Bible Commentaries

VIII. A Nature Psalm.

Psalms 8:1 f. The majesty of God. In Matthew 2 defies the rudiments of Heb. grammar and all attempt at translation. Of many emendations the following is the most ingenious and does least violence to the text, "Let me sing, I pray thee, of thy glory above the heavens, [though] with the mouth of babes and sucklings. Thou hast founded a stronghold because of thine enemies, to still the foe and the avenger." The reference may be to the chaotic power of darkness dispelled by the God of light, whom the Hebrews identified with Yahweh.

Psalms 8:3 f. The insignificance of man.—[Observe that "son of man" is equivalent to "man." It has not the special significance it bears in the apocalyptic literature and the NT. Probably it bears the same significance in the quotation in Heb. as in the Ps. The author of Hebrews 2:6-8* gives a temporal sense to Psalms 8:5 a, referring it to man's temporary inferiority ("a little while lower") to the angels, and turns Psalms 8:5 b into a contrast rather than a parallel with Psalms 8:5 a, expressing man's lordship of the world to come, not as yet realised, it is true, but guaranteed to us by the fact that Jesus is already crowned.—A. S. P.]

Psalms 8:5-8. Man's greatness as God's vicegerent. Elohim is translated "angels" in AV and "God" in RV. It includes the angels, who were originally gods, and were, under the influence of monotheism, degraded to the rank of Yahweh's servants.