Psalms 8:1

For the music director, according to the gittith style; ²  a psalm of David. O Lord, our Lord, ³  how magnificent ⁴  is your reputation ⁵  throughout the earth! You reveal your majesty in the heavens above! ⁶ 

Ex 15:11; Ex 34:5-7; De 28:58; 1Ki 8:27; Ps 8:9; Ps 36:5; Ps 57:10,11; Ps 63:1; Ps 68:4; Ps 72:17-19; Ps 81:1; Ps 84:1; Ps 108:4,5; Ps 113:2-4; Ps 145:1; Ps 148:13; So 5:16; Isa 26:13; Hab 3:3; Mt 22:45; Joh 20:28; Eph 4:10; Php 2:9,10; Php 2:11; Php 3:8; Heb 7:26; Re 19:6

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 Lord’s absolute sovereignty.

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.