Being made Rather being; (for the word made is not implied in the original expression, γενομενος ;) so much better Higher; than the angels As the Jews gloried exceedingly in the law of Moses, on account of its being delivered by the ministry of angels, the apostle proves, by passages from the Jewish Scriptures, that the Son is superior in nature and dignity to all the angelical hosts. How much more then may we glory in the gospel, which was given, not by the ministry of angels, but by the very Son of God. As he hath by inheritance obtained Greek, κεκληρονομηκην, he hath inherited; a more excellent name than they Namely, the name of Son; a name which he is said to inherit, because he really is God's Son, and that in a sense in which no creature, man or angel, is his Song of Song of Solomon 1 st, Not by adoption, regeneration, or title, as patriarchs, prophets, or any other saints might be his sons: for he is distinguished from all these, Mark 12:6. 2d, Not by the resurrection merely, by which the saints will hereafter be manifested to be the sons of God, Luke 20:36. For he was distinguished from Moses and Elias on the mount of transfiguration, who had both entered the immortal state, Matthew 17:6. 3d, Not by creation, as Adam was, (Luke 3:38,) and angels are God's sons; for he is here represented as having a right to the name of Son by inheritance, which the angels have not. Hence he is termed the only- begotten of the Father; an expression which excludes from that honourable relation angels, and all other beings whatever. For unto which of the angels Although sometimes termed in Scripture the sons of God, because created by him; said he at any time, Thou art my Son God of God, Light of Light, the eternal Word of the eternal Father; this day have I begotten thee Namely, in and from eternity; which, by its unalterable permanency of duration, is one continued unsuccessive day. See the note on Psalms 2:7. “It is true, because the angel said to his mother, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee; therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God; some contend that these words, Thou art my Son, &c.; are a prediction of our Lord's miraculous conception. But on that supposition the argument taken from the name falls: for instead of proving Jesus superior to angels, his miraculous conception does not make him superior to Adam, who was as much the immediate work of God as Christ's human nature was the immediate work of the Holy Ghost. Besides, he is said (Joh 3:17) to have been the Son of God before he was sent into the world;” and Heb 1:2 of this chapter, when the worlds were made by him. See Macknight.
And again, I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son I will own myself to be his Father, and him to be my Son, by eminent tokens of my peculiar love. “The former clause relates to his natural Sonship by an eternal inconceivable generation, the other to his Father's acknowledgment and treatment of him as his incarnate Son: indeed this promise related immediately to Solomon, but in a far higher sense to the Messiah; applied to whom, it hath a very different meaning from what it had when applied to Solomon.” Wesley. Understood of the Messiah, it is a prediction that God would, in the most public manner, declare Jesus his Son by voices from heaven uttered on different occasions, and by the descent of the Holy Ghost on him after his baptism, and by his resurrection from the dead. Whereas the same promise spoken concerning Solomon, means only that he was to be the object of God's especial affection and care. Accordingly it was so explained in the revelation to David himself, 1 Chronicles 22:9; I will give him rest from all his enemies round about. And again That is, in another passage of Scripture; when he bringeth in the first-begotten Him who is before all creatures, Proverbs 8:24-25; more excellent than all, Genesis 49:3; and Heir or Lord of all, Psalms 2:6; Psalms 2:8. The appellation first-begotten includes that of Son, together with the rights of primogeniture, which the first-begotten Son of God enjoys, in a manner not communicable to any creature; into the world Namely, at his incarnation; he, God, saith, Let all the angels of God worship him So much higher was he, when in his lowest estate, than the highest angel! “In the Hebrew text it is cal Elohim, which in our Bibles is rendered all ye gods. But the expression is elliptical, and may be supplied as the writer of this epistle hath done; all ye angels of God In the 97th Psalm, whence it is commonly thought this quotation is made, the establishment of the kingdom of Christ is foretold, together with its happy influence in destroying idolatry. Because, in a few instances, the word Elohim, gods, denotes idols, this clause is translated by some, Worship him, all ye idols. But how can idols, most of whom are nonentities, worship the Son?”