Articles on Hebrews 10:2 Being Mistranslated
Hebrews1:2....The Ages created, Through or Because of
I believe this phrase should be translated:
"has in these last days spoken unto us by [his] a son, whom he has appointed heir of all things, by (δι': because of) whom also he made the worlds (ages)."
According to Thayer's Lexicon, δι᾽ means:
"through, on account of, by reason of, for the sake of, because of"
Note that the concordances say δι' means "by, through" when the noun is in the genitive, but it means "because of" in the accusative. I do not believe this is true. Here are a few examples of δι' with a genitive noun:
"By the which will we are sanctified through (because of) the offering of the body of Yeshua Messiah once for all." Hebrews 10:10
"And these all, having obtained a good report through (because of) faith, received not the promise" Hebrews 11:39
"When Yeshua heard that, he said, This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of Elohim, that the Son of Elohim might be glorified thereby (because of) it." John 11:4
"For Elohim sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through (because of) him might be saved." John 3:17
"Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through (because of) this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins" Acts 13:38
The first two chapters of Hebrews is about mankind. The author is arguing that it wasn't Messengers, or any other divine being, that Elohim made the world for. This is explained in Genesis:
"And Elohim said, Let us make (נַֽעֲשֶׂ֥ה: accomplish; H6213) man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth." Genesis 1:26
This is why the next verse in Hebrews says:
"Who being the brightness of [his] glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by (δι': because of) himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high; Being made so much better than the Messengers, as he has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they."
The author then goes goes on to explain how the Scriptures prove that Elohim has always favored mankind. He ends his prologue in the next chapter with verses 5-18:
"For unto the Messengers has he not put in subjection the world to come, whereof we speak.
But one in a certain place testified, saying, What is man, that you are mindful of him? or the son of man, that you visit him?
The Son... by whom [Elohim] made the ages.”
Hebrews 1:2:
Heb. 1:2 is another passage misunderstood to believe that Yeshua created the earth. It could be argued that the prologue to Hebrews is based upon the prologue to John's Gospel. The same ideas recur- the Word of Elohim from the beginning come to expression in Messiah, "all things", glory, etc. Note the similarity between "apart from him not one thing came into being" (Jn. 1:3) and Heb. 2:8, "not one thing is not left put under him". Jn. 1:3 stated that "all things" were created by the Word, i.e. the logos / intention which Elohim had of the Messiah. Heb. 1:2 clarifies this (because of misunderstandings in the early church?) to define the "all things" as all the ages of human history. These were framed by Elohim with Messiah in mind. Later in Hebrews we meet the same idea- Heb. 11:3 speaks of how the ages were framed and then goes on to give examples of Old Testament characters who displayed their faith and understanding of the future Messiah.
It should be noted that the 'ages' which Messiah was to be involved in creating refer to "the world to come"- for Heb. 2:5 says that this passage is speaking about "the world to come". Heb. 9:26 adds indirect support by commenting that Messiah died at the end of "the (singular) age"; the ages to come are the eternity of Elohim's Kingdom which is made possible through His work. Thus the idea is not that He created the world, but rather that through His work, the ages /to come/ were made possible through Him. And therefore those ages before Him find their meaning in the context of He who was to come and open the way to eternal ages.
We read of “the Son… by whom [Gk. dia] He [Elohim] also made the worlds [Gk. aion]”. A quick look at Strong's concordance or an online Bible seems to me conclusive. 'Dia' can mean ‘for whom / for the sake of / on account of'. It doesn’t always mean that, as it’s a word of wide usage- but it very often does mean ‘on account of’ and actually frequently it cannot mean ‘by’. There are stacks of examples:
- In a creation context, we read that all things were created dia, for the sake of, Elohim’s pleasure (Rev. 4:11). Significantly, when 2 Pet. 3:5 speaks of how the world was created “by” the word of Elohim, the word dia isn’t used- instead hoti, signifying ‘causation through’. This isn’t the word used in Heb. 1:2 about the creation of the aion on account of, dia, the Son. Eve was created dia Adam- she wasn’t created by Adam, but for the sake of Adam (1 Cor. 11:9). 1 Cor. 8:6 draws a helpful distinction between ek [out of whom] and dia- all things are ek Elohim, but dia, on account of, Messiah (1 Cor. 8:6).
