King James Version · Under Rome
Hebrews 1
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, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by , Hath in these spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; Who being the brightness of his , and the express of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his , when he had by himself purged our , sat down on of the Majesty on high; Being made so much better than the , as he hath by obtained a more excellent name than they. For unto which of the said he at any time, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee? And again, I will be to him a , and he shall be to me a Son? And again, when he bringeth in the firstbegotten into the world, he saith, And let all the of him. And of the he saith, Who maketh his spirits, and his ministers a . But unto the Son he saith, Thy , O , is : a sceptre of is the sceptre of thy kingdom. Thou hast loved , and hated ; therefore , even thy , hath thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows. And, Thou, , hast laid the foundation of the earth; and are the works of thine hands: They shall ; but thou remainest; and they all shall wax old as doth a garment; And as a vesture shalt thou fold them up, and they shall be changed: but thou art the same, and thy years shall not fail. But to which of the said he at any time, Sit on my , until I make thine thy ? Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be of ?
The 1611 translation, public domain. Its original printing included the Apocrypha, which is why the deuterocanonical books can be read here. Notes and cards are EKLI’s own.
Christians read this chapter differently
- Is Jesus God? · Hebrews 1:1-14
Every view at its strongest, with who holds it and what it has to answer for.
The world at this moment · Under Rome, 63 BC to AD 100 ›
Judea as a client kingdom and then a province. Roads, garrisons, taxes, crucifixion, and a common Greek language that let a message travel the empire faster than any before it.
- Rome
- The republic tears itself apart in civil war and comes out as an empire under Augustus. What follows is two centuries of relative peace across the whole Mediterranean, enforced by legions and paid for by taxes, with safe roads and safe sea lanes. Every one of Paul's journeys depends on that.
- Judea
- Governed first through Herod the Great, a client king of enormous ability and enormous brutality who rebuilds the temple into one of the wonders of the ancient world, then directly by Roman prefects. Crucifixion is the standard penalty for sedition and is used often and publicly.
- The wider world
- Greek is spoken from Spain to Syria, which means a letter written in Corinth can be read in Rome without translation. Jewish communities already exist in most major cities, which is where the first Christian preaching lands. Mystery religions, imperial cult, and philosophy all compete in the same marketplace.
- Further afield
- The Han dynasty rules China and trades silk westward along routes that touch the Roman world at second hand. In Britain the Roman conquest begins within a decade of the crucifixion.