Bible) places this passage in correspondence with verse 8. Here is another
instance where the word almuth `secrets' has been wrongly divided to read al
muth, `unto death'.
How does it come about that the word almuth can mean either `maiden' or
`secret' or `for ever'? The Hebrew root Alm means to hide or conceal, and gives
us `secret' (Psa. 90:8), `hide' (Psa. 10:1) and in the East in old time, a
virgin (maiden, damsel or youth) was called almah because of the concealed or
retired state of the unmarried of both sexes. `The virgins shut up in chambers'
is an expression found in the Apocrypha. From this same root comes the word
translated `age' and `ever', being a period of time, whose end or duration is
hidden from view. It will be seen therefore that the rendering `concerning the
secrets of the Son' given by the LXX two centuries before Christ, has much in
its favour.
(3)
The internal evidence of Psalms 8 and 45.
At first there does not appear to be any distinctive feature common to
both Psalms, until we realize the way in which they are quoted in the epistle to
the Hebrews:
Hebrews 1 and 2
A
1:1,2.
God spoke once by the prophets. Now by His Son.
B
1:2-14.
The Son. His Glories. Better than angels.
Quotation from Psalm 45
`Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever'.
A
2:1-4.
God spoke once by angels. Now by the Lord.
B
2:5-18.
The Son. His Sufferings. Lower than angels.
Quotation from Psalm 8
`What is man ... or the Son of Man?'
With these evidences before us, we feel that the translations given `death
to the champion' and `concerning maidens' must give place to the ancient
interpretation `the secrets of the Son' and `concerning secrets', and we can
read with richer and fuller understanding both the Psalms themselves and the
quotations from them in Hebrews 1 and 2.
Proof provided in what Paul had `written afore'
lf Psalm 8 be a pre-eminent portion of Old Testament Scripture which
contains a revelation of the mystery of Christ, or as the LXX has it `The
secrets of the Son', then the use which Paul alone makes of the words `all
things under His feet' most certainly substantiates his claim to a fuller
comprehension of this mystery than had been given to any who went before. The
verse of Psalm 8 reads:
`Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of Thy hands; Thou hast
put all things under his feet' (Psa. 8:6).
What is meant by `all things' here is immediately explained:
`All sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field; The fowl of the
air, and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passeth through the paths of
the seas' (7,8).
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