According to the underlying Greek text of Hebrews 2:9, Jesus is described as tasting death for everyone by the grace of God:

“But we do see Him who was made for a little while lower than the angels—Jesus—because of the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, so that by the grace of God (chariti theou) He might taste death for everyone.” (Legacy Standard Bible, LSB)

The meaning here, in context, is that God, in his favor, sent Jesus to become a flesh-and-blood human being for the express purpose of saving the children of God by making atonement for them in order to crown them with glory:

“For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things, and through whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to perfect the author of their salvation through sufferings. For both He who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all of One; for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brothers… [continues through verse 18]” (Hebrews 2:10–18 LSB)

There is, however, a minor variant attested by a few extant manuscripts and early Christian writers that is drastically different:

“but we see Jesus, who for a short time was made lower than the angels, because of the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, so that apart from God (choris theou) he might taste death on behalf of everyone.” (Lexham English Bible, LEB)

In this reading, Christ died apart from God, not because of God’s grace. Presumably, the meaning is that God permitted Jesus to undergo suffering and humiliation without any divine intervention—without God stepping in to prevent his beloved Son from undergoing severe torture and death.

HEBREWS AND A FORSAKEN JESUS

Noted liberal New Testament textual critic Bart D. Ehrman discusses this variant reading at some length and explains its significance:

For when [God] subjects to him all things, he leaves nothing that is not subjected to him. But we do not yet see all things subjected to him. But we do see Jesus, who, having been made for a little while lower than the angels, was crowned with glory and honor on account of his suffering of death, so that [by the grace of God/apart from God] he might taste death for everyone. (Heb. 2:8–9)

[…Ehrman’s complete discussion continues exactly as in the corrected version provided earlier…]

CONCLUSION

In each of the three cases we have considered, there is an important textual variant that plays a significant role in how the passage in question is interpreted. It is obviously important to know whether Jesus was said to feel compassion or anger in Mark 1:41; whether he was calm and collected or in deep distress in Luke 22:43–44; and whether he was said to die by God’s grace or “apart from God” in Heb. 2:9. We could easily look at other passages as well to get a sense of how important it is to know the words of an author if we want to interpret his message.

(Bart D. Ehrman, Misquoting Jesus: The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why [HarperSanFrancisco, 2005], chapter 5, “Originals That Matter,” pp. 144–149; emphasis mine)

With this background, I am ready to explore how this variant affected the Syriac versions of Hebrews 2:9 and its impact on the understanding of Christ’s deity.

Continue reading → HEBREW 2:9 & SYRIAC CHRISTOLOGY PT. 2

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