What Does Hebrews 1:6 Mean in the King James?
And again, when he bringeth in the firstbegotten into the world, he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The firstborn’s standing is revealed by the posture he receives: every messenger of God is summoned to bow before him.
THE MEANING
The firstborn enters the inhabited world as one before whom every messenger of God bows. Their posture makes his place among them unmistakable: they serve God, and they are commanded to bow before him.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The firstborn is merely another of God’s messengers.
THE ROOT
προσκυνησάτωσαν
proskynēsatōsan
GROWS FROM
προσκυν- (from προσκυνέω, proskyneō)
To bow down or prostrate oneself.
The Greek verb makes the response a visible posture: the messengers bow before the firstborn. “Worship” carries this bodily movement within it, showing honor expressed through the body.
ALSO GROWS
proskynētēs: One who bows down; a worshipper.
προσκυνητής
The related noun names a person by this posture, making the act in this verse a defining response.
proskynēsousin: They will bow down.
προσκυνήσουσιν
This form of the same verb appears in Revelation 3:9, where people bow before the one God loves; the shared root keeps the posture of honor visible.
πρωτότοκον
prōtotokon
GROWS FROM
τίκτω
tiktō
To bear or bring forth.
“firstbegotten” in this verse is prōtotokon. The word joins prōtos, “first,” to tokos, “birth”: it names the firstborn and carries a sense of precedence. Here, the command to bow makes that standing visible among God’s messengers.
ALSO GROWS
prōtotokos: Firstborn.
πρωτότοκος
This is the form used of the firstborn; it shows that the verse’s title includes both birth order and precedence.
tokos: Birth or offspring.
τόκος
This related word returns the title to its language of birth, keeping the firstborn’s place connected to being brought forth.
THE PATTERN
The standing of God’s chosen one is revealed as beings from every realm bow before him.
Confounded be all they that serve graven images, that boast themselves of idols: worship him, all ye gods.And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;THE THREAD
And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.The Greek uses the same verb, proskyneō: here the visitors bow before the child, while Hebrews summons God’s messengers to bow before the firstborn. The shared word links the child honored on earth with the one before whom heaven’s messengers bow.
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