---
title: Hebrews 1:6
url: https://jw-apologetics.app/verses/hebrews-1-6/
markdown: https://jw-apologetics.app/verses/hebrews-1-6.md
type: verse
perspective: Protestant (historic Nicene) response to Jehovah's Witness teaching
reference: Hebrews 1:6
testament: NT
section: Letters
index: https://jw-apologetics.app/llms.txt
---

# Hebrews 1:6

## Text (Berean Standard Bible)

> And again, when God brings His firstborn into the world, He says:  “Let all God’s angels worship Him.”

## NWT Wording of the Key Phrase

- NWT (1984 edition): "let all God's angels do obeisance to him (footnote: Or, 'let…worship')"
- NWT (2013 revision): "let all of God's angels do obeisance to him (footnote: Or, 'bow down to him')"

## JW Usage

The NWT renders the verse "let all God's angels do obeisance to him." JWs argue proskuneō here means respectful bowing — the kind of honour due a king's envoy — not religious worship. Angels honour Jesus as Jehovah's appointed representative, not as God. The 1961 NWT actually read "worship" here; the 1971 revision changed it to "obeisance" and the 2013 revision deleted even the footnote that acknowledged "worship" as a valid alternative.

## Protestant Usage

The Greek proskuneō receives consistent treatment everywhere else in the NWT — "worship" when directed at the Father (Matt 4:10), at Satan (Matt 4:9), at the Beast (Rev 13:4), and at idols (Acts 7:43) — but becomes "obeisance" only when the object is Jesus. The dual standard is theological, not linguistic. Worse, the quotation in Heb 1:6 comes from Deuteronomy 32:43 (preserved in the LXX and confirmed in pre-Christian Hebrew at Qumran 4QDeutq), where the one being worshipped is Jehovah himself — Deut 32:39 has Jehovah declaring "I am He; there is no God besides me." A monotheistic Jewish author would not apply a Jehovah-worship text to a creature unless he identified the Son with Jehovah. And note: the verse says God "commands" this proskuneō — God does not command idolatry.

## NWT Issue

The verb proskuneō occurs ~60 times in the NT. The KIT interlinear glosses it consistently as "doing obeisance" regardless of object, but the NWT smooth column splits the rendering by recipient: "worship" for God, Satan, the Beast, demons, and idols (~22+ occurrences) and "do obeisance" for Jesus across all 17 occurrences. The 1961 NWT read "worship" at Heb 1:6; the 1971 revision changed it to "obeisance"; the 1984 footnote allowed "Or, 'let…worship'"; the 2013 footnote was changed to "Or, 'bow down to him'" — the word "worship" was completely removed even from the footnote. This progression tracks the Watchtower's 1954 doctrinal shift away from worshipping Jesus, not any change in the Greek text.

## Arguments Using This Verse

- [Jesus' Eternality](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/psalm102-hebrews1.md) — Psalm 102 → Hebrews 1 [Deity of Christ]
- ['A God' = Polytheism](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/john1-polytheism.md) — John 1:1 + Exodus 20:3 + Isaiah 43:10 [Deity of Christ]
- [Jesus Receives Worship](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/worship-of-jesus.md) — Hebrews 1:6 / Revelation 5:13–14 / Daniel 7:13–14 [Deity of Christ]
- [The Elohim Category Trap](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/elohim-category.md) — Psalm 82 — If Jesus Is 'a God,' Which Kind? [Deity of Christ]
- [The Law of Agency Doesn't Work](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/law-of-agency.md) — Agents Are Never Called God [Deity of Christ]
- [The NWT's One-Way Mirror](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/nwt-unidirectional-bias.md) — Every Change Points the Same Direction [NWT Translation]
- [Hebrews 1:6 Quotes a Jehovah-Worship Text — And Applies It to Jesus](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/deut3243-hebrews16-worship.md) — Deuteronomy 32:43 LXX / Hebrews 1:6 / Dead Sea Scrolls [Deity of Christ]
- [Gods Who Die and God to Pharaoh Don't Parallel Jesus](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/psalm82-exodus71-gods-parallel.md) — Psalm 82:6-7 / Exodus 7:1 / John 10:34-36 [Deity of Christ]
- [9 Million Publishers — What the Number Does and Does Not Prove](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/jw-8-million-membership.md) — Growth is evidence only if growth is the criterion [Epistemology]
- [Proskuneo — Same Word, Different Translation](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/proskuneo-worship-obeisance.md) — Hebrews 1:6, Matthew 14:33, Revelation 5:14 [NWT Translation]
- [The Curated Bible — JW Selective Scripture Use](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/selective-scripture-swimming-pool.md) — 2 Timothy 3:16 / Acts 20:27 — All Scripture, the Whole Counsel [Epistemology]
- [Angels Do Not Share the Divine Nature](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/angels-not-divine-nature.md) — Hebrews 1:5-14 — the seven-fold contrast between the Son and angels [Deity of Christ]