Hebrews 1:7 (ESV+LSB+MJ* references, Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible, John Calvin, Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary

7 And of the angels He says,

“Who makes His angels winds,

And His ministers flaming fire.”

 

 

1:7-(Psalm 104:1-4)*Bless Yahweh, O my soul! O Yahweh my God, You are very great; You are clothed with splendor and majesty, 2 wrapping Yourself with light as with a cloak, stretching out the heavens like a tent curtain. 3 He lays the beams of His upper chambers in the waters; He sets up the clouds to be His chariot; He walks upon the wings of the wind; 4 He makes His angels the winds, His ministers flaming fire.(Daniel 7:9-12)* 9 “I kept looking until thrones were set up, and the Ancient of Days was seated; His clothing was like white snow and the hair of His head like pure wool. His throne was ablaze with fire, its wheels were a burning fire. 10 A river of fire was flowing and coming out from before Him; thousands upon thousands were attending Him, and myriads upon myriads were standing before Him; the court sat, and the books were opened. 11 Then I kept looking because of the sound of the great boastful words which the horn was speaking; I kept looking until the beast was killed, and its body was destroyed and given to the burning fire. 12 As for the rest of the beasts, their dominion was taken away, but an extension of life was given to them for an appointed season of time.(Isaiah 6:2-4)* 2 Seraphim(fiery ones) stood above Him, each having six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3 And one called out to another and said, “Holy, Holy, Holy, is Yahweh of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory.”4 And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called out, while the house of God was filling with smoke.(Zechariah 6:1-8)* Then I lifted up my eyes again and saw, and behold, four chariots were coming forth from between the two mountains; and the mountains were bronze mountains. 2 With the first chariot were red horses, with the second chariot black horses, 3 with the third chariot white horses, and with the fourth chariot dappled horses—all of them mighty. 4 Then I answered and said to the angel who was speaking with me, “What are these, my lord?” 5 And the angel answered and said to me, “These are the four spirits of heaven, going forth after standing before the Lord of all the earth, 6 with one of which the black horses are going forth to the north country; and the white ones go forth after them, and the dappled ones go forth to the south country. 7 Now the mighty ones went out, and they sought to go to patrol the earth.” And He said, “Go, patrol the earth.” So they patrolled the earth. 8 Then He cried out to me and spoke to me saying, “See, those who are going to the land of the north have caused My Spirit to have rest in the land of the north.”

(Ezekiel 1)*1 Now it happened in the thirtieth year, on the fifth day of the fourth month, while I was by the river Chebar among the exiles, that the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God. 2 (On the fifth of the month in the fifth year of King Jehoiachin’s exile, 3 the word of Yahweh came expressly to Ezekiel the priest, son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by the river Chebar; and there the hand of Yahweh came upon him.) 4 Then I looked, and behold, a storm wind was coming from the north, a great cloud with fire flashing forth continually and a bright light all around it, and in its midst something like the gleam of glowing metal in the midst of the fire. 5 And within it there were figures with the likeness of four living creatures. And this was their appearance: they had the likeness of a man. 6 And each of them had four faces and four wings. 7 And their legs were straight, and their feet were like a calf’s hoof, and they sparkled like the gleam of burnished bronze. 8 And under their wings on their four sides were hands of a man. As for the faces and wings of the four of them, 9 their wings touched one another; their faces did not turn as they went; each went straight forward. 10 And as for the likeness of their faces, each had the face of a man; all four had the face of a lion on the right and the face of a bull on the left, and all four had the face of an eagle. 11 And such were their faces. Their wings were spread out above; each had two touching another being, and two covering their bodies. 12 And each went straight forward; wherever the spirit was about to go, they would go, without turning as they went. 13 As for the likeness of the living creatures, their appearance was like burning coals of fire, like the appearance of torches going back and forth among the living creatures. The fire was bright, and lightning was flashing from the fire. 14 And the living creatures ran to and fro with the appearance of lightning. 15 Then I looked at the living creatures, and behold, there was one wheel on the earth beside the living creatures, for each of the four of them. 16 The appearance of the wheels and their workmanship was like the gleam of beryl, and all four of them had the same likeness, their appearance and workmanship being as if one wheel were within another. 17 Whenever they went, they went in any of their four directions without turning as they went. 18 And as for their rims, they were lofty and awesome, and the rims of all four of them were full of eyes all around. 19 And when the living creatures went, the wheels went beside them. And when the living creatures rose from the earth, the wheels rose also. 20 Wherever the spirit was about to go, they would go in that direction, where the spirit was about to go. And the wheels rose alongside of them; for the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels. 21 Whenever those went, these went; and whenever those stood still, these stood still. And whenever those rose from the earth, the wheels rose close beside them; for the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels. 22 Now over the heads of the living creatures there was something with the likeness of an expanse, like the awesome gleam of crystal, spread out over their heads above. 23 And underneath the expanse their wings were stretched out straight, one toward the other; each one also had two wings covering its body on the one side and on the other. 24 I also heard the sound of their wings like the sound of many waters as they went, like the sound of the Almighty, a sound of tumult like the sound of an army camp; whenever they stood still, they dropped their wings. 25 And there came a sound from above the expanse that was over their heads; whenever they stood still, they dropped their wings. 26 Now above the expanse that was over their heads there was something in the likeness of a throne, like sapphire stone in appearance; and upon the likeness of the throne, high up, was the likeness of one with the appearance of a man. 27 Then I saw from the appearance of His loins and upward something like the gleam of glowing metal with the appearance of fire all around within it, and from the appearance of His loins and downward I saw something with the appearance of fire; and there was a radiance all around Him. 28 As the appearance of the rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the appearance of the radiance all around. Such was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of Yahweh. And I saw this, and I fell on my face and heard a sound of a voice speaking.

