Hebrews 2:9
Hebrews 2:99But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honor because He suffered death, so that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone.
Jehovah's Witnesses read "made a little lower than the angels" as confirming Jesus' created status — he was a perfect man on earth, lower than the angels during his earthly life. The phrase "tasted death for everyone" supports the ransom as a universal provision that must then be individually applied through obedience and organisational loyalty. JWs emphasise the humiliation aspect to argue that Jesus was always a creature, temporarily given even lower status than other spirit creatures.
"We see Jesus, who for a little while was made lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honour because he suffered death, so that by God's grace he might taste death for everyone." The phrase "for a little while" (brachu ti) indicates a temporary state, not a permanent nature. The Son who was already higher than the angels (, where the Father calls him "God" at 1:8) voluntarily became lower for a redemptive purpose, then was restored to glory. The passage continues in verse 10 to use divine Creator language — "for whom all things exist and through whom all things exist" — identical prepositional language to that used for Jesus in ("through him and for him"). The very text JWs cite to show Jesus' humiliation actually demonstrates the pattern: pre-existent glory, voluntary humiliation, exaltation back to divine honour.