Man: Temporarily Lower Than Angels

September 30th, 2025
by Lance Waldie

Hebrews 2:5-8a For [God] did not subject to angels the world to come, concerning which we are speaking. 6 But one has testified somewhere, saying, “What is man, that You remember him? Or the son of man, that You are concerned about him? 7 You have made him for a little while lower than the angels; You have crowned him with glory and honor, And have appointed him over the works of Your hands; 8 You have put all things in subjection under his feet.”

Following the parenthesis of exhortation in Hebrews 2:1-4, the Hebrews author returns to his comparison of Jesus and the angels. Whereas the Jews began to believe that angels would rule over mankind, and that Jesus was probably the chief angel, the author says otherwise. Once again, in order to prove his point to these Jews, the author went to their Bible to prove his point.

In v. 6 the Hebrews author says, “One has testified somewhere” making it appear that he did not know from where he was quoting. But the writer obviously knew the passage well, for he quoted it word-for-word from Psalm 8:4-6, a psalm of David. Given this, why would the author not give credit to David? Perhaps the author was devoted to keeping the names of human authors out of his letter, including his own name. He never mentions a human author by name, and Hebrews itself is notoriously anonymous. The writer is mainly concerned that his Jewish audience view the OT as having one Author, namely God. So, it is the voice of the Holy Spirit he is concerned with, not the man who composed the writing or writings.

In Psalm 8 David was worshiping God by observing the sky. Since he does not mention the sun, he was likely looking at the night sky, making mention only of the moon and stars (8:3). As he worshiped he wrote what he felt, and he was clearly in awe of his Maker. He also wondered why God regarded lowly man high enough to set him over His awesome creation, confused as to why God would ordain mankind as king over the creation. He says, “What is man… the son of man”—a typical Hebrew parallelism equating the two. Some think that “son of man” is David talking about the Messiah, but this does not fit the context. Yes, Jesus called himself the “Son of Man” (Matt. 8:20), but this phrase is used numerous times for men in general in the OT, and the context of Psalm 8 is clearly referring to mankind. What is man that God regards him?

Psalm 8 is used by the author to remind the readers of a few things. First, that God is mindful of man. This means that God remembers and cares for mankind. He has an active concern for the apex of His creation. Second, God is “concerned” for man. This term means to “seek out” or “to visit.” God is thus not aloof with mankind but actively loves and cares for him. Third, God has made man “for a little while lower than the angels.” Though man is physical and angels are spiritual, this is just a temporary distinction. Angels have continual access to God and have supernatural powers. Man is earthbound and made from dust. In the future, however, man will be elevated to angelic likeness (Matt. 22:30), elevated above his current fleshly status.

The Psalm also says that man has been “crowned with glory and honor” with everything put under his authority (vv. 7-8). These passages, however, though partially true in the here and now, are prophecies of what awaits mankind in the “world to come.” They await Christ’s return.

Food For Thought
God has given mankind fatherly care and a unique authority. We were created with a distinctive dignity being crowned with glory and honor as the pinnacle of God’s creation, having unrivaled authority on God’s earth and made in His image. But what have we become? We abuse our privileges, ignore our dignity, limit our dominion, and despise God’s favor. That is why we don’t see man as we should be. It’s also why we must look to Jesus who came to earth as a man, taking on human flesh, in order to accomplish what we have failed miserably to do: rule well.