Psalms 8
The Lord’S Glory and Man’s Dignity.
1 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.
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][c]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,
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!
[b] v5: Or the angels; Heb Elohim.
[c] v5: 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.