One of the
important concepts of the New Testament is that it calls Jesus the Son of
God. The authors of the New Testament
quoted the Old Testament when describing Jesus as the Son of God. By examining the concept of the Son of God in
the Old Testament, we can see what the New Testament authors meant when they
called Jesus the Son of God.
The first verse we will examine is
Hosea 11:1,
כי נער ישׂראל ואהבהו וממצרים קראתי לבני
1 When
Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt.
The son here is obviously referring to ancient nation of
Israel. This is obviously not referring
to a biological son between God and a wife.
Also, Israel is not a deity. The
ancient nation of Israel was God’s son in the sense that God brought it into
existence by taking the people out of Egypt.
The author of the Gospel of Matthew believed this verse to have a
secondary meaning as an allusion to the part of Jesus’ life spent in Egypt.
Matthew 2:14-15,
ο δε εγερθεις παρελαβεν το παιδιον και
την μητερα αυτου νυκτος και ανεχωρησεν εις αιγυπτον
14 When he arose, he took the young child and his mother by night, and
departed into Egypt:
και ην εκει εως της τελευτης ηρωδου ινα
πληρωθη το ρηθεν υπο κυριου δια του προφητου λεγοντος εξ αιγυπτου εκαλεσα τον
υιον μου
15 And was there until the death of Herod: that it
might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Out of
Egypt have I called my son.
Let’s look at another one.
Psalm 2:1-12
למה רגשׁו גוים ולאמים יהגו־ריק
1 Why do the heathen rage, and the people
imagine a vain thing?
יתיצבו מלכי־ארץ ורוזנים נוסדו־יחד
על־יהוה ועל־משׁיחו
2 The kings of the earth set themselves, and
the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed,
saying,
ננתקה את־מוסרותימו ונשׁליכה
ממנו עבתימו
3 Let us break their bands asunder, and cast
away their cords from us.
יושׁב בשׁמים ישׂחק אדני ילעג־למו
4 He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh:
the Lord shall have them in derision.
אז ידבר אלימו באפו ובחרונו יבהלמו
5 Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath,
and vex them in his sore displeasure.
ואני נסכתי מלכי על־ציון הר־קדשׁי
6 Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of
Zion.
אספרה אל חק יהוה אמר אלי בני
אתה אני היום ילדתיך
7 I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said
unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee.
שׁאל ממני ואתנה גוים נחלתך ואחזתך
אפסי־ארץ
8 Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen
for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.
תרעם בשׁבט ברזל ככלי יוצר תנפצם
9 Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron;
thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel.
ועתה מלכים השׂכילו הוסרו שׁפטי
ארץ
10 Be wise now therefore, O ye kings: be instructed,
ye judges of the earth.
עבדו את־יהוה ביראה וגילו ברעדה
11 Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with
trembling.
נשׁקו־בר פן־יאנף ותאבדו דרך
כי־יבער כמעט אפו אשׁרי כל־חוסי בו
12 Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish
from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that
put their trust in him.
Who is this Psalm
talking about? Zion is used in the Bible
to refer to Jerusalem, so the kings of Zion here are the kings of ancient
Israel. In verses 6 and 7 we see that
when the king is appointed by God to be the king, God says to the king, “Thou
art my Son; this day have I begotten thee.”
So, the king becomes the son of God when he becomes king.
Next,
let’s look at
1
Chronicles 28:6,
ויאמר לי שׁלמה בנך הוא־יבנה
ביתי וחצרותי כי־בחרתי בו לי לבן ואני אהיה־לו לאב
6 And he
said unto me, Solomon thy son, he shall build my house and my courts: for I
have chosen him to be my son, and I will be his father.
And also
2 Samuel 7:13-14,
הוא יבנה־בית לשׁמי וכננתי את־כסא
ממלכתו עד־עולם
13 He shall build an house for my name, and I
will stablish the throne of his kingdom for ever.
אני אהיה־לו לאב והוא יהיה־לי
לבן אשׁר בהעותו והכחתיו בשׁבט אנשׁים ובנגעי בני אדם
14 I will be his father, and he shall be my son.
If he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the
stripes of the children of men:
These verses are
specifically referring to Solomon and God is saying that Solomon will become
the son of God when he becomes king. The
above verses are all referring to non-deities who become sons of God when they
are appointed by God to be kings.
Psalm 2:7, 1
Chronicles 28:6 and 2 Samuel 7:14 are all referred to in Hebrews 1:5, to
explain Jesus’ relationship to God.
τινι γαρ ειπεν ποτε των
αγγελων υιος μου ει συ εγω σημερον γεγεννηκα σε και παλιν εγω εσομαι αυτω εις
πατερα και αυτος εσται μοι εις υιον
5 For unto which of
the angels said he at any time, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee?
And again, I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son?
From these verses, we
see that kings appointed by God are referred to as sons of God in the Old
Testament. This is what the phrase “Son
of God” meant to the culture the writers of the New Testament grew up in. We can also see that the New Testament
authors quoted these very verses in explaining Jesus’ position as “Son of God.”
