"Made Lower - but Only for a While"

article by Tom Robinson

Note David's statement in Psalm 8:5 that man has been made "a little lower than the angels" or "heavenly beings," as the English Standard Version translates it.

As mortal, material creatures, it would seem that we are in fact far below the power and glory of spirit beings in the heavenly realm. So instead of "a little lower," perhaps a better rendering is the translation of the quoting of David in Hebrews 2:7
in the ESV: "You made him for a little while lower than the angels."

This makes even more sense when we realize that in Hebrews 2 Jesus Christ is being shown as the representative human being inheriting what God has promised. Man as a whole has not yet been exalted to such a high position, "but we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor" (Hebrews 2:9, ESV).