- The context of Heb. 1:2 features many examples of where dia clearly means ‘for the sake of’ rather than ‘by’. Just a little later we read in Heb. 1:14 of how the Messengers are “ministering spirits” who minister dia, for the sake of, the believers.
- Because of [dia] Messiah’s righteousness, Elohim exalted Him (Heb. 1:9).
- The Mosaic law was “disannulled” dia “the weakness and unprofitableness thereof” (Heb. 7:18). The weakness of the law didn’t disannul the law; the law was disannulled by Elohim for the sake of the fact it was so weak.
- Levi paid tithes dia Abraham (Heb. 7:9), not by Abraham, but for the sake of the fact he was a descendant of Abraham.
- Yeshua was not a Messenger dia the suffering of death (Heb. 2:9). Clearly here the word means ‘for the sake of’ rather than ‘by’. Yeshua was born a man for the reason that He could die. He was not an Messenger who was then made ‘not a Messenger’ by the fact of death. That makes no sense.
- Scripture was written dia us- not by us, but ‘for our sakes’ (1 Cor. 9:10)
- The martyrs were executed dia, for the sake of, their witness to Yeshua (Rev. 20:4)
- Israel today are loved by Elohim dia the Jewish fathers (Rom. 11:28)- clearly the word here means ‘for the sake of’ and not ‘by’.
- Cold and wet people made a fire dia, for the sake of, because of, the rain and cold (Acts 28:2). They didn’t make a fire ‘by’ the rain and cold.
- Timothy was circumcised dia, for the sake of, the critically minded Jews (Acts 16:3). He was not circumcised by them.
- When the voice came from Heaven, Yeshua commented that the voice came not dia me, but dia the disciples (Jn. 12:30). Clearly dia here means ‘for the sake of’ and not ‘by’.
The Third Pillar of Trinitarianism: Hebrews 1 - 2
By: Eric ChangHebrews chapter 1 is what I used to call the third pillar of trinitarianism. Woven into the fabric of the chapter is a catena of quotations from the Old Testament which take up more than half the chapter and are called up for the purpose of demonstrating that Yeshua is the promised Messianic king of Israel. No Old Testament text ever speaks of the Messiah as divine, nor is this the intention of Hebrews. Here is Hebrews chapter 1 in full:
Hebrews 1: 1 Long ago, at many times and in many ways, Elohim spoke to our fathers by the prophets, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. 3 He is the radiance of the glory of Elohim and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, 4 having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs. 5 For to which of the Messengers did Elohim ever say, “You are my Son, today I have begotten you”? Or again, “I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son”? 6 And again, when he brings the firstborn into the world, he says, “Let all Elohim’s Messengers worship him.” 7 Of the Messengers he says, “He makes his Messengers winds, and his ministers a flame of fire.” 8 But of the Son he says, “Your throne, O Elohim, is forever and ever, the scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom. 9 You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore Elohim, your Elohim, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions.” 10 And, “You, Lord, laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning, and the heavens are the work of your hands; 11 they will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like a garment, 12 like a robe you will roll them up, like a garment they will be changed. But you are the same, and your years will have no end.” 13 And to which of the Messengers has he ever said, “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet”? 14 Are they not all ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation? (ESV)
Hebrews 1:2
To prove the deity of Yeshua, trinitarians need to find a verse that speaks of him as the creator of the world. If Yeshua is the creator or a co-creator or even an agent of creation, then he is evidently preexistent and divine. The scarcity of such verses in the Bible drives trinitarians towards a search for one. And since such a verse cannot be found, why not just make one up? This statement is not meant as a joke but a point to be taken in all seriousness.
In the last chapter we have seen that “through whom also he created the world” in Hebrews 1:2 can also mean “because of whom also he created the world,” a reading that offers no support for Messiah’s preexistence. We now revisit this verse from a different angle and note the four places in ESV’s rendering of this verse that deviate from the Greek text.
