Psalms 8:1

Psalm 8

For the music director, according to the gittith style; a psalm of David.

8:1 O Lord, our Lord,

how magnificent is your reputation throughout the earth!

You reveal your majesty in the heavens above!


sn Psalm 8. In this hymn to the sovereign creator, the psalmist praises God’s majesty and marvels that God has given mankind dominion over the created order.

tn The precise meaning of the Hebrew term הגתית is uncertain; it probably refers to a musical style or type of instrument.

tn The plural form of the title emphasizes the Lord’s absolute sovereignty.

tn Or “awesome”; or “majestic.”

tn Heb “name,” which here stands metonymically for God’s reputation.

tc Heb “which, give, your majesty on the heavens.” The verb form תְּנָה (tÿnah; an imperative?) is corrupt. The form should be emended to a second masculine singular perfect (נָתַתָּה, natatah) or imperfect (תִתֵן, titen) form. The introductory אֲשֶׁר (’asher, “which”) can be taken as a relative pronoun (“you who”) or as a causal conjunction (“because”). One may literally translate, “you who [or “because you”] place your majesty upon the heavens.” For other uses of the phrase “place majesty upon” see Num 27:20 and 1 Chr 29:25.