The Eastern Cross/Bible/Psalms/Psalm 8
The Book of Psalms · the Psalter
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For the end, concerning the winepresses, a Psalm of David.
Εἰς τὸ τέλος, ὑπὲρ τῶν ληνῶν, ψαλμὸς τῷ Δαυίδ.
O Lord, our Lord, how wonderful is thy name in all the earth! For thy magnificence is exalted above the heavens.
Κύριε ὁ Κύριος ἡμῶν, ὡς θαυμαστὸν τὸ ὄνομά σου ἐν πάσῃ τῇ γῇ; ὅτι ἐπῄρθη ἡ μεγαλοπρέπειά σου ὑπεράνω τῶν οὐρανῶν.
Accordingly it is said, "O Lord, our Lord, how admirable is Your Name in all the earth!". I ask, how is His Name wonderful in all the earth? The answer is, "For Your glory has been raised above the heavens." So that the meaning is this, O Lord, who art our Lord, how do all that inhabit the earth admire You! For Your…
Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou perfected praise, Because of thine enemies; That thou mightest put down the enemy and avenger.
Ἐκ στόματος νηπίων καὶ θηλαζόντων κατηρτίσω αἶνον· ἕνεκα τῶν ἐχθρῶν σου, τοῦ καταλῦσαι ἐχθρὸν καὶ ἐκδικητήν.
For I will regard the heavens, the work of thy fingers; The moon and stars, which thou hast established.
Ὅτι ὄψομαι τοὺς οὐρανοὺς ἔργα τῶν δακτύλων σου, σελήνην καὶ ἀστέρας, ἃ σὺ ἐθεμελίωσας·
"For I shall see Your heavens, the works of Your fingers". We read that the law was written with the finger of God, and given through Moses, His holy servant: by which finger of God many understand the Holy Ghost. Wherefore if, by the fingers of God, we are right in understanding these same ministers filled with the…
What is man, that thou art mindful of him? Or the son of man, that thou visitest him?
Τί ἐστιν ἄνθρωπος, ὅτι μιμνήσκῃ αὐτοῦ; ἢ υἱὸς ἀνθρώπου, ὅτι ἐπισκέπτῃ αὐτόν;
Thou madest him a little less than angels, Thou hast crowned him with glory and honor;
Ἠλάττωσας αὐτὸν βραχύ τι παρʼ ἀγγέλους, δόξῃ καὶ τιμῇ ἐστεφάνωσας αὐτὸν,
Therefore was the son of man first visited in the person of the very Lord Man, born of the Virgin Mary. Of whom, by reason of the very weakness of the flesh, which the Wisdom of God vouchsafed to bear, and the humiliation of the Passion, it is justly said, "You have lowered Him a little lower than the Angels".
And thou hast set him over the works of thy hands: Thou hast put all things under his feet:
καὶ κατέστησας αὐτὸν ἐπὶ τὰ ἔργα τῶν χειρῶν σου· πάντα ὑπέταξας ὑποκάτω τῶν ποδῶν αὐτοῦ,
But that glorifying is added, in which He rose and ascended up into heaven; "With glory," he says, "and with honour have You crowned Him; and hast set Him over the works of Your hands". Since even Angels are the works of God's hands, even over Angels we understand the Only-begotten Son to have been set; whom we hear…
Sheep and all oxen, Yea, and the cattle of the field;
πρόβατα καὶ βόας πάσας, ἔτι δὲ καὶ τὰ κτήνη τοῦ πεδίου,
"You have put," he says, "all things in subjection under His feet." When he says, "all things," he excepts nothing. And that he might not be allowed to understand it otherwise, the Apostle enjoins it to be believed thus, when he says, "He being excepted which put all things under Him." [1 Corinthians 15:27] And to the…
The birds of the sky, and the fish of the sea, The creatures passing through the paths of the sea.
τὰ πετεινὰ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ, καὶ τοὺς ἰχθύας τῆς θαλάσσης, τὰ διαπορευόμενα τρίβους θαλασσῶν.
"Yea moreover," says he, "the beasts of the field." The addition of "moreover" is by no means idle. First, because by beasts of the plain may be understood both sheep and oxen: so that, if goats are the beasts of rocky and mountainous regions, sheep may be well taken to be the beasts of the field. Accordingly had it…
O Lord our Lord, how wonderful is thy name in all the earth!
Κύριε ὁ Κύριος ἡμῶν, ὡς θαυμαστὸν ὄνομά σου ἐν πάσῃ τῇ γῇ;
Every note is a real passage, quoted word for word from a published English translation, with its source. Nothing here is summarised or written by us. Some verses have many notes and some have none, because the Fathers wrote more on some passages than others.
All of these translations are in the public domain. The passages were matched to their verses by the Historical Christian Commentaries project, which also hosts the full texts we link to. The Fathers are a treasury of the Church's mind, and they are best read alongside the life of the Church: if a passage raises a question, bring it to your priest.