Christ Grown into Perfection 95 that (10) indicating firstly, that something precedes the appointment of the Son as high priest, namely his suffering in view of his death on the cross (to; pavqhma tou' qanavtou) which caused him to be crowned with glory and honour; and it is Christ as the crowned one who tasted death. In the light of the line of thought in Hebrews, in general, this crowning (dovxh/ kai; timh'/ estefanwmenon) must be understood as his investiture as high priest. j v This becomes obvious with regard to the use of Psalm 8 and 110 (109 LXX) in Hebrews. Especially its first two chapters serve as one of the early Christian examples of an interpretation of the ‘messianic’ Psalms 110 and 8 in terms of one another (11). The description of the man or a ‘son of man’ (Ps 8,5) as made for a short time / a little while (bracuv ti) lower than the angels (8,6) and crowned (8,6) was understood as a promise fulfilled in Christ: With regard to Christ it is the Son of Man who was made lower than the angels in order to ‘have put all the things under his feet’ (8,7). Because the fulfillment of the latter part of the promise is not yet visible, the ‘until’ of Ps 110,1 is taken into account. Christ’s reign on earth might still not be established or recognizable, but he is sitting at God’s right hand (Ps 110,1), as high priest according to the order of Melchizedek (Ps 110,4). This is already realised, for Christ is now high priest (cf. Heb 1,3). Therefore the coronation of Heb 2,9 — as a realised event — can only be understood in terms of his investiture(12). These assumptions regarding the use of Psalm 8 and 110 (109 LXX) are also buttressed by the following verse clarifying the argumentation of the author of Hebrews; see Heb 2,10: ”Eprepen gar aujtw'/ [sc. God], … ; to;n archgon th'" swthria" autwn dia; paqhmatwn teleiw'sai. j ; v j' v The diav-construction of 2,9 is taken up again, and in a parallel manner the crowning is thus interpreted as a teleivwsi". dia; to; paqhma tou' qanatou v v estefanwmenon j v Heb 2,9: […] dia; paqhmatwn v teleiwsai ' Heb 2,10: These verses furthermore indicate the existence of a certain process of development within which the Son was qualified and perfected for his office as a high priest. This process is mainly characterised as a gaining of compassion through passion, while the character of this perfection is elaborated mainly in Heb 2,17-18. oqen wfeilen kata; panta toi" ajdelfoi'" omoiwqhnai, { { v ' J ' 17: ina ejlehvmwn genhtai kai; pisto" ajrciereu;" ta; pro" ton qeon, { v ; ; ; v eij" to; iJlavskesqai ta" amartia" tou' laou: ;J v ' en w|/ gar peponqen aujto;" peirasqeiv", dunatai toi" peirazomenoi" j ; v v ' v 18: bohqh'sai. (10) Cf. LSJ, s.v. (11) Cf. S. FUHRMANN, Vergeben und Vergessen. Christologie und Neuer Bund im Hebräerbrief (WMANT 113; Neukirchen 2007) 32-42. (12) Apart from these inter- and intratextual relations there is also evidence that the appointment of a high priest was related to a certain coronation ritual (Sir 45,12 Aaron receives a golden garland [stevfano" crusou' ejpavnw kidavrew"]; Zech 6,11: the high priest Jesus [Joshua] is crowned with a golden stevfano").