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Translation
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What the Fathers say
Eastern Fathers
John Chrysostom
"What is man that Thou art mindful of him, or the son of man that Thou visitest him? Thou madest him a little lower than the angels: Thou crownedst him with glory and honor." "Thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet." Now although these things were spoken of human nature generally, they would nevertheless apply more properly to Christ according to the flesh. For this, "Thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet," belongs to Him rather than to us. …
Oecumenius
For this reason, he now cites it. What is man that you are mindful of him? Since it seemed to oppose his purpose, he indeed shows that Christ is greater than the angels, yet he says that he was made a little lower than the angels. He presents this in order to resolve the objection that seems to arise, and in resolving it, he says that he was made lower because of the passion of death. "For we saw him and he had neither form nor beauty." (Isa. 53:2)
Western Saints
Augustine of Hippo
The fact that he is the Word is not the reason why he is a mediator, for certainly the Word at the summit of immortality and the apex of beatitude is far removed from miserable mortals. Rather, he is a mediator because he is human and, as a human, shows us that to attain that supreme good, blessed and beatific, we need not seek other mediators to serve like rungs on a ladder of ascent. For the blessed God who makes us blessed by deigning to share our humanity showed us the shortest way to sharing in his divinity. …
Thomas Aquinas
109. – Then (v. 7) he mentions the mystery of the Passion. Here it should be noted that in the order of nature corruptible things are lower than incorruptible things. But angels are incorruptible and immortal according to their nature; hence, when Christ deigned to suffer and undergo death He was made a little less than they: not that He had lost His fullness or was diminished in any way, but because He joined our smallness to Him self. This was signified in Lk. …
Bonaventure
In the New Testament, after the universal scripture and the course of time, Christ was formed, as was man on the sixth day, that He may "have dominion over the fish of the sea," and "the birds of the air." As the Psalm says, "what is man that You should be mindful of him, or the son of man that You should care for him? You have made him little less than the angels, and crowned him with glory and honor. …
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