Was Jesus previously in heaven, but made lower than the angels for a short period?

This question refers to Hebrews 2:7:

You made him [Jesus] for a little while lower than the angels;
you have crowned him with glory and honor,

 

1. PREEXISTENCE?

The main question here is the question about whether Jesus existed before his conception as a being in heaven. This idea is based on misreading a small number of verses and not putting enough weight on the main Bible story – the promised human descendant of Eve, Abraham and David, and the reality of his birth, life, obedience, death and the reality of his Father raising him from the dead. There are other answers on this site dealing more completely with that question.

A little what – time or height?

Hebrews 2:7 is a quotation from Psalm 8:5. There the original word “a little” in Hebrew (haser me’at , lack a little) can only mean less. The verb determines this. The Greek word “a little” (brachu) is more open, it is used for both “a little while” and “a little distance” in the NT.

Here in Hebrews .2:7, Bible versions are often influenced by theology. The idea is being promoted that Christ was temporarily reduced from heaven and placed under the angels on earth, but this is not supported by anything in either Psalm 8 or the context of Hebrews 2 itself.

Psalm 8:5 Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings[1] and crowned him with glory and honor.
[1]Or than God; Septuagint than the angels (ESV footnote)

Compare:

Hebrews 2: 5 Now it was not to angels that God subjected the world to come, of which we are speaking.
6 It has been testified somewhere,
“What is man, that you are mindful of him, or the son of man, that you care for him?
7 You made him for a little while lower than the angels;
you have crowned him with glory and honor,
8 putting everything in subjection under his feet.”
Now in putting everything in subjection to him, he left nothing outside his control. At present, we do not yet see everything in subjection to him. 9 But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.

We can see above several important differences between the Hebrew text of Psalm 8:5 and the text of the Greek Septuagint, which is what is being addressed in Hebrews 2:5-8.

But the one thing we don’t see is any evidence for preexistence. Whether it is “a little” in terms of above and below, as in Psalm 8, or “a little” in terms of time as many modern Bible translations render the Greek, this really changes nothing, since Jesus from his baptism at the age of 30 to his crucifixion three and a half year later, was indeed “under the angels”. There is no reference to being “under the angels” on earth after having been “above the angels” (no such verse) before his birth (again no such verse). The context tells us that this is not talking about a preexistent being taking a temporary drop in status to appear as a man.

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2. BELOW ANGELS OR BELOW GOD?

This now brings us to a second question. Clearly Hebrews 2:7 is talking about angels. The Septuagint Greek of Psalm 8:5 is also talking about “below the angels”. And yet the Hebrew of Psalm 8:5 has “below God”, so which is correct, the Hebrew of Psalm 8:5 or the Septuagint?

2.1 There is only one Elohim

The word for God in the Hebrew is the usual Hebrew word for God, Elohim. And the teaching of the Old Testament is clear that there is only one Elohim. Verses like Isaiah 45:5 make this clear:

Isaiah 45:5 “there is no God beside me” in Hebrew; zulatiy eyn Elohim זוּלָתִי אֵין אֱלֹהִים

Isaiah 45:5  אֲנִי יְהוָה וְאֵין עוֹד זוּלָתִי אֵין אֱלֹהִים אֲאַזֶּרְךָ וְלֹא יְדַעְתָּנִי׃
Isaiah 45:5  ὅτι ἐγὼ κύριος ὁ θεός καὶ οὐκ ἔστιν ἔτι πλὴν ἐμοῦ θεός καὶ οὐκ ᾔδεις με

The original word in Ps.8:5 is elohim, a word that is one of several Hebrew -im nouns which has the same form in the singular and the plural. When it occurs at the end of a sentence like this, without a plural or singular verb to guide the reader, it is impossible to tell whether singular or plural is intended. This explains the two different possibilities given by ESV — “than the heavenly beings”, “lower than God”, and also the Greek Old Testament readings “than the angels”

The Greek Old Testament readings “the angels” is not a possible translation of “elohim“, it has been listed by the ESV for reference only, to explain the difference between the NT Ps.2:7 and Ps.8:5 in Hebrew. However no Hebrew manuscript has “angels” (malakim) in this verse, all manuscripts have elohim, “God” or “gods”.

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2.2 – An error in 19th Century lexicons.

There is some confusion here among 19th Century commentators many of whom misread that Elohim can sometimes refer to angels.  Unfortunately that is based on two mistakes.

• Firstly, elohim is one of several -im nouns in Hebrew where plurality is determined by the verb, elohim with singular verb (as translated “God made” in Mark 10:6 etc.) just means “God said”, whether “God said” to man, angels, whoever.
• Secondly, if God were talking to angels then that would be Hebrew malakim not elohim. The identification of “angels” as a possible meaning of elohim in some 19thC lexicons is based on comparing Heb.2:7,9 with Ps.8:5 without realising that Heb.2:7,9 is not answering a question concerning Ps.8:5 in Hebrew (which has “gods”) but Ps.8:5 LXX in Greek (where “gods” has been switched for “angels”).

The original Jewish translators of the OT changed “gods” to “angels” in 3 cases, because they were offended by the poetic language. This theological censorship of the Septuagint and fear of anything suggesting polytheism to a Diaspora audience is well documented by scholars in Septuagint studies..

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2.3 – Does Hebrews 2:7 legitimise the Greek version of Psalm 8:5?

This brings us to one final question. So doesn’t mean that Hebrews 2:7 is confirming that those 3rd Century BCE translators were correct or even inspired? No. Hebrews 2:7 is simply dealing with a wrested scripture. This is the only time in the New Testament that an apparently Old Testament verse is introduced by a phrase such as “It has been testified somewhere” (ESV), or “someone has said in a certain place” (KJV, Greek). This is not a normal way to introduce holy scripture, and it shows that the writer of Hebrews 2 was well aware that the Greek did not accurately reflect the Hebrew.

This phrase ‘someone said somewhere’ is what today we would call a red flag. It is a warning not to take the Greek alteration of the Hebrew text from “below God” to Septuagint “below the angels” as reliable.