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Psalm 8 Bible study: How majestic is your name
The psalm's last line is its first line, word for word (8:1, 8:9). The LORD's glory "above the heavens" (8:1) is hod, and the honor a mortal is crowned with (8:5) is hadar: Psalm 104:1 says the two together of the LORD, and Psalm 45:3 to a king. And Hebrews quotes the psalm, then says, "we see … Jesus" (Hebrews 2:9).
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“what is man, that you think of him? What is the son of man, that you care for him?”
Try it · Did you catch it?
“Psalm 8 ends with the same words it begins with after its title.”
Is that in Psalm 8, or not? Make your call.
What's really going on
The same words, first and last
The WEB prints the psalm's title at the start of its first verse: "For the Chief Musician; on an instrument of Gath. A Psalm by David" (8:1). Then the psalm begins, "LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens!" (8:1) (tap majestic, glory). Its last verse is its first line again, word for word: "LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!" (8:9). Everything else in the psalm comes between the two. In Hebrew LORD is the divine name, and our Lord is adonenu, from adon, which Strong's gives as "sovereign, i.e. controller (human or divine)". The psalm speaks to the LORD from its first line to its last, calling him our Lord (8:1, 8:9), and in the middle one voice says I: "When I consider your heavens" (8:3).
Where it leads to Jesus
We see Jesus
Psalms 8:5leads toHebrews 2:6-9
The psalm asks, "what is man, that you think of him?" (Psalm 8:4), and says, "For you have made him a little lower than the angels, and crowned him with glory and honor" (Psalm 8:5), and "You have put all things under his feet" (Psalm 8:6). Hebrews brings in the psalm's words with "But one has somewhere testified, saying" (Hebrews 2:6), and gives them as:"You made him a little lower than the angels. You crowned him with glory and honor" (Hebrews 2:7). Then it says, "But now we don’t yet see all things subjected to him" (Hebrews 2:8), and "But we see him who has been made a little lower than the angels, Jesus, because of the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that by the grace of God he should taste of death for everyone" (Hebrews 2:9). Hebrews doesn't name the psalm, and the WEB words the two a little differently (for example For you have made him and You made him). Hebrews' words don't include the psalm's "You make him ruler over the works of your hands" (Psalm 8:6).
Honest questions
Questions people ask about Psalm 8
That was a taste
The rest of Psalm 8 is waiting in Favor
- The heavens, and a mortal
- Crowned
- "All things under his feet"
- The same question in Job and Psalm 144
- Psalm 8 and Genesis 1
- 6 questions as you read
- 12 more Hebrew words
- A short check at the end
- Your notes, saved as you go
Favor reads the Bible in order, so you'll reach Psalm 8 with everything before it in view. First week free, then $10 a month per person.
The Hebrew word behind it
אֱנוֹשׁenoshsay e-NOSH
Brown-Driver-Briggs: "man, mankind". Strong's: "properly, a mortal". "what is man, that you think of him?" (8:4). The next line's son of man is ben adam, with another word for man. The Psalms have enosh 13 times in Hebrew; one is "You turn man to destruction" (Psalm 90:3). Job asks with the same first three Hebrew words, mah enosh ki, what is man, that: "What is man, that you should magnify him" (Job 7:17), and Job 15:14 asks with the same three words. And Job 25:6 has enosh and ben adam together, as this verse does.
For your group
Psalm 8 Bible study questions
- 1"When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers" (8:3). When did something God made last stop you and make you ask a question?
- 2"what is man, that you think of him?" (8:4). Which is harder for you to believe: that God is great, or that he thinks of you? Why?
- 3When children cried out in the temple (Matthew 21:15), Jesus answered, "Did you never read, ‘Out of the mouth of children and nursing babies, you have perfected praise’?" (Matthew 21:16). What has a child, or someone others overlooked, shown you about God?
Leading a group? In Favor, everyone reads Psalm 8 during the week and answers these questions privately. Answers stay sealed until you meet, then appear together, and you can print the week's sheet.
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Questions
What is Favor?
Favor is a Bible study app that explains every chapter as you read: the Hebrew and Greek behind the words, the details most readers miss, and how each part of the Bible leads to Jesus. Read on your own, or start a Bible study with friends, family or your church.
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Can I read Psalm 8 straight away?
Favor takes the Bible as one story, in order, so you'll reach Psalm 8 with everything that leads up to it in view. Start from Genesis, or meet Jesus first in the Gospels. You can read the text of any chapter in Favor's Look up whenever you like.
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No. Many people read on their own. If you'd like to read with others, start a Bible study and share one link. Everyone's answers stay private until you meet.
I've never really read the Bible. Is this for me?
Yes. Favor starts where you are and explains as it goes. The questions along the way aren't marked right or wrong: you answer, then see what the text shows.
Which Bible does Favor use?
The World English Bible, a modern, readable translation in the public domain. God's name appears as "the LORD", as in most English Bibles.
Is Favor tied to a church?
No. Favor is non-denominational. Where Christians read a passage differently, it shows the main views side by side and doesn't pick one.
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Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Hebrew and Greek words are checked against the original-language texts and public-domain lexicons. What we believe · Favor home