was with God before he came down to earth.
"To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My
Father on His throne."
As you can tell, both Father and Son have thrones. But that still doesn't account for 10:7 and 10:9 where the same phrase
"O God" has been used and does not refer to Jesus at all. Keep in mind, I'm trying to show you without using the Greek
language in this section.
The book of Hebrews is written in third party. That means the subject matter can jump around at random. Since the commas were
added and are not in the original Greek, let's see if changing them with the text we have can shed some light. If we place a comma
right after the word "Son," we can change the meaning into something that makes sense.
"But to the Son, He (Jesus) says: "Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of
Your Kingdom."
By doing that, you have established a statement that does not contradict 10:7 or 10:9, or any other verse in Hebrews.
Once again, Heb 1:8 doesn't make any claims that Jesus is God, or even a God. As such, no matter how you read it, the verse
is not being said or used properly.
The bible is full of third party scriptures and fragmented statements and comments. When one like this shows up,
just go to the source like I did above and let the source be your guide. And if you don't do that, let God's Spirit be your
guide, and not the Spirit of the Antichrist, and don't deny Jesus is God's son in the flesh.
Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. 1 John 4:15.
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