What does Hebrews 1:6 mean?

This is part of an extended series of Old Testament quotes. The writer of Hebrews seeks to prove, from the Jewish Scriptures, that Jesus Christ is a superior authority to any angel or other spiritual being. This list of evidence will continue through chapter 2, pausing only briefly to deliver a warning against ignoring the message of God.

Verse 5 made reference to Psalm 2:7, which refers to a newly-crowned king as "begotten." In that context, the meaning was coming into power and authority. Verse 5 also quoted from 2 Samuel 7:14, which connected the idea of God's role in king-making to the lineage of David.

Here, in verse 6, the idea of "again, when he brings the firstborn" is really meant to connect the words "bring" and "again." In other words, this is a reference to the second coming of Jesus. This is the time when God will "again bring" Jesus into the world. At this point in time, instead of being a poor and humble figure, Messiah will be a conquering and mighty figure, openly worshipped by the angels.

The writer of Hebrews makes this link through Psalm 97:7, though some also see a reference to Deuteronomy 32:43. Hebrews uses quotations from the Septuagint, a Greek translation of the Old Testament made by Jewish scholars. This results in some subtly different wording than is found in other, direct-from-Hebrew citations. In this instance, the word translated as "gods," with a small letter "g" in Psalm 97:7, is from a Hebrew term elohiym, a plural term which is sometimes used for God, and other times for generic spiritual beings. The Septuagint translators chose the Greek term for "angels," which corresponds to the context of the passage.