John Calvin Commentary Psalms 8:5

"For thou hast made him but little lower than God, And crownest him with glory and honor." — Psalms 8:5 (ASV)

Thou hast made him little lower. The Hebrew copulative ki, I have no doubt, should be translated as the causal particle for, since the Psalmist confirms what he has just said concerning the infinite goodness of God toward men, by 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 dominion and power which they possess over all creatures, from which it appears how high the degree of dignity is to which God has exalted them.

Indeed, I have no doubt that he intends, by the first, the distinguished endowments which clearly show that men were formed after the image of God and created for the hope of a blessed and immortal life.

The reason with which they are endowed, by which they can distinguish between good and evil; the principle of religion which is planted in them; their social interaction, which is preserved from breaking up by certain sacred bonds; the regard for what is proper, and the sense of shame that guilt awakens in them, as well as their continued governance by laws—all these are clear indications of pre-eminent and celestial wisdom.

David, therefore, not without good reason, exclaims that mankind is adorned with glory and honor. "To be crowned" is used here metaphorically, as if David had said that man is clothed and adorned with marks of honor, which are not far removed from the splendor of the divine majesty.

The Septuagint renders אלהים (Elohim) as angels, and I do not disapprove of this, since this name, as is well known, is often given to angels. I explain David's words to mean the same thing, as if he had said that the condition of men is nothing less than a divine and celestial state. However, as the other translation seems more natural and is almost universally adopted by the Jewish interpreters, I have preferred to follow it.

Nor is it a sufficient objection to this view that the apostle, in his Epistle to the Hebrews (Hebrews 2:7), quoting this passage, says, little less than the angels, and not than God. For we know the freedoms the apostles took in quoting texts of Scripture—not, indeed, to twist them to a meaning different from the true one, but because they considered it sufficient to show, by a reference to Scripture, that what they taught was sanctioned by the word of God, even if they did not quote the precise words. Accordingly, they never hesitated to change the words, as long as the substance of the text remained unchanged.

There is another question which is more difficult to solve. While the Psalmist here discusses the excellency of men, and describes them, in this respect, as approaching God, the apostle applies the passage to the humiliation of Christ. In the first place, we must consider the propriety of applying to the person of Christ what is spoken here concerning all mankind; and, secondly, how we may explain it as referring to Christ being humbled in His death, when He lay without form or beauty, and, as it were, disfigured under the reproach and curse of the cross.

What some say—that what is true of the members may be properly and suitably transferred to the head—might be a sufficient answer to the first question. But I go a step further, for Christ is not only the first begotten of every creature but also the restorer of mankind.

What David here relates belongs properly to the beginning of creation, when human nature was perfect. But we know that, by the fall of Adam, all mankind fell from their primeval state of integrity. For by this, the image of God was almost entirely effaced in us, and we were also stripped of those distinguishing gifts by which we would have been, as it were, elevated to the condition of demigods. In short, from a state of the highest excellence, we were reduced to a condition of wretched and shameful destitution.

In consequence of this corruption, the liberality of God, of which David here speaks, ceased, at least to the extent that it no longer appears in the brilliancy and splendor in which it was manifested when man was in his unfallen state. It is true that it is not altogether extinguished; but, alas, how small a portion of it remains amidst the miserable overthrow and ruins of the fall!

But as the heavenly Father has bestowed upon His Son an immeasurable fullness of all blessings, so that all of us may draw from this fountain, it follows that whatever God bestows upon us through Him belongs by right to Him in the highest degree. Indeed, He Himself is the living image of God, according to which we must be renewed, and upon this renewal depends our participation in the invaluable blessings spoken of here.

Someone might object that David first asked the question, "What is man?" because God has so abundantly poured forth His favor upon such a miserable, contemptible, and worthless creature; and that, by contrast, there is no cause for such admiration of God’s favor toward Christ, who is not an ordinary man but the only begotten Son of God.

The answer is easy, and it is this: What was bestowed upon Christ’s human nature was a free gift. Indeed, even more, the fact that a mortal man, and a son of Adam, is the only Son of God, the Lord of glory, and the head of angels, provides a bright illustration of God's mercy.

At the same time, it should be observed that whatever gifts He has received should be considered as proceeding from the free grace of God, all the more so because they are intended primarily to be conferred upon us. His excellence and heavenly dignity, therefore, are extended to us also, since it is for our sake He is enriched with them.

Therefore, what the apostle says in that passage concerning the abasement of Christ for a short time is not intended by him as an explanation of this text. Instead, for the purpose of enriching and illustrating the subject he is discussing, he introduces and adapts to it what had been spoken in a different sense.

The same apostle did not hesitate, in Romans 10:6, in the same manner to enrich and to employ, in a sense different from their original one, the words of Moses in Deuteronomy 30:12:

Who shall go up for us to heaven and bring it to us, that we may
hear it and do it?

And so on. The apostle, therefore, in quoting this psalm, was not so much focused on what David meant. Instead, making an allusion to these words, Thou hast made him a little lower, and again, Thou hast crowned him with honor, he applies this diminution to the death of Christ, and the glory and honor to His resurrection. A similar explanation can be given for Paul’s declaration in Ephesians 4:8, in which he does not so much explain the meaning of the text (Psalms 68:18) as he devoutly applies it, by way of accommodation, to the person of Christ.