Psalm 8
Expanded Bible
The Lord’s Greatness
For the director of music. On the gittith [C perhaps a musical term or instrument]. A psalm of David.
8 Lord our Lord,
·Your name is the most wonderful name [L How majestic is your name] in all the earth [Ex. 3:14–15]!
·It brings you praise [L You have set your splendor/glory] in heaven above [Rom. 1:20].
2 ·You have taught children and babies
to sing praises to you [L Out of the mouth of babies and infants you have established/founded strength]
because of your enemies.
And so you silence your enemies
and those who try to get ·even [revenge].
3 I look at your heavens,
·which you made with [L the work of] your fingers.
I see the moon and stars,
which you ·created [L established; Gen. 1:17–18].
4 ·But why are people even important to you [L What are people that you remember them]?
Why do you take care of ·human beings [L the son of man]?
5 You made them a little lower than ·the angels [or God]
and crowned them with glory and honor [Gen. 1:26–27].
6 You ·put them in charge of [give them rule over] ·everything you made [L the work of your hands].
You put all things under their ·control [L feet; Heb. 2:6–8]:
7 all the sheep, the cattle,
and the ·wild animals [L beasts of the field],
8 the birds in the ·sky [heavens],
the fish in the sea,
and everything that ·lives under water [L passes/travels on the paths of the sea; Gen. 1:28; 9:1–3].
9 Lord our Lord,
·your name is the most wonderful [L how majestic is your] name in all the earth!
Psalm 8
Amplified Bible
The Lord’s Glory and Man’s Dignity.
To the Chief Musician; set to [a]a Philistine lute [or perhaps to a particular Hittite tune]. A Psalm of David.
8 O Lord, our Lord,
How majestic and glorious and excellent is Your name in all the earth!
You have displayed Your splendor above the heavens.
2
Out of the mouths of infants and nursing babes You have established strength
Because of Your adversaries,
That You might silence the enemy and make the revengeful cease.(A)
3
When I see and consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers,
The moon and the stars, which You have established,
4
What is man that You are mindful of him,
And the son of [earthborn] man that You care for him?
5
Yet You have made him a little lower than [b]God,
And You have crowned him with glory and honor.
6
You made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands;
You have put all things under his feet,(B)
7
All sheep and oxen,
And also the beasts of the field,
8
The birds of the air, and the fish of the sea,
Whatever passes through the paths of the seas.
9
O Lord, our Lord,
How majestic and glorious and excellent is Your name in all the earth!
Footnotes
- Psalm 8:1 Or perhaps to a particular key; meaning uncertain.
- Psalm 8:5 LXX reads angels; Heb Elohim is usually translated “God” or “god.” But it can also mean “gods” (with a lowercase “g”) when it is used with reference to the pagan gods of other nations. See, for instance, Ex 20:3: “You shall have no other gods (Elohim) before Me.” Since there are no capital letters in Hebrew as there are in English, the meaning of Ps 8:5 is ambiguous. It may be saying that humans were created a little lower than God Himself, or it may say that humans were created a little lower than the heavenly beings.
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