“And of the angels he saith, Who maketh his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire.”
King James Version (KJV)
1:7 Who maketh his angels - This implies, they are only creatures, whereas the Son is eternal, #Heb 1:8|; and the Creator himself, #Heb 1:10|. Spirits and a flame of fire - Which intimates not only their office, but also their nature; which is excellent indeed, the metaphor being taken from the most swift, subtle, and efficacious things on earth; but nevertheless infinitely below the majesty of the Son. #Psa 104:4|.
Heb 1:7 And of the angels he saith. The quotations made show how God speaks to and of the Son, but quite different are the words used of the angels. Who maketh his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire. In the Revised Version we have "winds" instead of "spirits". The Greek word is "Pneumata", a word which uniformly in the New Testament means "spirit", and "spirits" in the plural, and I believe that "spirits" is the better rendering. The passage is quoted from Ps 104:4, and means that he maketh spirits his messengers, or angels, and flaming ones (the burning seraphs) his ministers. It is incongruous with the thought to introduce into the passage winds and lightnings, natural phenomena, when the theme is the status of angel intelligences.
And of the Angels he saith: Who maketh his Angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire.
- King James Version (1611) - View 1611 Bible Scan
And of the angels He says, "WHO MAKES HIS ANGELS WINDS, AND HIS MINISTERS A FLAME OF FIRE."
- New American Standard Version (1995)
And of the angels he saith, Who maketh his angels winds, And his ministers a flame a fire:
- American Standard Version (1901)
And of the angels he says, Who makes his angels winds, and his servants flames of fire:
- Basic English Bible
And as to the angels he says, Who makes his angels spirits and his ministers a flame of fire;
- Darby Bible
And of the angels he saith, Who maketh his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire.
- Webster's Bible
Moreover of the angels He says, "He changes His angels into winds, and His ministering servants into a flame of fire."
- Weymouth Bible
Of the angels he says, "Who makes his angels winds, and his servants a flame of fire."
- World English Bible
But he seith to aungels, He that makith hise aungels spiritis, and hise mynystris flawme of fier.
- Wycliffe Bible
and unto the messengers, indeed, He saith, `Who is making His messengers spirits, and His ministers a flame of fire;'
- Youngs Literal Bible