John Calvin Commentary Hebrews 2:5

"For not unto angels did he subject the world to come, whereof we speak." — Hebrews 2:5 (ASV)

For unto the angels, etc. He again proves by another argument that Christ should be obeyed, for the Father has conferred on Him the sovereignty of the whole world, while the angels are entirely lacking such an honor. It therefore follows that none of the angels should stand in the way of His preeminence, who alone possesses supremacy.

But first, the Psalm which he quotes must be examined, for it seems to be inappropriately applied to Christ. David there mentions the benefits which God bestows on mankind; for after having contemplated God’s power as manifested in heaven and the stars, he comes to man, among whom the wonderful goodness of God appears in a unique manner.

He does not, then, speak of any particular person, but of all mankind. To this I answer that all this provides no reason why the words should not be applied to the person of Christ.

I indeed allow that man was at first put in possession of the world, so that he might rule over all the works of God. But by his own rebellion, he deserved the loss of his dominion. This was a just punishment for ingratitude: the Lord, whom he refused to acknowledge and faithfully worship, deprived him—one so favored—of a right previously granted to him.

Therefore, as soon as Adam alienated himself from God through sin, he was justly deprived of the good things which he had received. This was not because he was denied the use of them, but because he would have had no right to them after he had forsaken God.

And in the very use of them, God intended that there should be some signs of this loss of right, such as these: wild beasts ferociously attack us; those who ought to be awed by our presence are dreaded by us; some never obey us; others can hardly be trained to submit; and they do us harm in various ways. The earth does not meet our expectations in cultivating it; the sky, the air, the sea, and other things are often adverse to us.

But even if all creatures were to continue in subjection, still, whatever the sons of Adam possessed would be considered a robbery. For what can they call their own when they themselves are not God’s?

With this foundation established, it is evident that God’s bounty does not belong to us until the right lost in Adam is restored by Christ. For this reason, Paul teaches us that food is sanctified to us by faith (1 Timothy 4:5); and in another place, he declares that to the unbelieving nothing is clean, for they have a polluted conscience (Titus 1:16).

We found at the beginning of this letter that Christ has been appointed by the Father as the heir of all things. Doubtless, as the Father ascribes the whole inheritance to One, He excludes all others as aliens—and justly so, for we have all become exiles from God’s kingdom. Therefore, what food God has destined for His own family, we have no right to take.

But Christ, by whom we are admitted into this family, also admits us to share in this right, so that we may enjoy the whole world, together with the favor of God.

Therefore, Paul teaches us that Abraham was by faith made an heir of the world—that is, because he was united to the body of Christ (Romans 4:13).

If, then, men are excluded from all God’s bounty until they receive a right to it through Christ, it follows that the dominion mentioned in the Psalm was lost to us in Adam, and that on this account it must be restored again as a gift. Now, the restoration begins with Christ as the Head. There is, then, no doubt that we are to look to Him whenever the dominion of man over all creatures is spoken of.

This is what is referred to when the Apostle mentions the world to come, or the future world, for he understands this to mean the renovated world.

To make this clearer, let us suppose two worlds: the first, the old world, corrupted by Adam’s sin; the other, later in time, as renewed by Christ.

The state of the first creation has become entirely decayed and, with man, has fallen as far as man himself is concerned. Until, then, a new restitution is made by Christ, this Psalm will not be fulfilled.

Thus, it now appears that here the world to come is not that which we hope for after the resurrection, but that which began at the beginning of Christ’s kingdom. However, it will undoubtedly have its full accomplishment in our final redemption.

But why he omitted David's name is not clear to me. Doubtless, he says one, or someone, not in contempt, but for honor’s sake, designating him as one of the prophets or a renowned writer.