After having pointed his readers to Psalm 110 (see 1 Corinthians 15:25), Paul now turns to Psalm 8, another Messianic psalm. With only a small variation he quotes the Septuagint version of Psalm 8:6. (The Septuagint is the ancient Greek translation of the Old Testament.)
In Psalm 8:4–8 David marvels at the glory and authority that God has bestowed upon man,
whom David also calls the son of man.
God has put all things
under his feet. These are profound words, especially when one considers Daniel’s vision of the son of man
(Daniel 7:13) and the way in which Jesus continually applied this title to himself. It is no wonder that the New Testament writers understood this passage in Psalm 8 to be a prophecy about Jesus Christ (see also Ephesians 1:21–22; Hebrews 2:5–10).
In the present context Paul is concerned with the phrase all things
(Psalm 8:6). He wants his readers to understand that God has put all things, including death, under Christ’s feet. The subjection of death under Christ’s feet began with his resurrection, and it will be concluded on the day when he raises those who belong to him from the dead.
Yet Christ does not rule over God the Father. As the Son of God, he is equal to the Father. But in his role as our incarnated redeemer and mediator (in the words of Psalm 8, the son of man
), he stands under the authority of God the Father (John 5:19; John 14:28). It is God who has put all things under his feet, and therefore God himself is obviously not under his authority.
27 For “God has put all things in subjection under his feet.” But when it says, “all things are put in subjection,” it is plain that he is excepted who put all things in subjection under him.