Let us look at this verse and the Greek word translated "for":
"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 (hyper) every man" (Heb.2:9).
In this verse the Greek word
hyper is translated "for" and one of the meanings of that word is
"on behalf of." In Vine's we read the following definition of the Greek word hyper:
" 'on behalf of,' is to be distinguished from 'anti,' 'instead of'" (
Vine's Expository Dictionary of the New Testament).
That explains the following translation of Hebrews 2:9:
"Jesus was made a little lower than the angels, but we see him crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death. Through God's kindness he died on behalf of everyone" (Heb.2:9; GOD'S WORD Translation).
In the
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges we read " '
on behalf of' (hyper), not
'as a substitution for' (anti)" (
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges, Commentary at Hebrews 2:9).
So we can understand that Christ tasted death on behalf of every man but not as a substitute for every man. Now let us look at this verse:
"Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for (anti) many" (Mt.20:28).
One of the meanings of the Greek word
anti is
"offical substitution, instead of" (
Thayer's Greek English Lexicon).
So we can see that Christ tasted death on behalf of every man but He only died as a substitution of many but not all.
He died on behalf of all men but only those who believe in Him will receive the blessings which flow from the Cross.