We now quote Heb.1:2 twice, the first time from ESV and the second time also from ESV but with its four deviations from the Greek text shown in boldface and marked with superscript numbers 1,2,3,4 for reference:
Hebrews 1:2 in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.
Hebrews 1:2 in these last days he has spoken to us by his 1 Son, whom he appointed the 2 heir of all things, through whom also he created 3 the world 4. (ESV)
The last few words of this verse, “through whom also he created the world,” are precisely the reading desired by trinitarianism because it implies that Yeshua played a role in the Genesis creation. Yet alarm bells are set off when New Jerusalem Bible says something different: “through whom he made the ages”. Which translation is correct? Here is the verse as it stands in NJB and in the Greek text:
Hebrews 1:2 NJB … in our time, the final days, he (Elohim) has spoken to us in the person of his 1 Son, whom he appointed heir of all things and through whom he made the ages.
Hebrews 1:2 NA28 … ἐλάλησεν ἡμῖν ἐν υἱῷ, ὃν ἔθηκεν κληρονόμον πάντων, δι᾽ οὗ καὶ ἐποίησεν τοὺς αἰῶνας [aiōnas]
Anyone who can read Greek would immediately know that it is NJB, not ESV, which has the correct translation. In the Greek, the crucial word is the very last one in the verse, namely, aiōnas, a plural of aiōn. [1] In fact the English word “eon” (an age) comes from Greek aiōn via the Latin aeōn.
Whereas ESV has made four alterations to Hebrews 1:2 with respect to the Greek, NJB has made only one. We now list out the four ESV alterations marked above by the four superscript numbers; this will be followed by a more detailed discussion of the fourth alteration.
Alteration #1: In the term “his Son” of Hebrews 1:2, the word “his” is not found in the Greek, so why does ESV add it in? The inclusion of “his” does not make the statement doctrinally incorrect, but why introduce a word into the text which is not there, thereby limiting the meaning of “son”? The fact is that the Scriptures teach that Elohim is “bringing many sons to glory” (Heb. 2:10), not just one son.
Alteration #2: Similarly, the word “the” in “the heir” is not in the Greek, so why does ESV add it in? What does “the heir” imply but that Yeshua is the only heir? What is the reason for imposing on “heir” a limit that is not found in the Bible? Paul says that believers are also heirs: “if children, then heirs—heirs of Elohim and fellow heirs with Messiah” (Rom.8:17).
Alteration #3: The word “made” (which is correctly preserved in NJB) has been changed by ESV to “created”. The reason for the change is obvious: man can “make” things but only Elohim can “create” things. Changing “made” to “created” is a fundamental alteration that implies Yeshua is Elohim. The difference in meaning between “make” and “create” is not as pronounced in English as in Greek; but even in English, the statement “I made this bread” (perhaps by baking) would be understood differently from “I created this bread” (which could take one of several meanings, including creating bread by a miracle).[2]
Alteration #4: This is a huge alteration which is reflected in the contradictory renderings of NJB (“through whom he made the ages”) and ESV (“through whom also he created the world”). NJB correctly translates tous aiōnas as “the ages” (which is the exact literal translation[3]) whereas ESV changes it to “the world” to imply that the world was created through Yeshua. Interestingly, the exact construction tous aiōnas occurs 29 times in the Greek New Testament, yet ESV never translates it as “the world” except in Hebrews 1:2!
Lexically, tous aiōnas in Hebrews 1:2 does not mean “the world” but “the ages”. It comes from the plural of aiōn which means “age” (hence the plural “ages”). For English-speaking people, this point is easy to grasp because the English word “eon” is derived from aiōn. That aiōn carries the sense of time and ages (as does “eon” in English) is further seen in the fact that eis ton aiōna (or eis tous aiōnas) is the standard Greek expression for “forever” (it occurs 54 times, e.g., 2 John 1:2).
An attempt to circumvent Hebrews 1:2..