Hebrews 1:10 (BSB+ESV+LSB+MJ* references, Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible, John Calvin, Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary

 

10 And, “You, Lord, laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning,

and the heavens are the work of your hands;

Cross References

(Genesis 1:1) In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.

(Exodus 20:11) For in six days Yahweh made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore Yahweh blessed the sabbath day and made it holy.

(Deuteronomy 4:19) And beware lest you raise your eyes to heaven, and when you see the sun and the moon and the stars, all the host of heaven, you be drawn away and bow down to them and serve them, things that the Lord your God has allotted to all the peoples under the whole heaven.

(2 Kings 19:15) 15 And Hezekiah prayed before Yahweh and said, “O Yahweh, the God of Israel, who is enthroned above the cherubim, You are the God, You alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth.

(Job 26:6-7) 6 Sheol is naked before God, and Abaddon has no covering. 7 He stretches out the north over the void and hangs the earth on nothing.

(Psalms 8:1-3) O Yahweh, our Lord, how majestic is Your name in all the earth,

Who displays Your splendor above the heavens! 2 From the mouth of infants and nursing babies You have established strength because of Your adversaries, To make the enemy and the revengeful cease. 3 When I see Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have established;

(Psalms 33:6-9) The earth is full of the lovingkindness of Yahweh. 6 By the word of Yahweh the heavens were made,

And by the breath of His mouth all their host. 7 He gathers the waters of the sea as a heap; He lays up the deeps in storehouses. 8 Let all the earth fear Yahweh; let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him. 9 For He spoke, and it was; He commanded, and it stood.

(Psalms 95:4-5)In whose hand are the depths of the earth, the peaks of the mountains are His also. 5 The sea is His, for it was He who made it, and His hands formed the dry land.

(Psalms 102:25-17) Of old you laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. 26 They will perish, but you will remain; they will all wear out like a garment. You will change them like a robe, and they will pass away, 27 but you are the same, and your years have no end.

(Proverbs 8:22-31) 22 “Yahweh possessed me at the beginning of His way, before His deeds of old. 23 From everlasting I was installed, from the beginning, from the earliest times of the earth. 24 When there were no depths I was brought forth, when there were no springs heavy with water. 25 Before the mountains were settled, before the hills I was brought forth; 26 while He had not yet made the earth and the fields outside, nor the first dust of the world. 27 When He established the heavens, I was there, when He marked out a circle on the face of the deep, 28 when He made firm the skies above, when the springs of the deep became strong, 29 when He set for the sea its boundary so that the water would not pass over His command, when He marked out the foundations of the earth; 30 then I was beside Him, as a master workman; and I was a daily delight, rejoicing always before Him, 31 rejoicing in the world, His earth, My delight is in the sons of men.

(Isaiah 42:5) Thus says God, the Lord, who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and what comes from it, who gives breath to the people on it and spirit to those who walk in it:

(Isaiah 48:13) My hand laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand spread out the heavens; when I call to them, they stand forth together.

(Isaiah 51:13) and have forgotten the Lord, your Maker, who stretched out the heavens and laid the foundations of the earth, and you fear continually all the day because of the wrath of the oppressor, when he sets himself to destroy? And where is the wrath of the oppressor?

(Jeremiah 32:17) ‘Ah, Lord God! It is you who have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm! Nothing is too hard for you.

(Jeremiah 51:15) 15 “It is he who made the earth by his power, who established the world by his wisdom, and by his understanding stretched out the heavens.

(Zechariah 12:1) The oracle of the word of the Lord concerning Israel: Thus declares the Lord, who stretched out the heavens and founded the earth and formed the spirit of man within him:

(John 1:1-3) In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.

(Revelation 3:14) “And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write: ‘The words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God's creation.

