a little or few (often adverbial or compar.) · noun, common masculine singular absolute
lower
וַתְּחַסְּרֵ֣הוּva.te.cha.se.Re.hu
H2637
to lack · conjunction + verb, piel sequential imperfect, 2nd person masculine singular + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
angels
מֵאֱלֹהִ֑יםme.'E.lo.Him
H430
gods in the ordinary sense · preposition + noun, common masculine plural absolute
crowned
תְּעַטְּרֵֽהוּte.'a.te.Re.hu
H5849
to encircle (for attack or protection) · verb, piel imperfect, 2nd person masculine singular + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
glory
וְכָב֖וֹדve.kha.Vod
H3519
properly · conjunction + noun, common masculine singular absolute
honour
וְהָדָ֣רve.ha.Dar
H1926
magnificence · conjunction + noun, common masculine singular absolute
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Hebrews 2:7 Thou madest him a little lower than the angels; thou crownedst him with glory and honour, and didst set him over the works of thy hands:
Hebrews 2:9 But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grac…
Genesis 1:26-27 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of th…
Philippians 2:7-11 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:
Hebrews 2:16 For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham.
Psalms 21:3-5 For thou preventest him with the blessings of goodness: thou settest a crown of pure gold on his head.
Psalms 103:4 Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies;
Ephesians 1:21 Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Psalms 8:3–end
David here goes on to magnify the honour of God by recounting the honours he has put upon man, especially the man Christ Jesus. The condescensions of the divine grace call for our praises as much as the elevations of the divine glory. How God has condescended in favour to man the psalmist here observes with wonder and thankfulness, and recommends it to our thoughts. See here,
I. What it is that leads him to admire the condescending favour of God to man; it is his consideration of the lustre and influence of the heavenly bodies, which are within the view of sense (Psa 8:3): I consider thy heavens, and there, particularly, the moon and the stars. But why does he not take notice of the sun, whi…
God has placed man next in dignity to angels, and but a little lower, and has crowned him with the empire of the world.
glory and honour--are the attributes of royal dignity (Psa 21:5; Psa 45:3). The position assigned man is that described (Gen 1:26-28) as belonging to Adam, in his original condition, the terms employed in detailing the subjects of man's dominion corresponding with those there used. In a modified sense, in his present fallen state, man is still invested with some remains of this original dominion. It is very evident, however, by the apostle's inspired expositions (Heb 2:6-8; Co1 15:27-28) that the language here employed finds its fulfilment only in the final exaltation of…
For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels,.... Than Elohim, "than God", as this word usually signifies: and could it be interpreted of man, as made by God, it might be thought to refer to the creation of him in the image and likeness of God; but as it must be understood of the human nature of Christ, it may regard the wonderful union of it to the Son of God, on account of which it is called by the same name, Luke 1:35; and so made but a little lower than God, being next unto him, and in so near an union with a divine Person; and which union is hypostatical or personal, the human nature being taken into a personal union with the Son of God: and so these words give an instance of G…
The Church Fathers
Therefore was the son of man first visited in the person of the very Lord Man, born of the Virgin Mary. Of whom, by reason of the very weakness of the flesh, which the Wisdom of God vouchsafed to bear, and the humiliation of the Passion, it is justly said, "You have lowered Him a little lower than the Angels" [Psalm 8:5].
He has made us "a little lower than the angels," I mean, by reason of death: but even that little we have now recovered. There is nothing therefore to hinder us from becoming nigh to the angels, if we will. Let us then will it, let us will it, and having exercised ourselves thoroughly, let us return honor to the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, now and ever, world without end, Amen.
From here on the humility and glory of the Lord Savior is related. He was made less not because of any necessity inherent in his role as servant, but by his loving free wish; as the Apostle says, "He emptied himself, taking the form of a servant." The psalm continues with the words "a little less than angels," because Christ took up the cross to win the salvation of all, since it was for this reason that the Creator of angels was made less than angels. The words "a little less" are well stated, since he took on himself a mortal body, though he had no sin. He "was crowned with glory and honor" when, after his utterly miraculous resurrection, as God he was exalted in as much as he had been made man, and he received the trust of the whole world.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Astronomy — The Hebrews were devout students of the wonders of the starry firmanent (Amos 5:8; Ps. 19). In the Book of Job, which is the oldest book of the Bible in all probability, the constellations are…
Gittith — A stringed instrument of music. This word is found in the titles of Ps. 8, 81, 84. In these places the LXX. render the word by “on the wine-fats.” The Targum explains by “on the harp which David…
Music, Instrumental — Among instruments of music used by the Hebrews a principal place is given to stringed instruments. These were, (1.) The kinnor, the “harp.” (2.) The nebel, “a skin bottle,” rendered “psaltery.” (3.)…
Psalms, Book Of — The present Hebrew name of the book is Tehill’im, “Praises;” but in the actual superscriptions of the psalms the word Tehillah is applied only to one, (Psalms 145:1) ... which is indeed emphatically…
Birds · Man’s dominion over — Man’s dominion over
Condescension Of God · SCRIPTURES RELATING TO — SCRIPTURES RELATING TO
Man · CREATED — CREATED
Religion · NATURAL — NATURAL
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
Psalm 8:5-6
5. For [147] thou hast made him little lower than God. [148] and hast crowned him with glory and honor. 6. Thou hast set him over the works of thy hands: Thou hast put all things under his feet.
5. Thou hast made him little lower. The Hebrew copulative ky, ki, I have no doubt, ought to be translated into the causal particle for, seeing the Psalmist confirms what he has just now said concerning the infinite goodness of God towards men, in showing himself near to them, and mindful of them. In the first place, he represents them as adorned with so many honors as to render their condition not far inferior to divine and celestial glory. In the second place, he mentions the external…
(Heb.: 8:4-6) Stier wrongly translates: For I shall behold. The principal thought towards which the rest tends is Psa 8:5 (parallel are Psa 8:2 a, 3), and consequently Psa 8:4 is the protasis (par., Psa 8:2), and כּי accordingly is = quum, quando, in the sense of quoties. As often as he gazes at the heavens which bear upon themselves the name of God in characters of light (wherefore he says שׁמיך), the heavens with their boundless spaces (an idea which lies in the plur. שׁמים) extending beyond the reach of mortal eye, the moon (ירח, dialectic ורח, perhaps, as Maurer derives it, from ירח = ירק subflavum esse), and beyond this the innumerable stars which are lost in infinite space (כּוכבים = כ…
Yet you made them only a little lower than God: Humans bear God’s image; the Lord has endowed humans with dignity and charged them to rule (Gen 1:26-27). Hebrews 2:6-8 applies these words to Jesus Christ, the ideal human who fully realized God’s purposes.
Spurgeon's Treasury of David on Psalms 8:5-8
For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour.
Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet:
All sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field;
The fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas.
These verses may set forth man's position among the creatures before he fell; but as they are, by the apostle Paul, appropriated to man as represented by the Lord Jesus, it is best to give most weight to that meaning. In order of dignity, man stood next to the angels, and a little lower than they; in the Lord Jesus this was accomplished,…
