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
For the music director; according to the al-tashcheth style; 8 a psalm of Asaph; a song.
75:1 We give thanks to you, O God! We give thanks!
You reveal your presence; 9
people tell about your amazing deeds.
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 sn Psalm 75. The psalmist celebrates God’s just rule, which guarantees that the godly will be vindicated and the wicked destroyed.
8 tn Heb “do not destroy.” Perhaps this refers to a particular style of music, a tune title, or a musical instrument. These words also appear in the superscription to Pss 57-59.
9 tn Heb “and near [is] your name.”