Limitless Word
For God never said to any angel what he said to Jesus: “You are my Son. Today I have become your Father.” God also said, “I will be his Father, and he will be my Son.”
Hebrews 1:5 · New Living Translation
Parallel translations
  • WEB For to which of the angels did he say at any time, “You are my Son. Today I have become your father?” and again, “I will be to him a Father, and he will be to me a Son?”
  • KJV 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?
  • BSB For to which of the angels did God ever say: “You are My Son; today I have become Your Father”? Or again: “I will be His Father, and He will be My Son”?
  • NKJV For to which of the angels did He ever say: “You are My Son, Today I have begotten You”? And again: “I will be to Him a Father, And He shall be to Me a Son”?
  • NASB For to which of the angels did He ever say, “You are My Son, Today I have fathered You”? And again, “I will be a Father to Him And He will be a Son to Me”?

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

God never addressed any angel as His Son in the way He addresses the Messiah. Scripture itself reserves the unique Father-Son relationship for Christ alone.

Overview

Quoting Psalm 2:7 and 2 Samuel 7:14, the author shows that the title 'Son' belongs uniquely to the Messiah, not to any angel. 'Today I have become your father' is understood in connection with Christ's eternal sonship and His enthronement. These royal, covenantal promises find their ultimate fulfillment in Jesus, the promised Son of David and Son of God.

Cross-references & the web

Quotation

  • Ps 2:7I will tell of the decree. Yahweh said to me, “You are my son. Today I have become your father.

Cross-references · 8

  • Ps 2:7I will tell of the decree. Yahweh said to me, “You are my son. Today I have become your father.
  • Acts 13:33that God has fulfilled the same to us, their children, in that he raised up Jesus. As it is also written in the second psalm, ‘You are my Son. Today I have become your father.’
  • Heb 5:5So also Christ didn’t glorify himself to be made a high priest, but it was he who said to him, “You are my Son. Today I have become your father.”
  • 2 Sam 7:14I will be his father, and he will be my son. If he commits iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men;
  • 1 Chr 17:13I will be his father, and he will be my son. I will not take my loving kindness away from him, as I took it from him that was before you;
  • Ps 89:26–27He will call to me, ‘You are my Father, my God, and the rock of my salvation!’
  • 1 Chr 22:10He shall build a house for my name; and he will be my son, and I will be his father; and I will establish the throne of his kingdom over Israel for ever.’
  • 1 Chr 28:6He said to me, ‘Solomon, your son, shall build my house and my courts; for I have chosen him to be my son, and I will be his father.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (2)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Hebrews videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Hebrews 1:5YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on HebrewsMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

Hebrews is sustained worship of Christ: better than angels, Moses, and the priests; the great High Priest after Melchizedek who by one sacrifice perfects forever those he saves.

How Hebrews 1:5 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.