 

 

7 And of the angels He says,

“Who makes His angels winds,

And His ministers flaming fire.”

 

 

Barnes’ Notes on the Whole Bible

And of the angels he saith, Who maketh his angels spirits - He gives to them an inferior name, and assigns to them a more humble office. They are mere ministers, and have not ascribed to them the name of “Son.” They have a name which implies a more humble rank and office - the name “spirit,” and the appellation of a “flame of fire.” They obey his will as the winds and the lightnings do. The “object” of the apostle in this passage is to show that the angels serve God in a ministerial capacity - as the winds do; while the Son is Lord of all. The one serves him passively, as being wholly under his control; the other acts as a Sovereign, as Lord over all, and is addressed and regarded as the equal with God. This quotation is made from Psalms 104:4. The passage “might” be translated, “Who maketh his angels winds, and his ministers a flame of fire;” that is, “who makes his angels like the winds, or as swift as the winds, and his ministers as rapid, as terrible, and as resistless as the lightning.”

So Doddridge renders it; and so did the late Dr. John P. Wilson (manuscript notes). The passage in the Psalm is susceptible, I think, of another interpretation, and might be regarded as meaning, “who makes the winds his messengers, and the flaming fire his ministers;” and perhaps this is the sense which would most naturally occur to a reader of the Hebrew. The Hebrew, however, will admit of the construction here put upon it, and it cannot be proved that it was the original intention of the passage to show that the angels were the mere servants of God, rapid, quick, and prompt to do his will - like the winds. The Chaldee Paraphrase renders this passage in the Psalm, “Who makes his messengers swift as the wind; his ministers strong like a flame of fire.” Prof. Stuart maintains that the passage in the Psalms cannot mean “who makes the winds his messengers,” but that the intention of the Psalmist is to describe the “invisible” as well as the “visible” majesty of God, and that he refers to the angels as a part of the retinue which goes to make up His glory.

This does not seem to me to be perfectly certain; but still it cannot be demonstrated that Paul has made an improper use of the passage. It is to be presumed that he, who had been trained in the knowledge of the Hebrew language, would have had a better opportunity of knowing its fair construction than we can; and it is morally certain that he would employ the passage “in an argument” as it was commonly understood by those to whom he wrote - that is, to those who were familiar with the Hebrew language and literature. If he has so used the passage; if he has - as no one can disprove - put the fair construction on it, then it is just in point. It proves that the angels are the “attendant servants” of God; employed to grace his train, to do his will, to accompany him as the clouds and winds and lightnings do, and to occupy a subordinate rank in his creation. “Flame of fire.” This probably refers to lightning - which is often the meaning of the phrase. The word “ministers” here, means the same as angels, and the sense of the whole is, that the attending retinue of God, when he manifests himself with great power and glory, is like the winds and the lightning. His angels are like them. They are prompt to do his will - rapid, quick, obedient in his service; they are in all respects subordinate to him, and occupy, as the winds and the lightnings do, the place of servants. They are not addressed in language like what is applied to the Son of God, and they must all be far inferior to him.

John Calvin

7.And to the angels, etc. To the angels means of the angels. But the passage quoted seems to have been turned to another meaning from what it appears to have; for as David is there describing the manner in which we see the world to be governed, nothing is more certain than the winds are mentioned, which he says are made messengers by the Lord, for he employs them as his runners; so also, when he purifies the air by lightnings, he shows what quick and swift ministers he has to obey his orders. But this has nothing to do with angels. Some have had recourse to an allegory, as though the Apostle explained the plain, and as they say, the literal sense allegorically of angels. But it seems preferable to me to consider this testimony is brought forward for this purpose, that it might by a similitude be applied to angels, and in this way David compares winds to angels, because they perform offices in this world similar to what the angels do in heaven; for the winds are, as it were, visible spirits. And, doubtless, as Moses, describing the creation of the world, mentioned only those things which are subject to our senses, and yet intended that higher things should be understood; so David in describing the world and nature, represented to us on a tablet what ought to be understood respecting the celestial orders. Hence I think that the argument is one of likeness or similarity, when the Apostle transfers to angels what properly applies to the winds. (22)

(22) Many have been the explanations of this sentence; but this is the most suitable to the passage as it occurs in Psalms 104:4, and to the design of the Apostle; it is the one adopted by Doddridge, Stuart, and Bloomfield.

The meaning would be thus more apparent, — “Who maketh like his angels the winds, and like his ministers the flaming fire,” that is, the winds are subject to him as the angels are, and also the flaming fire as his ministers or attendants. The particle ב is sometimes omitted in Hebrew. — Ed.

Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary

1) "And of the angels he saith," (kai pros men tous angelous legei) "And with regard to the angels he says;” he discloses, informs, or makes known the following information:

2) "Who maketh his angels spirits," (ho poion tous angelous autou pneumata) "The one making his angels spirits;” forming them as spiritual beings, invisible beings, not as physical creatures, having physical bodies; they have not flesh and bones, Luke 24:39.

3) "And his ministers a flame of fire," (kai tous leitourgous autou puros phloga) "And the service ministers of him, (his service) ministers, a flame of fire;” to move like fire or like the wind through space. They are often mentioned as flying, having near omnipresent powers of movement, to do service to God and to men, Daniel 9:21; Luke 2:13; Hebrews 1:14. These ministering servants, as guardian or sentry angels, watch over and protect God’s people through life, and in death bear their souls to the presence of the Lord, Psalms 34:7; Luke 16:22.