promise to man has been fulfilled and is in fulfilment; while the revelation of the complete fulfilment belongs to the world to come.
The definite article (
to;n de; br. ti hjl.
) does not refer to the Psalm as fixing the original meaning of it, but to the known personality of Christ in whom the promise of the Psalm was fulfilled.
bracuv ti
...] Vulg.
qui modico quam angeli minoratus est
....O. L.
paulo
quam angelos minoratum
...See 5:7.
hjlattwmevnon
] not
ejlattwqevnta
. The human nature which Christ assumed He still retains. Comp. 2:18
pevponqen
.
blevpomen
] The change of the verb from
oJrw'men
in 2:8 cannot be without meaning.
Blevpein
apparently expresses the particular exercise of the faculty of sight (comp. John 1:29; 5:19; 9:7 ff.), while
oJra'n
describes a continuous exercise of it (Heb. 11:27). The difference is not marked by the Latt. (
videmus...videmus
...).
jIhsou'n ] The name comes in emphatically as marking Him who, being truly man, fulfilled the conception of the Psalmist of one made a little lower than angels.
The personal name Jesus , which always fixes attention on the Lord's humanity, occurs frequently in the Epistle: Heb. 3:1; 6:20; 7:22; 10:19; 12:2, 24; 13:12 (4:14; 13:20). See Additional Note on Heb. 1:4.
For the separation of the Name (
Him that hath been made
...even
Jesus
) compare Heb. 3:1; 12:2, 24; 13:20 (
our Lord
even
Jesus;
comp. 6:20; 7:22); 1 Thess. 2:15; 3:13.
dia; to; pavq. tou' q
.] Vulg. (Latt.)
propter passionem mortis.
The suffering of deaththe endurance of the uttermost penalty of sinwas the ground of the Lord's exaltation in His humanity. Comp. Phil. 2:9 (Rom. 8:17).
The words are not to be joined with
hjlattwmevnon
either in the sense
(1) that in this lay His humiliation, or (2) that this was the aim of His humiliation, that death might be possible, owing to the fact that death has to be borne by men. The main thought of the passage is that man's promised supremacy, owing to the fall, could only be gained by sacrifice.
Stress is laid not upon the single historic fact that the Lord suffered death (
dia; to; paqei'n q.
), but on the nature of the suffering itself (
dia; to; pavqhma
).
ejstefanwmevnon
] As in the case of the Lord's humiliation so also in this of His exaltation the writer brings out the permanent effect (not
stefanwqevnta
as
ejstefavnwsa"
in Heb. 2:7).
o{pw"
...] The particle is not strictly connected with
ejstefanwmevnon
alone, but refers to all that precedesto the Passion crowned by the Ascension. The glory which followed the death marked its universal efficacy. Thus Christ was made lower than angels that He might accomplish this complete redemption. The particle, which is much less frequent in the Epistles than
i{na
, occurs again Heb. 9:15.
Under this aspect the words are illustrated by St John's view of the Passion as including potentially the glorification of Christ (John 13:31), a double lifting up (12:32). So OEcumenius here says boldly
dovxan kai; timh;n to;n stauro;n kalei'
.
cavriti qeou'
] Comp. 1 John 4:10; John 3:17; Rom. 5:8. Chrysostom:
dia; th;n cavrin tou' qeou' th;n eij" hJma'" tau'ta pevponqen
. For the anarthrous