The quotation probably comes from the Septuagint of Deuteronomy 32.43, but the author may also have had Psalm 96.7 in mind.
The introduction to the quotation raises several problems for the translator.
The word But makes a contrast with what verse 5 has said about angels. Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch first edition expressed this contrast even more clearly: “But of the Son he said, when he sent….” The Greek adds “also” to “he said,” but only to show that another quotation is about to open. However, “also” can be omitted, especially in translations which use quotation marks.
The Greek word for Revised Standard Version‘s “And again” probably introduces a new quotation, as in verse 5b. If so, the phrase may be omitted in any translation which uses other ways to mark quotations, for example, with quotation marks. Some scholars see here a reference to the return or second coming of Christ, and therefore translate “When God brings again his first-born Son into the world…” (similarly Knox), but the clause more probably refers to Christ’s becoming man.
Revised Standard Version‘s “when he brings” may refer (a) to an indefinite time; (b) to something which had not happened when Deuteronomy was written, but which had happened when Hebrews was written; for example, the birth of Jesus, or his earthly life as a whole, or his exaltation; (c) to something which had not yet happened when Hebrews was written. Many translations and commentaries, including Good News Translation, choose (b), when God was about to send, referring to the birth of Jesus, or his coming into the world. However, the context, especially verses 1-4 and 13, is more concerned with Christ’s enthronement or ascension. This too is a past event which may be referred to in translation by a past tense.
The Greek verb may mean either send or “bring” (Revised Standard Version). If verse 6a is understood, as in Good News Translation, to refer to the incarnation, send is right; God in heaven is sending his Son to earth. If verse 6a refers to Christ’s enthronement, RSV’s “bring” is correct, indicating movement toward God in heaven.
His first-born Son is literally “the first-born” (Revised Standard Version). In view of 2.10-15, Good News Translation is probably correct, though his and Son are not explicit in the Greek. Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch has “with the right of the first-born,” emphasizing the supreme status of the Son, not his coming first in time. In Old Testament times the eldest son was considered the most important. He was given special privileges (see Gen 25.5-6; 27.35-36; 37.21-24). It was therefore natural for Christians to think of Jesus, the Messiah, as God’s first-born Son (see Col 1.15-17, 18; Rom 8.29; Rev 1.5). Chapter 2 states that there are other sons after the first-born, namely “believers,” but this is not emphasized at this point.
In a number of languages there may be complications involved in attempting to render literally “first-born.” In the first place, a term meaning “born” may refer primarily to the activity of a mother in giving birth rather than to the relationship of a father to a son. It may therefore be better to render his first-born Son as simply “his first Son.”
When God was about to send his first-born Son into the world may be more satisfactorily rendered in some languages as “just before God sent his first Son into the world.” The expression send … into the world presupposes a type of preexistence.
The Greek word for world may mean (a) the present inhabited earth (like world in Heb 4.3; 9.26, though the Greek word there is different); or (b) the future or heavenly world (as 2.5 makes clear).
Good News Translation chooses (a) and is supported by Barclay: “When he leads his firstborn Son on to the stage of world history.” This brings out the human element in the world, though perhaps “world history” is too modern a concept for Hebrews.
The context is generally concerned with Christ’s enthronement and therefore favors (b). If this is chosen, some such phrase as “the heavenly world” may be needed.
If verse 1.6a is understood in this second way, Good News Translation‘s he said is still clearer than Revised Standard Version‘s literal “he says.” The author probably means “What is written in Deuteronomy 32.43 is what God said when he brought his Son back to heaven to sit at his right side.”
Verse 6a may thus be translated: “When God brought his first-born Son back into the heavenly world, he said….”
King James Version‘s “And” before “let all the angels of God worship him” is included in the Greek text as part of the quotation, but it interrupts the flow of the sentence and adds nothing to the meaning. It is best omitted in translation.
The Greek word for worship originally implied bowing low before someone and kissing the ground before his feet, so Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch has “All God’s angels shall throw themselves down before him.”
In some languages it may be more natural for God to speak of “my angels” rather than God’s angels, as in the verse quoted from the Old Testament.
In some languages it may be rather strange to say as in Good News Translation, he said, “All of God’s angels must worship him,” since in so many instances it is important to have with a verb such as said an indication of precisely to whom such a command is addressed. Therefore it may be far more natural and meaningful to say “he said to all of his angels, ‘You must worship him.’ ” Though in some languages worship is expressed in terms of “bowing before” or “prostrating oneself on the ground before,” in a number of languages the act of worship is expressed as “giving honor to” or “recognizing as divine.”
Quoted with permission from Ellingworth, Paul and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on The Letter of the Hebrews. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1983. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .