Psalm 8 Overview
How majestic is your name
Psalm 8
Welcome to the Overview of Psalm 8
This page will introduce and provide orientation to Psalm 8 as a whole. It includes the following sections:
Introduction to Psalm 8
Author:
Purpose:
- To praise YHWH for his majesty throughout all the earth.
Content:
- Your name is majestic in all the earth! You bestow your glory on the heavens above, and you bestow glory on weak humans below.
Message:
- YHWH's majesty is revealed in weakness.
Psalm 8 At-a-Glance
These sections divide the content of the psalm into digestible pieces , and are determined based on information from many of our layers, including Semantics, Poetics, and Discourse. The columns, left to right, contain: the verse numbers; the main title of the section; a brief summary of the content of that section (quote marks indicate the text is taken directly from the English text of the psalm (as per our Close-but-Clear translation); and an icon to visually represent and remember the content.
Background Orientation for Psalm 8
Following are the common-ground assumptionsCommon-ground assumptions include information shared by the speaker and hearers. In our analysis, we mainly use this category for Biblical/Ancient Near Eastern background. which are the most helpful for making sense of the psalm.
- The common practice of kings and lords is to accrue glory for themselves, not to bestow it upon others.
- YHWH gave dominion to (i.e., bestowed glory on) the sun, moon, and stars (Gen. 1:16-18; Ps 136:8-9), which are associated with heavenly beings (cf. Job 38:7; Rev. 1:20; cf. COS I:181).
- YHWH created humans as his image and gave them universal dominion (cf. Gen. 1:26ff).
- YHWH promised to give David's dynasty universal dominion (cf. Pss 2; 72; 89; 110).
- "Portrayal of man in his paradisal splendour was especially linked in the ancient world with the royal office" (Eaton 1967:45).
- Wild animals are sometimes used to depict the enemies of God's people (e.g., Pss 7:3; 10:9; 17:12; 22:13, 17, 22; 80:14; cf. Daniel 6-7).
Background Situation for Psalm 8
The background situation is the series of events leading up to the time in which the psalm is spoken. These are taken from the story triangle – whatever lies to the left of the star icon.
Participants in Psalm 8