Hebrews 2:9 - Printer Friendly

ESV: But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.

NIV: But we do see Jesus, who was made lower than the angels for a little while, now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.

NASB: But we do see Him who was made for a little while lower than the angels, namely, Jesus, because of His suffering death crowned with glory and honor, so that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone.

CSB: But we do see Jesus— made lower than the angels for a short time so that by God’s grace he might taste death for everyone— crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death.

NLT: What we do see is Jesus, who for a little while was given a position 'a little lower than the angels'; and because he suffered death for us, he is now 'crowned with glory and honor.' Yes, by God’s grace, Jesus tasted death for everyone.

KJV: But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man.

NKJV: But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that He, by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone.

The writer of Hebrews quotes from the Septuagint, a Jewish translation of the Old Testament into Greek. For this reason, the phrasing of Old Testament quotes found in Hebrews may be slightly different than what's found in the same translation's text of the quoted passage. This is one example, where one can see a subtle difference in some version's quotes between Hebrews and Psalms.

In verses 6–8, the writer of Hebrews quoted Psalm 8:4–6, which described mankind as being created "a little lower than the [angels]," but yet given gracious respect and authority by God. This idea is connected, in this letter, to the idea of Messiah being fully human. His humanity is not a mark of shame, since God has already shown so much favor to mankind, as compared to the angels. In fact, Jesus' life as a man allowed Him to fully experience our struggles. This not only allows Christ to respond to us with compassion (Hebrews 2:18), it also means He actually lived a human life and can therefore serve as a perfect high priest and conqueror over sin (Hebrews 2:17).

In other words, the reason the Promised One—Jesus—was made "lower" than other spiritual beings, in the sense of becoming human, was so that He could obtain the greater victory. The entire purpose of His incarnation was in order to suffer death, but a death that would lead to eternal life for mankind. This is clearer in the original Greek, which did not rely on punctuation marks to separate phrases. Had this been written in modern English, the phrase "crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death" would probably have been set off from the rest of the verse by dashes or parentheses.

In the next verses, the author of Hebrews will explain more about the reasons why God would send Jesus in the way He did.

Hebrews 2:5–18 explains why the Messiah, Jesus Christ, came in the form of a man, rather than being an angel. In order to serve as a true example, He had to experience our human suffering and temptation. By doing so, Jesus was able to become the ''Captain,'' or the ''Founder,'' of our salvation. His resurrection breaks the slavery we experience over our fear of death. By using more quotations from the Old Testament, the writer of Hebrews shows that this is exactly what God planned for all along.

Chapter 2 begins with a strong warning about the dangers of apostasy. Chapter 1 opened by explaining that Jesus Christ is the message of God. This chapter points out that those who have faith in Christ, but drift from that truth, will face dire consequences. The rest of the passage continues a series of proofs begun in Chapter 1. These are quotes from the Old Testament, used to prove that the Messiah is not an angel, but is superior to any created being. He is, in fact, identical to God. And yet, He became fully human in order to serve as our perfect high priest.

The first two chapters of Hebrews are meant to prove that Jesus Christ is superior to angels. Rather than seeing Jesus as a created being, or some form of exalted angel, He should be viewed as what He is: identical with God. These two chapters use extensive Old Testament quotes to prove this point. The first few verses of chapter 2 feature the first of several warnings within the book about the dangers of apostasy. Later chapters will demonstrate that Christ is also superior to other prophets, spiritual leaders, and priests.

The book of Hebrews is meant to challenge, encourage, and empower Christian believers. According to this letter, Jesus Christ is superior to all other prophets and all other claims to truth. Since God has given us Christ, we ought to listen to what He says and not move backwards. The consequences of ignoring God are dire. Hebrews is important for drawing on many portions of the Old Testament in making a case that Christ is the ultimate and perfect expression of God's plan for mankind. This book presents some tough ideas about the Christian faith, a fact the author makes specific note of.