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Hebrews 2:7-9 — Was the Incarnation
of Jesus only "for a little while"?
In Hebrews 2:7 several modern translations mention how "for a little while"
Jesus was made lower than the angels. Is this particular detail something
you might consider including in the ISV?
In a word (uh, well, maybe in two words...), probably not. You'll learn why
in our response, below... But the simple answer is there's no temporal
implication in the verses.
This same thing comes up again in verse 9. The NASB and ESV have this
rendering, and I also noticed that the TNIV includes it, while the NIV did
not. I presume this must be a recent find.
Maybe it is. Which is why the "find," if it's "recent", should be suspect.
Good doctrine is old doctrine, as one systematic theologian once observed.
It's the new stuff that causes all the trouble...
Other modern translations render Hebrews 2:9 that Jesus was "made lower than
the angels for a little while, now crowned with glory and honor..." It
certainly is one more proof text when Jehovah's Witnesses come knocking and
try to tell one how Jesus isn't equal with God, and claiming this state was
not for a little while.
Is Hebrews 2:7-9 a good proof text to refute Jehovah's Witnesses? Not
really. You'll see why, below. The ISV v1.4.6 rendering of Hebrews 2:7 and 9
is as follows:
7 You made him a little lower than the angels,
yet you crowned him with glory and honor...
9 But we do see someone who was made a little lower than the angels. He is
Jesus,...
We're not persuaded that there is a time element implied in the grammar. The
Greek phrase
βραχύ τι, if one claims that it is connoting a temporal element, requires a
logical conclusion (or at least implies a logical conclusion)
that Jesus, in his incarnation, only took the form of humanity for a little
while, and that he later cast it off again after the βραχύ τι was completed.
But this is not
the message of the NT. The overall testimony of the NT is that while there
was when God the Son was not yet incarnate (the pre-incarnate theophanies of
the Angel of the Lord in the OT, for example, are seen as the pre-incarnate
Son acting as the mediator of the covenant with Israel on Mt. Sinai in the
burning bush), there never was when he was not the Son. And once he became
incarnate, God the Son never loses that incarnation. He is the Son of Man
for the rest of eternity.
So I personally
am inclined to think that any modern rendering that implies that when Jesus
was made lower, it means lower "for a little while" are bordering on heresy
because they erroneously view his lowering as referring to the incarnation
rather than referring to his becoming a servant, which he surely wasn't
before the incarnation! I note that you suggest:
It certainly is one more proof text when Jehovah's Witnesses come knocking
and try to tell one how Jesus isn't equal with God, and claiming this state
was not for a little while.
What you write here reveals that you're a bit confused about your view of
orthodox Christianity's approach to the incarnation. The message of the NT
is that Jesus clothed himself in human flesh permanently, at first in mortal
flesh, and then after his resurrection in an immortal, multi-dimensional but
nevertheless fully human body.
The ISV rendering specifically omits any temporal reference from Hebrews 2:7
and 2:9 because we believe that the phrase
ἠλάττωσας αὐτὸν βραχύ τι παρʼ ἀγγέλους
(in verse 7) is not claiming that Christ's having been made
ἠλάττωσας
refers to his having become human, but that it refers to his having become a
servant. This having been made a servant is why
δόξῃ καὶ τιμῇ ἐστεφάνωσας αὐτόν;
(Hebrews 2:7b), that is, he has been crowned with glory and honor. The glory
and honor is his reward for his servanthood, not for his incarnation. His
servanthood lasted, if there is any temporal truth or implication to the
term βραχύ τι (and we don't think there is any temporal connotation to the
term) only about 34 years. But his humanity goes on forever.
And that is why to imply a temporal duration to the phrase βραχύ τι in
Hebrews 2:7 and 9 is not the apologetic treasure you think it is, at least
with respect to disproving the Jehovah's Witness doctrine about Jesus not
being God. If you're looking for a refutation in the ISV for that false
view, we point you to 1 John 5:20, which in the ISV reads:
We also know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding so
that we may know the true God.[1] We are in union with the one who is true,
his Son Jesus the Messiah, who is the true God and eternal life.
—————————————————
[1] 5:20 Other mss. read the true one
and in the Greek NT clearly connotes the deity of Jesus:
οἴδαμεν δὲ ὅτι ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ θεοῦ ἥκει καὶ δέδωκεν ἡμῖν
διάνοιαν ἵνα γινώσκωμεν τὸν ἀληθινόν, καὶ ἐσμὲν ἐν τῷ ἀληθινῷ, ἐν τῷ υἱῷ
αὐτοῦ Ἰησοῦ Χριστῷ.
οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ ἀληθινὸς θεὸς καὶ ζωὴ αἰώνιος.
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