There are two verses here. The first one,

 

"Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever, the righteous scepter is the scepter of thy kingdom..." (Hebrews 1:8)

 

is given to show that the Son is God. The basic argument is: The Son is here explicitly called, "God" and therefore the Son IS God.
 

As has been previously discussed, any punctuation, including capitalizing words, is the prerogative of the translator. I would argue thusly, "Thy throne, o god, is forever and ever..." because this "god" being spoken of, according to verse 9, HAS A GOD.
 

"...therefore God, your God, has anointed you (the Son) with the oil of gladness above your companions."
 

The Son cannot BE God and HAVE A GOD.
 

The common reply to this is something like, "Yes, we can't understand it, but with God all things are possible."
 

At this point in the conversation, WE'RE DONE. When one argues that what the Bible says is not understandable, that it's a mystery, the conversation is over. In I Tim 6:20 Paul says, "Avoid the godless chatter and contradictions of what is falsely called knowledge, for by professing it some have missed the mark as regards the faith."
 

AVOID CONTRADICTIONS! There is nothing I can think of that is more contradictory than to say that Jesus IS God and Jesus HAS a God which is the same God that he is!
 

Secondly, there is an alternative translation possible. In Bart D. Ehrman's book, The Orthodox Corruption of Scripture, page, 265, concerning Hebrews 1:8 he says,
 

"The need to differentiate Christ from God is also evident in the interesting variant at Hebrews 1:8, one of the few New Testament passages that appears to designate Christ as "God." The author quotes Psalm 44:7 [sic - the quote is actually Ps 102:25] as a declaration of God to Christ: Your throne O God is forever and ever..." Interpretive problems abound in the passage, in part because the nominative o theos, normally construed as a vocative ("O God"), could also be taken as a predicate. In that case, the introductory clause would be rendered, "Your throne is God forever and ever..." Understood in this way, the text no longer calls Christ "God."
 

This alternative translation is given as a footnote in the RSV: "God is thy throne forever and ever..."
 

The second verse, Hebrews 1:10:
 

And, "Thou, Lord, didst found the earth in the beginning, and the heavens are the work of thy hands..."
 

is used to show that the Son created the heavens and the earth, and therefore is God.
 

In spite of the word, "and" that seems to refer this statement to the previous, "but of the son he says", my position is that this statement refers to God, not the Son.
 

• In verse 2 we read,  "...in these last days [God] has spoken to us in His Son, whom He (God) appointed heir of all things, through whom He (God) also made the world." We see here that it is God who has made the world, not the Son.

• In 2:10 we read, "For it was fitting that he (God), for whom and by whom all things exist..." Here we see that all things exist by God. This is a reference to the previous sentence where God has put "all things" in subjection to the Son.

• In 3:4b we read, "...the builder of all things is God."

 

So in the immediate context of Heb 1:10, we have 3 statements that:

 

1) God made the world,

2) it is by God that all things exist, and

3) the builder of all things is God.

 

These statements are consistent with the Hebrew paradigm. The writer is a Hebrew, he's writing to Hebrews, and the Hebrew paradigm is that God ALONE created the heavens and the earth (Nehemiah 9:6, Isaiah 44:24). Yet Hebrews 1:10 is used to say the Son created the world. Isn't it apparent that something is very wrong with the way Hebrews 1 has been traditionally interpreted? It is to me.
 

Secondly, verses 10-12 are a quote from Psalm 102. To say that Psalm 102 is referring to the Son and not Yahweh is wrenching it from its context. Psalm 102 attributes the creation to Yahweh.
 

Of old thou didst lay the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of thy hands. They will perish, but thou dost endure; they will all wear out like a garment. Thou changest them like raiment, and they pass away; but thou art the same, and thy years have no end.
 

"But to what angel has he ever said, "Sit at my right hand, till I make thy enemies a stool for thy feet"? (Hebrews 1:10-13)
 

The "he" in "But to what angel has HE ever said..." refers to what? It obviously is God - Yahweh - but where is the referent in the text? In the previous sentence - "Thou, Lord..." - the quote from Psalm 102, speaking of God, not the Son/King/Messiah.
 

"But to what angel has HE..." That's HE - Yahweh - He who has founded the earth in the beginning, He whose years will never end, He who will roll up the heavens like a mantle - THIS God, Yahweh, has said, not to any angel, but to the Son, "Sit at my right hand, till I make thy enemies a stool for thy feet."

 

Conclusion

 

Hebrews 1:8 cannot be said to definitively call Jesus "God" because of translational issues. It might be "god" rather than "God", or it might be, "God is thy throne..." rather than "Thy throne, O God...."
 

Hebrews 1:10 refers to Yahweh, not Jesus.
 

The above is very basic and simplified. If you wish more information and argumentation, click for a more lengthy and detailed paper on Hebrews 1.

 

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