For the music director, according to the gittith style; 2 a psalm of David.
8:1 O Lord, our Lord, 3
how magnificent 4 is your reputation 5 throughout the earth!
You reveal your majesty in the heavens above! 6
8:3 When I look up at the heavens, which your fingers made,
and see the moon and the stars, which you set in place, 7
1 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.
2 tn The precise meaning of the Hebrew term הגתית is uncertain; it probably refers to a musical style or type of instrument.
3 tn The plural form of the title emphasizes the
4 tn Or “awesome”; or “majestic.”
5 tn Heb “name,” which here stands metonymically for God’s reputation.
6 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.
7 tn Heb “when I see your heavens, the works of your fingers, the moon and stars which you established.” The verb “[and] see” is understood by ellipsis in the second half of the verse.