Angels or God? Psalm 8:5
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In the KJV version of the Bible in Psalm 8 verse 5 we are told that man is made a little lower than the angels.
Psalm 8:5 For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour. KJV
However, in some other Bibles we are told that man is made not a little lower than the angels but rather a little lower than God himself.
Psalm 8:5 Yet you made them only a little lower than God and crowned them with glory and honor. NLT
Psalm 8:5 Yet You have made him a little lower than God, And You crown him with glory and majesty! NASB
Psalm 8:5 For thou hast made him but little lower than God, and crownest him with glory and honour. ERV
The ESV however goes with the somewhat confusing statement that man is made a little lower than the heavenly beings.
Psalm 8:5 Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor. ESV
The question that therefore must be asked here is what is a heavenly being? Is this the angels or God? Both dwell in heaven so is man made a little lower than both God and the angels? or just God? or just the angels? This at least infers that heavenly beings are equal which implies that God and the angels are equal. ESV we have a problem.
The GNT declares exactly that God has made man inferior only to himself which would place man above the angels but below God.
Psalm 8:5 Yet you made them inferior only to yourself; you crowned them with glory and honor. GNT
The New world translation confuses the verse even more saying that man is made lower than the godlike ones.
Psalm 8:5 You made him a little lower than godlike ones,*And you crowned him with glory and splendor. NWT
WHO exactly are the ones that are like god. We have a lower case g so this isn’t God but god. The NWT has created some godlike beings. I have no idea what a godlike being is and it most certainly is not a biblical term.
There are many other versions that also say God in this verse. However the KJV is not the only version to use angels.
Angels is also the rendering in the NIV, JPS Tanakh 1917, Jubilee Bible 2000, Douay- Rheims and Darby Bible.
Also in many of the much older English Bibles such as the Wycliffe Bible of 1395 – Coverdale 1535, the Great Bible, Matthew’s Bible 1549 and the Bishops’ Bible 1568
So which is correct?
Has man been made a little lower than God or the angels.
I rather think it is worth pointing out at least, that a finite being such as a man is infinitely lower than an infinite being and to say that we are made a little lower than God simply cannot be correct.
However, what we will find is that while the word God in these translations is incorrect, the word translated as angels here is in fact מֵאֱלֹהִ֑ים mê-’ĕ-lō-hîm; from the Hebrew אֱלהִים elohim.
Now it is VERY correct to state that the word Elohim does not mean angels. It does however mean God or gods depending on whether it is referring to YHWH or false gods.
BUT it does not always mean God or god and to claim otherwise is seriously in error. Anyone that says that the verse MUST be translated as God because the Hebrew is elohim is ignoring the FACT that the same Bibles that do translate Elohim as God in Psalm 8-5 do not translate the word Elohim as God in other verses such as Genesis 30-8, where Elohim is translated as MIGHTY in the ESV, NASB and ERV
Genesis 30:8 Then Rachel said, “With mighty wrestlings I have wrestled with my sister and have prevailed.” So she called his name Naphtali. ESV
Genesis 30:8 So Rachel said, “With mighty wrestlings I have wrestled with my sister, and I have indeed prevailed.” And she named him Naphtali. NASB
Genesis 30:8 And Rachel said, With mighty wrestlings have I wrestled with my sister, and have prevailed: and she called his name Naphtali. ERV
The NWT translation uses strenuous.
Genesis 30:8 Then Rachel said: “With strenuous wrestlings I have wrestled with my sister. I have also come off the winner!” So she named him Naphʹta·li
The KJV goes with great.
Genesis 30:8 And Rachel said, With great wrestlings have I wrestled with my sister, and I have prevailed: and she called his name Naphtali. KJV
Also in Exodus 22:8 we see that the NASB does not translate the word Elohim as God but rather judges.
Exodus 22:8 “If the thief is not caught, then the owner of the house shall appear before the judges, to determine whether he laid his hands on his neighbor’s property. NASB
As does the KJV.
Exodus 22:8 If the thief be not found, then the master of the house shall be brought unto the judges, to see whether he have put his hand unto his neighbour’s goods. KJV
So we see that it is simply disingenuous or a lack of proper study to say that the word Elohim MUST be translated as God in Psalm 8:5 when in fact it is not translated as God in other places by the same Bibles. Context MUST be taken into account.
Malak
We must also point out that it is true that angel does have its own Hebrew word מֲלְאָךְ Malak.
BUT again it is either disingenuous or through lack of proper study to say that angel can only be translated from the word Malak as again many of those same Bibles translate a different Hebrew word, אַבִּיר abbir which means mighty or valiant, as angels in Psalm 78-25.