Commentary

(Barnes’ N.W.B)

And - That is, “To add another instance;” or, “to the Son he saith in another place, or in the following language.” This is connected with Hebrews 1:8. “Unto the Son he saith Hebrews 1:8, Thy throne,” etc. - and Hebrews 1:10 he “also” saith, “Thou Lord,” etc. That this is the meaning is apparent, because:

(1) The “object” of the whole quotation is to show the exalted character of the Son of God, and,

(2) An address here to Yahweh would be wholly irrelevant. Why, in an argument designed to prove that the Son of God was superior to the angels, should the writer break out in an address to Yahweh in view of the fact that he had laid the foundations of the world, and that he himself would continue to live when the heavens should be rolled up and pass away? Such is not the manner of Paul or of any other good writer, and it is clear that the writer here designed to adduce this as applicable to the Messiah. Whatever difficulties there may be about the principles on which it is done, and the reason why This passage was selected for the purpose, there can be no doubt about the design of the writer. He meant to be understood as applying it to the Messiah beyond all question, or the quotation is wholly irrelevant, and it is inconceivable why it should have been made. “Thou Lord.” This is taken from Psalms 102:25-27. The quotation is made from the Septuagint with only a slight variation, and is an accurate translation of the Hebrew. In the Psalm, there can be no doubt that Yahweh is intended. This is apparent on the face of the Psalm, and particularly because the “name” Yahweh is introduced in Hebrews 1:10, and because He is addressed as the Creator of all things, and as immutable. No one, on reading the Psalm, ever would doubt that it referred to God, and if the apostle meant to apply it to the Lord Jesus it proves most conclusively that he is divine. In regard to the difficult inquiry why he applied this to the Messiah, or on what principle such an application can be vindicated, we may perhaps throw some light by the following remarks. It must be admitted that probably few persons, if any, on reading the “Psalm,” would suppose that it referred to the Messiah; but:

(1) The fact that the apostle thus employs it, proves that it was understood in his time to have such a reference, or at least that those to whom he wrote would admit that it had such a reference. On no other principle would he have used it in an argument. This is at least of some consequence in showing what the prevailing interpretation was.

(2) It cannot be demonstrated that it had no such reference, for such was the habit of the sacred writers in making the future Messiah the theme of their poetry, that no one can prove that the writer of this Psalm did not design that the Messiah should be the sub ject of his praise here.

(3) There is nothing in the Psalm which may not be applied to the Messiah; but there is much in it that is especially applicable to him. Suppose, for example, that the Psalmist Psalms 102:1-11, in his complaints, represents the people of God before the Redeemer appeared - as lowly, sad, dejected, and afflicted - speaking of himself as one of them, and as a fair representative of that people, the remainder of the Psalm will well agree with the promised redemption. Thus, having described the sadness and sorrow of the people of God, he speaks of the act that God would arise and have mercy upon Zion Psalms 102:13-14, that the pagan would fear the name of the Lord, and all the kings of the earth would see his glory Psalms 102:15, and that when the Lord should build up Zion, he would appear in his glory; Psalms 102:16. To whom else could this be so well applied as to the Messiah? To what time so well as to his time? Thus, too in Psalms 102:20, it is said that the Lord would look down from heaven “to hear the groaning of the prisoner, and to loose them that are appointed to death” - language remarkably resembling that used by Isaiah, Isaiah 61:1, which the Saviour applies to himself, in Luke 4:17-21. The passage then quoted by the apostle Psalms 102:25-27 is designed to denote the “immutability” of the Messiah, and the fact that in him all the interests of the church were safe. He would not change. He had formed all things, and he would remain the same. His kingdom would be permanent amidst all the changes occurring on earth, and his people had no cause of apprehension or alarm; Psalms 102:28.

(4) Paul applies this language to the Messiah in accordance with the doctrine which he had stated Hebrews 1:2, that it was by him that God “made the worlds.” Having stated that, he seems to have felt that it was not improper to apply to him the passages occurring in the Old Testament that speak of the work of creation. The argument is this, “He was in fact the creator of all things.” But to the Creator there is applied language in the Scriptures which shows that he was far exalted above the angels. He would remain the same, while the heavens and the earth should fade away. His years are enduring and eternal. “Such” a being must be superior to the angels; such a being must be divine. The words “Thou Lord” - σὺ Κύριε su Kurie - are not in the Hebrew of the Psalm, though they are in the Septuagint. In the Hebrew, in the Psalm (Psalms 102:24), it is an address to God - “I said, O my God” - אלי 'Eeliy - but there can be no doubt that the Psalmist meant to address Yahweh, and that the word “God” is used in its proper sense, denoting divinity; see Hebrews 1:1, Hebrews 1:12, of the Psalm. “In the beginning;” see Genesis 1:1.

