What Does The Bible Say About "Man?" |
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In the study notes from the Spirit-Filled Life Bible of which Pastor Hayford served as General Editor, regarding Psalms 8:4-7 it says: "This psalm of David is a nature psalm showing the littleness of physical man and the greatness of God. Although man is minuscule in relation to the immense universe, he is, nonetheless, the pinnacle of creation and the object of God's watchful care." In verse 4 where it says, "What is man...", the Hebrew word is enosh meaning a man, a mortal; man in his frailty, limitation, and imperfection. The word "mindful" (zakar) means remembers him, calls him to mind. The "son of man" is a title applied to the Messiah in the New Testament, but here in the Hebrew it means ben 'adam, man in origin, that is, from earth. The phrase "that You visit him?", the word visit (paqad) means to give attention to, to care for. So this verse is saying, "What is mere man that You remember him, that You call him to Your mind; and the man made from the earth that You give attention to or care for him?" The footnotes under verse 5 in the Spirit-Filled Life Bible reads: "Human beings were made...a little lower than the angels, not evolved a little higher than the apes. There is a distinct separateness of man and animal. Angels (Hebrew 'elohim) is used in the Old Testament to mean God, gods, or supernatural beings." In the phrase, "...And You have crowned him with glory and honor.", the word honor is hadar, which means "splendor, honor, glory, adornment, magnificence, beauty. Hadar speaks of the splendor that belongs to God, to His creation, to His kingdom, and to man made in God's image. ...In this reference God has actually crowned man with splendor in spite of his smallness, relative to the vast heavens!" Verse six is also talking about man. We were given dominion over creation by God. Some of these same study notes read, "Not only was man intrinsically distinct from the rest of creation, he was given authority over the Earth, and everything upon it (vs. 6). Our ability to exercise authority over the Earth is dependent on our willingness to submit to, serve, and obey the living God who holds authority over us..." Hebrews 2:5-9 is simply a quote from Psalms and has somewhat the same interpretation until you get to the end of verse eight and nine. The footnotes read: "Instead of assuming his intended dominion over creation, man had become a slave, held in bondage by death and satan. So the eternal Son of God appeared in history on Earth as Jesus the Man to provide a way of escape from bondage, access to God's presence, and an entrance into man's intended glory. Jesus the Man, exalted in glory at God's right hand, occupies the position of dominion intended for men, with everything put, or to be put, in subjection under his feet." |
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Resources: 1.) The Spirit-Filled Life Bible |
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