Psalms 8 Footnotes

8:5 God made humans a little lower than “God.” This is an allusion to creation in which humans were made to be the image of God on earth (Gn 1:26-27). The alternate reading “heavenly beings” comes from the Hebrew word ’elohim commonly used of God, although a plural form. However, it can also be used for false gods (Ps 86:8; 97:7), angels or human judges (82:1,6-8 could be interpreted either way), and in some cases human rulers who represent God (Ex 7:1). Here the context would suggest either “God” or “angels,” for the verb “made less” includes the idea of not quite conferring upon people the abilities of the higher powers, either God or angels.

The Septuagint (Greek OT) translated the word as “angels,” the reading followed in Heb 2:7-9. The writer of Hebrews was applying the passage specifically to Jesus the Messiah, who in his incarnation was “made lower than the angels for a short time.” Psalm 8 is not, strictly speaking, a messianic prophecy, but since Jesus Christ was fully human and the second Adam, it had a perfect application to him. We do not yet see all things under the dominion of mankind, the writer says, but we see Jesus who will have that absolute dominion (1Co 15:27; Eph 1:22; Heb 2:6-9).