Psalm 78:25 They ate the food of angels! God gave them all they could hold. NLT
Psalm 78:25 Man ate of the bread of the angels; he sent them food in abundance. ESV
Psalm 78:25 Man did eat the bread of angels; He sent them food in abundance. NABS
Psalm 78:25 Man did eat the bread of the mighty: he sent them meat to the full. ERV
Psalm 78:25 Man did eat angels’ food: he sent them meat to the full. KJV
The NWT does in fact translate this verse as mighty ones
Psalm 78:25 Men ate the bread of mighty ones, He provided enough to satisfy them NWT
So why is the correct translation in the Psalm, angels and not God.
Well as we have already seen that Elohim does not necessarily have to be translated as God and is not always translated as such by many versions.
Malak, while it CAN refer to angels anctually simply means messenger. Malak is translated as messenger when it is used of human prophets (Haggai 1:13 and priests Malachi 2:7)
It is also translated as messenger when referring to human messengers sent by other humans such as the King.
The psalmist could not have used Malak here in Psalam 8:5 because he would have had man being made lower than the messengers (not specifically angels) and so would have included human messengers. The usage of Elohim in reference to angels instead of Malak is required to distinguish between the angels and human malak.
Angels ARE referred to as being Elohim .
Hebrews
Psalm 8:5 is quoted in the book of Hebrews, chapter 2 verse 7.
The writer of Hebrews who quoted this psalm used the Greek word ἀγγέλους, angelous which means angel where the Hebrew is Elohim. The inspired writer of Hebrews clearly believed that angels and not God was in fact the correct word in the psalm.
The Greek angelous in Hebrews is translated as angels in ALL of these versions of the Bible that do not use the word angel in Psalm 8:5.
Hebrews 2:7 Thou madest him a little lower than the angels; thou crownedst him with glory and honour, and didst set him over the works of thy hands: KJV
Hebrews 2:7 Yet you made them only a little lower than the angels and crowned them with glory and honor. NLT
Hebrews 2:7 You made him for a little while lower than the angels; you have crowned him with glory and honor,
Hebrews 2:7 “YOU HAVE MADE HIM FOR A LITTLE WHILE LOWER THAN THE ANGELS; YOU HAVE CROWNED HIM WITH GLORY AND HONOR, AND HAVE APPOINTED HIM OVER THE WORKS OF YOUR HANDS; NASB
Hebrews 2:7 Thou madest him a little lower than the angels; Thou crownedst him with glory and honour, And didst set him over the works of thy hands: ERV
Hebrews 2:7 You made him a little lower than angels; you crowned him with glory and honor, and appointed him over the works of your hands. NWT
Therefore, if we say that Elohim in Psalm 8:5 is to be translated as God, then we must believe that the inspired writer of Hebrews chose to change the meaning of the psalm in his quotation of it by not quoting the “correct” word God but changing it to angels.
If we then go just a little further in Hebrews we see that Jesus himself was made a little lower than the angels in verse 9
Hebrews 2:8 Thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet. For in that he put all in subjection under him, he left nothing that is not put under him. But now we see not yet all things put under him. 9 But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man. KJV
Angels is also the word used by the NLT, ESV, NASB and the NWT
Hebrews 2:9 What we do see is Jesus, who was given a position “a little lower than the angels”; and because he suffered death for us, he is now “crowned with glory and honor.” Yes, by God’s grace, Jesus tasted death for everyone. NLT
Hebrews 2:9 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. ESV
Hebrews 2:9 But we do see Him who was made for a little while lower than the angels, namely, Jesus, because of the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, so that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone. NASB
Hebrews 2:9 But we do see Jesus, who was made a little lower than angels,o now crowned with glory and honor for having suffered death, so that by God’s undeserved kindness he might taste death for everyone. NWT
Angels is also the translation in the NIV, BSB, ISV, Douay- Rheims and ERV, again to name just a few.
Angels here again is also the Greek angelous. So these versions of the Bible that have not translated the psalm as angels now have man being made a little lower than God but Jesus being made a little lower than the angels. If man has been made a little lower than God, and as we have seen one version says lower than ONLY God then Jesus being made lower than the angels means that the man Jesus was made lower than man.
These versions of the Bible also have the inspired writer of Hebrews changing or at least misquoting the word of God. There really is no defense for such.
The correct rendering in Psalm 8:5, as attested to by the INSPIRED writer of Hebrews and correctly rendered by the KJV is angels.