Hebrews 1:7

7 In speaking of the angels he says, “He makes his angels spirits, and his servants flames of fire.”[a]

Hebrews 1:7 in Other Translations

King James Version (KJV)
7 And of the angels he saith, Who maketh his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire.
English Standard Version (ESV)
7 Of the angels he says, "He makes his angels winds, and his ministers a flame of fire."
New Living Translation (NLT)
7 Regarding the angels, he says, “He sends his angels like the winds, his servants like flames of fire.”
The Message Bible (MSG)
7 Regarding angels he says, The messengers are winds, the servants are tongues of fire.
American Standard Version (ASV)
7 And of the angels he saith, Who maketh his angels winds, And his ministers a flame a fire:
GOD'S WORD Translation (GW)
7 God said about the angels, "He makes his messengers winds. He makes his servants flames of fire."
Holman Christian Standard Bible (CSB)
7 And about the angels He says: He makes His angels winds, and His servants a fiery flame;
New International Reader's Version (NIRV)
7 Here is something else God says about the angels. "God makes his angels to be like winds. He makes those who serve him to be like flashes of lightning." (Psalm 104:4)

Hebrews 1:7 Meaning and Commentary

Ver. 7 And of the angels he saith
Or "to the angels", as in the following verse, "to the Son", which stands opposed to this; and the words said to them, or of them, are found in ( Psalms 104:4 )

who maketh his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire:
this cannot be understood of the wind and lightning, and of God's making these his messengers and ministers to do his will; for such a sense is not suitable to the scope of the psalm, from whence they are taken, nor to the order of the words in which they stand; for it is not said he makes spirits, or winds, his angels, and flaming fire his ministers, but the reverse; and is contrary to the design of the apostle in citing them, which is to show the superiority of Christ to angels, of whom it is said, that they are made spirits: they are "spirits", created ones, and so differ from God the Creator: they are incorporeal ones, and so differ from men; they are immaterial, and so die not; they are spiritual substances subsisting in themselves: and they are "made" such by God the Father, and by the Son the Lord Jesus Christ, within the six days of the creation, and all at once; for it is not to be supposed that the Lord is daily making them; and this proves the Son to be God, as well as more excellent than the angels; unless this is to be understood of the daily disposal of them in providence, in causing winds, thunder, lightning, and the like. Some choose to supply the word with "as", and read, who maketh his angels as winds; for invisibility, velocity, power, and penetration: "and his ministers as a flame of fire"; and these are the same with the angels, for they are ministers to God; they attend his presence; are ready to perform any service for him; they sing his praise, and are his chariots in which he rides: and they are ministers to Christ; they attended at his incarnation: were solicitous for his preservation, ministered to him in distress, assisted at his resurrection, and accompanied him in his ascension, and will be with him at his second coming: and they are as a flame of fire, so called from their great power, force, and swiftness; and from their burning love, and flaming zeal, hence named seraphim; and because they are sometimes the executioners of God's wrath, and will descend in flaming fire, when Christ shall be revealed from heaven: angels sometimes appear in fiery forms; the chariots and horses of fire, by which Elijah was carried up to heaven, were no other than angels, in such forms: so the Jews F24 say of the angels,

``all the angels, their horses are horses of fire, and their chariots fire, and their bows fire, and their spears fire, and all their instruments of war fire.''

And they have a notion, that an angel is half water, and half fire {y}.


FOOTNOTES:

F24 Sepher Jetzirah, p. 16. Ed. Rittangel.
F25 T. Hieros. Roshhashana, fol. 58. 1.

Hebrews 1:7 In-Context

5 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” ?
6 And again, when God brings his firstborn into the world, he says, “Let all God’s angels worship him.”
7 In speaking of the angels he says, “He makes his angels spirits, and his servants flames of fire.”
8 But about the Son he says, “Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever; a scepter of justice will be the scepter of your kingdom.
9 You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, your God, has set you above your companions by anointing you with the oil of joy.”

Cross References 1

Footnotes 1

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