When the world was made; compare notes on John 1:1, where the same phrase is applied to the Messiah - “In the beginning was the word, where the same phrase is applied to the Messiah - “In the beginning was the word.” “Hast laid the foundation of the earth.” Hast made the earth. This language is such as is common in the Scriptures, where the earth is represented as laid on a foundation, or as supported. It is figurative language, derived from the act of rearing an edifice. The meaning here is, that the Son of God was the original creator or founder of the universe. He did not merely arrange it out of pre-existing materials, but he was properly its creator or founder. “And the heavens are the works of thine hands.” This must demonstrate the Lord Jesus to be divine. He that made the vast heavens must be God. No creature could perform a work like that; nor can we conceive that power to create the vast array of distant worlds could possibly be delegated. If that power could be delegated, there is not an attribute of Deity which may not be, and thus all our notions of what constitutes divinity would be utterly confounded. The word “heavens” here, must mean all parts of the universe except the earth; see Genesis 1:1. The word “hands” is used, because it is by the hands that we usually perform any work.

(John Calvin)

10.And, Thou, Lord, in the beginning, etc. This testimony at first sight may seem to be unfitly applied to Christ, especially in a doubtful matter, such as is here handled; for the subject in dispute is not concerning the glory of God, but what may be fitly applied to Christ. Now, there is not in this passage any mention made of Christ, but the majesty of God alone is set forth. I indeed allow that Christ is not named in any part of the Psalm; but it is yet plain that he is so pointed out, that no one can doubt but that his kingdom is there avowedly recommended to us. Hence all the things which are found there, are to be applied to his person; for in none have they been fulfilled but in Christ, such as the following, — “Thou shalt arise and have mercy on Sion, that the heathens may fear the name, and all the kings of the earth thy glory.” Again, — “When the nations shall be gathered together, and the kingdoms, to serve the Lord.” Doubtless, in vain shall we seek to find this God through whom the whole world have united in one faith and worship of God, except in Christ.

All the other parts of the Psalm exactly suit the person of Christ, such as the following, that he is the eternal God, the creator of heaven and earth, that perpetuity belongs to him without any change, by which his majesty is raised to the highest elevation, and he himself is removed from the rank of all created beings.

What David says about the heavens perishing, some explain by adding, “Were such a thing to happen,” as though nothing was affirmed. But what need is there of such a strained explanation, since we know that all creatures are subjected to vanity? For to what purpose is that renovation promised, which even the heavens wait for with the strong desire as of those in travail, except that they are now verging towards destruction?

But the perpetuity of Christ which is here mentioned, brings no common comfort to the godly; as the Psalm at last teaches us, they shall be partakers of it, inasmuch as Christ communicates himself and what he possesses to his own body. (26)

(26) See Appendix D.

(Garner-Howes BC)

1) "And, thou, Lord, in the beginning," (kai su kat’ archas kurie) "And thou Lord, at the beginnings," according to the beginning or origin of all things; This certifies the coexistence of Jesus Christ with God from the beginning or origin of all things, even from the creation of angels, John 1:1-3; 1 Corinthians 8:6; Psalms 102:24.

2) "Hast laid the foundation of the earth," (ten gen ethemeliosas) "Didst found (establish) the earth;" Psalms 102:25-26. The earth did not lay its own foundation or come to be established in physical form without a first great cause - That first "cause" exists as and in God and the Lord Jesus Christ, Colossians 1:16-17.

3)"And the heavens are the works of thine hands," (kei erga ton cheiron sou eisin hoi ouranoi) "And the heavens are (exist as) the works (artifice) of thine hands;” Psalms 19:1-2; Hebrews 1:2; Hebrews 11:3. The present heaven and earth are products of the Grand Architect of the Universe by whom they are also daily sustained, held together, Colossians 1:17; Acts 17:28.