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Being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.
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?

New Defender's Study Bible Notes

1:4 Being made. The Son, by His essential deity, is acknowledged as “being” (Hebrews 1:3), but in His perfect humanity, He was “being made.” He created all the angels, but when He became man, He was made “a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death” (Hebrews 2:9), but now, having been “appointed heir of all things” (Hebrews 1:2), in His glorified humanity, He is forever better than angels, even in His humanity.


1:5 said he. This is the first of at least forty quotations in Hebrews from the Old Testament Scriptures. A perennial objection of the Jews to Jesus has been that God has no son, since He is one God (Deuteronomy 6:4), so Paul (assuming he is the writer) begins by showing that their own Scriptures prove God to be both Father and Son. This particular reference is from Psalm 2:7, referring not only to God’s Son, but also to His coming resurrection, as the first begotten from the dead (Acts 13:33; Colossians 1:18).


1:6 And again. This reference to the coming Son is from II Samuel 7:14. The terms of that particular promise to David had a precursive fulfillment in Solomon, but its eternal terms could apply only to the coming Messiah.


1:6 he saith. From Psalm 97:7, where the angels are called “gods.” In the psalm, the “gods” are evidently fallen angels who have promoted pagan worship of themselves. However, its citation in Hebrews indicates that all angels, whether faithful or fallen, are commanded to worship (which means, essentially, to bow down to the will of God) the true God of creation.


1:7 he saith. This passage is quoted from Psalm 104:4, the great psalm of Creation, providence and the Flood. The angels were created as spirits, evidently immediately after the creation of the universe; they have not existed from eternity. As the next verses assert, however, the Son has been forever. Note again Hebrews 1:5 and Psalm 2:7: “Thou art my Son….” This prophecy was given a thousand years before the Son became man, yet He already was the Son.


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