The Two "Him's"
November 14, 2024 | Jim Angehr
Over the summer, my ESV Bible reading plan took me into the New Testament book of Hebrews, specifically chapter 2. In it, the author glides from speaking of the glory of humanity in general toward Jesus in particular––although opinions differ as to when the writer shifts from the former subject to the latter.
Here are the two verses, Hebrews 2:8b-9: “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.”
Note the two uses of “him” between vv. 8b-9. The “him” in v. 9 is clearly Jesus, while the “him” in v. 8b could either be about humanity or about our Lord.
I would need to study up on this passage to form a strong opinion, but I’ve always read the v. 8b “him” as all of humanity. On this understanding, the (unknown) Hebrews author is speaking in broad terms about the beauty with which God has imbued men and women. But even though we’re pretty great, we’re not all that. Only Jesus is.