Jesus Made Lower Than Angels in Hebrews 2
Hebrews 2:9 states, "But we see him who has been made a little lower than the angels, Jesus, because of the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that by the grace of God he should taste of death for everyone" [1]. This verse is part of a larger argument in Hebrews that emphasizes the superiority of Christ over angels, even though he temporarily took on a lower status [4, 9].
The phrase "a little lower than the angels" is drawn from Psalm 8:5, which the author of Hebrews quotes in Hebrews 2:7: "You made him a little lower than the angels. You crowned him with glory and honor" [2]. The Hebrew word translated as "angels" in Psalm 8:5 is Elohim, which can also mean "God" [3, 7]. However, the author of Hebrews, following the Septuagint, renders it as "angels," and this interpretation is supported by Jewish commentators like Jarchi and Kimchi [3].
The temporary lowering of Jesus below the angels refers to his incarnation and human experience [3, 8]. In his human nature, Jesus was "a little lower than the angels" [7]. This humbling was specifically "for the suffering of death" [5]. It was through this suffering and death that he was subsequently "crowned with glory and honor" [1, 8]. This demonstrates a paradox: Christ, who is superior to angels, willingly became lower than them through his humanity and suffering, ultimately to achieve a greater glory and to taste death for all humanity [1, 5, 8].
The author of Hebrews uses this concept to highlight the necessity of Christ's human experience for salvation [9]. While angels are spiritual beings, Christ's assumption of human nature, with its inherent infirmities, allowed him to experience death [3]. This act of humility and suffering is contrasted with his divine preeminence, which is established in Hebrews 1 [9]. The knowledge infused into Christ's soul, even in his human state, was considered more excellent than that of angels, both in its scope and certainty, according to scholastic theology [6].
Sources
- Hebrews “But we see him who has been made a little lower than the angels, Jesus, because of the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that by the grace of God he should taste of death for everyone. -- Hebrews 2:9”
- Hebrews “You made him a little lower than the angels. You crowned him with glory and honor. -- Hebrews 2:7”
- Hebrews (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on Hebrews 2:6: Thou madest him a little lower than the angels,.... In the Hebrew text it is, "than Elohim", which some render, "than God"; but it is rightly rendered by the apostle, "than angels"; and so the Targum, Jarchi, Aben Ezra, Kimchi, and Ben Melech, interpret it. Christ was made a little lower than the angels, through the assumption of the human nature, which is inferior to angels, especially the corporeal part of it, and in this Kimchi makes the lessening to be; and more especially as that was assumed by Christ, with the infirmities of it; and by reason of the straits and ”
- Hebrews (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on Hebrews 2 (introduction): INTRODUCTION TO HEBREWS 2 In this chapter the apostle, from the superior excellency of Christ, by whom the Gospel revelation is come, discoursed of in the preceding, urges the believers he writes to, to a more diligent attention to the Gospel, and the doctrines of it; to which he adds another motive inducing thereunto, lest those things should be let slip, and be lost, Heb 2:1 and then, by another argument from the less to the greater, that if the law, which was given by angels, could not be broken with impunity, then how should such escape divine punis”
- Hebrews (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on Hebrews 2:8: But we see Jesus,.... Not with bodily eyes, but with the eyes of the mind, and understanding; that he is Jesus, as the Syriac version reads; and that he is designed in the above words; and that he has all things made subject unto him; and that he was humbled, and now exalted, as follows: who was made a little lower than the angels; in his state of humiliation; See Gill on Heb 2:7. for the suffering of death: this clause may be considered either as connected with the preceding; and then the sense is, that Jesus became lower than the angels, by, or through suffering”
- theology (Catholic (Scholastic)) “Aquinas, Summa Theologica, Third Part (Tertia Pars), Of the Knowledge Imprinted or Infused on the Soul of Christ, Art. 4: Article: Whether in Christ this knowledge was greater than the knowledge of the angels? I answer that, The knowledge imprinted on Christ's soul may be looked at in two ways: First, as regards what it has from the inflowing cause; secondly, as regards what it has from the subject receiving it. Now with regard to the first, the knowledge imprinted upon the soul of Christ was more excellent than the knowledge of the angels, both in the number of things known and in the certain”
- Hebrews (Presbyterian) “Jamieson, Fausset & Brown on Hebrews 2:7: a little--not as BENGEL, "a little time." than the angels--Hebrew, "than God," "Elohim," that is, the abstract qualities of God, such as angels possess in an inferior form; namely, heavenly, spiritual, incorporeal natures. Man, in his original creation, was set next beneath them. So the man Jesus, though Lord of angels, when He emptied Himself of the externals of His Divinity (see on Phi 2:6-7), was in His human nature "a little lower than the angels"; though this is not the primary reference here, but man in general. crownedst him with glory and h”
- Hebrews (Protestant academic) “Tyndale House on Hebrews 2:7: 2:7 them: Literally him. This refers to humanity in general and is applied specifically to Christ (see study note on 2:6-8). • Christ became a little lower than the angels (or lower than the angels for only a little while), like other human beings (see also Phil 2:5-8). As a result of his suffering, he was crowned . . . with glory and honor (see Heb 2:9; Phil 2:9-11).”
- Hebrews (Presbyterian) “Jamieson, Fausset & Brown on Hebrews 2 (introduction): DANGER OF NEGLECTING SO GREAT SALVATION, FIRST SPOKEN BY CHRIST; TO WHOM, NOT TO ANGELS, THE NEW DISPENSATION WAS SUBJECTED; THOUGH HE WAS FOR A TIME HUMBLED BELOW THE ANGELS: THIS HUMILIATION TOOK PLACE BY DIVINE NECESSITY FOR OUR SALVATION. (Heb. 2:1-18) Therefore--Because Christ the Mediator of the new covenant is so far (Heb 1:5-14) above all angels, the mediators of the old covenant. the more earnest--Greek, "the more abundantly." heard--spoken by God (Heb 1:1); and by the Lord (Heb 2:3). let them slip--literally "flow past the”