For you have made him a little lower than the angels, and crowned him with glory and honor.
ExplanationCommentary
Verse 5. Him. The prophet considers the nature of man at such a distance from the divinity. Being, nevertheless, united with it in Jesus Christ, it is raised far above the angels. Hebrews 2:6. Bert.—When we reflect on the meanness of our nature, on the one hand, and on what God has done for it on the other, we are lost in astonishment. The pagans were aware of the corporal infirmities of man, (Seneca Consol. xi.) but not of his spiritual disorders. Hebrew has here, the son of Adam, or one of the lowest class; and not of ish, which means a person of nobility, vir. Psalms 4:4. Calmet.—Yet Christ applies to himself the former appellation, to shew us a pattern of humility. Bible.—Saint Augustine inquires, what difference there is between man or the son. The Hebrew v means, likewise, and; yet or would have been better. Exodus 21:16.—“Whether he have sold him, or he be in his hand.” Amama.
Hebrew: Elohim. The word Elohim, used here, usually means “God”, but can also mean “gods”, “princes”, or “angels”. The Septuagint reads “angels” here. See also the quote from the Septuagint in Hebrews 2:7.