The adversative conjunction But at the beginning of verse 9 is particularly important, and it may be necessary in some instances to employ a phrase such as “But in contrast” or “But different from this.”
Different Greek words for see are used in verses 8c and 9, but there is no difference in meaning. In other contexts, the see of verse 9 can mean literally “look at,” but here the writer seems concerned simply to avoid repetition. It may not be possible to translate literally we do see Jesus, since this might imply actual visual perception. A more satisfactory rendering may be “But we do know about Jesus.”
Who for a little while was made lower than the angels must be rendered in a form parallel to what has been employed in verse 7 in speaking of mankind, but it may be necessary to indicate clearly the agent of the passive expression was made lower, for this could be interpreted by some as a reference to the humiliation of Jesus by his enemies. The reference, however, seems to be clearly to the incarnation, and therefore one may translate “for a little while God made him lower than the angels,” with the implication of “lower in rank” or “lower in status,” in view of his human nature.
The purpose expressed in the conjunctive phrase so that must be made quite clear, and in some instances one may translate “the purpose of what God did” or “this happened in order that.”
A comparison of Good News Translation and Revised Standard Version shows how extensively Good News Bible has rearranged the rest of the verse. There are two main difficulties, one related to the text, and the other to the structure of the sentence.
Instead of through God’s grace, which is the reading of most good manuscripts, some manuscripts have “apart from God” (New English Bible note); however, this is a difficult phrase which is not usually adopted by editions or translations of the New Testament. The text which means “apart from God” is so difficult that it is difficult to know how it arose, if it is not original. One explanation is that a scribe added the words “apart from God” in the margin, as a comment on ruler over all things in verse 8, that this was then recopied by mistake as part of verse 9, and changed to an expression meaning through God’s grace in an attempt to make sense of the phrase. All extant manuscripts, however, have either through God’s grace or “apart from God”. If the author of Hebrews wrote “apart from God”, he may have been thinking of Jesus’ cry My God, my God, why did you abandon me? (Mark 15.34; Matt 27.46). This is a quotation from Psalm 22, from which Hebrews also quotes a few verses later (2.12). This interpretation is followed by most ancient and modern commentators, and by most translations which make the meaning of “to him” clear. The strongest argument in taking “to him” to mean “to men” is the emphatic Jesus in verse 9, which suggests a contrast with “man,” implied in verse 8. However, it should not be assumed that because Psalm 8 speaks of man, Hebrews must do so also when it quotes the Psalm.
Through God’s grace is expressed in a number of languages as “because God loved us.” Grace, however, may be expressed in some languages as “love in action” or “love leading to kindness.” In other instances, grace is expressed essentially in terms of “undeserved mercy.” The preposition through in this context does not express primarily means but indicates underlying circumstances which prompt or make possible some event.
It is virtually impossible to link “crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death” (Revised Standard Version) with “so that by the grace of God he might taste death for every one” (Revised Standard Version). It therefore seems best to follow Good News Translation in adopting for translation the order that revises RSV: 9a, 9c, 9b. A possible expanded translation would be:
What we do see is Jesus. For a short time he “was brought lower than the angels” (9a). God’s gracious purpose in doing this was that Jesus should die for everyone (9c). But the other part of Psalm 8.6 also applies to Jesus: he has been, and still is [perfect tense], “crowned with glory and honor,” and this is precisely because of the death which he suffered (9b).
He should die for everyone involves a number of subtle problems in translation, since a literal rendering might imply “he should die because of everyone,” suggesting that everyone caused him to die. The relation between the death and those who are to be benefited by the death must be made explicit in some languages; for example, “he died in order to benefit everyone” or “he died in order to help everyone.”
Since the adverb now in the expression We see him now crowned with glory and honor is contrastive, it may be important to place it at the beginning of the sentence; for example, “But now we see him crowned with glory and honor.” The rendering of the expression crowned with glory and honor must, of course, parallel what has been implied in the previous rendering of this expression in verse 7. Again, however, it may be necessary to translate see as “But now we know that he is glorious and has been honored.”
“Taste death” (Revised Standard Version) is one translation of a common Hebrew metaphor for the death he suffered, and should be replaced by “die” in languages which do not have either this metaphor, or another metaphor with the same meaning. The misunderstanding “he only tasted death, but did not experience it fully” must be avoided. Because of the death he suffered must often be expressed as “because of the way in which he suffered and died” or “because of the extent to which he suffered by dying.”
Quoted with permission from Ellingworth, Paul and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on The Letter of the Hebrews. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1983. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .