
Text -- Psalms 8:4 (NET)




Names, People and Places, Dictionary Themes and Topics



collapse allCommentary -- Word/Phrase Notes (per phrase)
Wesley: Psa 8:4 - -- How mean and inconsiderable a thing is man, if compared with thy glorious majesty.
How mean and inconsiderable a thing is man, if compared with thy glorious majesty.

Wesley: Psa 8:4 - -- Heb. infirm, or miserable man. By which it is apparent that he speaks of man, not according to the state of his creation, but as fallen into a state o...
Heb. infirm, or miserable man. By which it is apparent that he speaks of man, not according to the state of his creation, but as fallen into a state of sin and misery, and mortality.

Carest for him, and conferest such high favours upon him.

Wesley: Psa 8:4 - -- Heb. the son of Adam, that great apostate from God, the sinful son of a sinful father, his son by likeness of disposition and manners, no less than by...
Heb. the son of Adam, that great apostate from God, the sinful son of a sinful father, his son by likeness of disposition and manners, no less than by procreation. All which tends to magnify the following mercy.

Not in anger, as that word is sometimes used, but with thy grace and mercy.
JFB: Psa 8:3-4 - -- The allusion to the magnificence of the visible heavens is introduced for the purpose of illustrating God's condescension, who, though the mighty Crea...
The allusion to the magnificence of the visible heavens is introduced for the purpose of illustrating God's condescension, who, though the mighty Creator of these glorious worlds of light, makes man the object of regard and recipient of favor.

Literally, "frail man," an allusion to his essential infirmity.
Clarke: Psa 8:4 - -- What is man - מה אנוש mah enosh , what is wretched, miserable man; man in his fallen state, full of infirmity, ignorance, and sin
What is man -

Clarke: Psa 8:4 - -- That thou art mindful of him? - That thou settest thy heart upon him, keepest him continually in thy merciful view
That thou art mindful of him? - That thou settest thy heart upon him, keepest him continually in thy merciful view

Clarke: Psa 8:4 - -- And the son of man - ובן אדם uben Adam , and the son of Adam, the first great rebel; the fallen child of a fallen parent. See the note on Job...
And the son of man -

Clarke: Psa 8:4 - -- That thou visitest him? - By sending thy Holy Spirit to convince him of sin, righteousness, and judgment. It is by these visits that man is preserve...
That thou visitest him? - By sending thy Holy Spirit to convince him of sin, righteousness, and judgment. It is by these visits that man is preserved in a salvable state. Were God to withhold them, there would be nothing in the soul of man but sin, darkness, hardness, corruption, and death.
Defender: Psa 8:4 - -- The psalmist exhibits a modern concept of the infinite magnitude of the heavens in comparison to man.
The psalmist exhibits a modern concept of the infinite magnitude of the heavens in comparison to man.

Defender: Psa 8:4 - -- This is the first reference in the Bible of the phrase "son of man" (or 'son of Adam'), a term used some eighty times of Himself by the Lord Jesus."
This is the first reference in the Bible of the phrase "son of man" (or 'son of Adam'), a term used some eighty times of Himself by the Lord Jesus."
TSK -> Psa 8:4
TSK: Psa 8:4 - -- What : Psa 144:3; 2Ch 6:18; Job 7:17, Job 25:6; Isa 40:17; Heb 2:6-9
son : Psa 4:2, Psa 80:17, Psa 146:3; Isa 51:12; Eze 8:15; Mat 8:20
visitest : Psa...

collapse allCommentary -- Word/Phrase Notes (per Verse)
Barnes -> Psa 8:4
Barnes: Psa 8:4 - -- What is man - What claim has one so weak, and frail, and short-lived, to be remembered by time? What is there in man that entitles him to so mu...
What is man - What claim has one so weak, and frail, and short-lived, to be remembered by time? What is there in man that entitles him to so much notice? Why has God conferred on him so signal honor? Why has he placed him over the works of his hands? Why has he made so many arrangements for his comfort? Why has he done so much to save him? He is so insignificant his life is so much like a vapor, he so soon disappears, he is so sinful and polluted, that the question may well be asked, why such honor has been conferred on him, and why such a dominion over the world has been given him. See these thoughts more fully expanded in the notes at Heb 2:6.
That thou art mindful of him - That thou dost remember him; that is, think of him, attend to him - that he does not pass away wholly from thy thoughts. Why should a God who is so vast and glorious, and who has all the starry worlds, so beautiful and grand, to claim his attention - why should he turn his thoughts on man? And especially why should he honor him as he has done by giving him dominion over the works of his hands?
And the son of man - Any descendant of man - any one of the race. What was man, as he was originally made, that such exalted honor should have been conferred on him; and what has any one of his descendants become, in virtue of his native faculties or acquired endowments, that he should be thus honored? The design is the same as in the former part of the verse, to express the idea that there was nothing in man, considered in any respect, that entitled him to this exalted honor. Nothing that man has done since the time when the question was asked by the psalmist has contributed to diminish the force of the inquiry.
That thou visitest him - As thou dost; that is, with the attention and care which thou dost bestow upon him; not forgetting him; not leaving him; not passing him by. The word used here -
Poole -> Psa 8:4
Poole: Psa 8:4 - -- What i.e. how mean and inconsiderable a thing is man, if compared with thy glorious Majesty, who art so infinite in power and wisdom, as thou hast sh...
What i.e. how mean and inconsiderable a thing is man, if compared with thy glorious Majesty, who art so infinite in power and wisdom, as thou hast showed in the frame of the heavens, &c. Man, Heb. infirm or miserable man; by which it is apparent that he speaks of man, not according to the state of his creation, but as fallen into a state of sin, and misery, and mortality.
Art mindful of him i.e. carest for him, and conferrest such high favours upon him.
The son of man Heb. the son of Adam , that great apostate from and rebel against God, the sinful son of a sinful father, his son by likeness of disposition and manners, no less than by procreation; all which tends to magnify the following mercy.
That thou visitest him not in anger, as that word is sometimes used, but with thy grace and mercy, as it is taken, Gen 21:1 Exo 4:31 Psa 65:9 106:4 144:3 .
PBC -> Psa 8:4
PBC: Psa 8:4 - -- Why should such a God take thought of mortal man, much less visit him with favor? Why should this God look kindly upon such a worm of creation and vis...
Why should such a God take thought of mortal man, much less visit him with favor? Why should this God look kindly upon such a worm of creation and visit him? Do you think David held to a God-centered or a man-centered belief? Did he see man or God as the central theme of the universe?
We rejoice that David understood God’s merciful favor toward man. With equal joy, we rejoice that he also understood that the cause of this favor rested in God, not man! David found no cause for God’s thoughtful visitation within man.
Haydock -> Psa 8:4
Haydock: Psa 8:4 - -- Fingers, as if they had been formed in play, while the Incarnation is the work of God's right hand. (Eusebius) (Calmet) ---
Heavens, moon, and s...
Fingers, as if they had been formed in play, while the Incarnation is the work of God's right hand. (Eusebius) (Calmet) ---
Heavens, moon, and stars, denote the Church. No mention is made of the sun, because it is the emblem of Christ, who was the Creator. (Berthier) (Apocalypse xii. 1.) ---
This text proves that the world was not formed by angels, as some ancient heretics asserted. David, perhaps, wrote this at night; and the sun and stars are not seen together. (Menochius)
Gill -> Psa 8:4
Gill: Psa 8:4 - -- What is man, that thou art mindful of him?.... That is, the psalmist, while he was considering the greatness and glory of the celestial bodies, though...
What is man, that thou art mindful of him?.... That is, the psalmist, while he was considering the greatness and glory of the celestial bodies, thought this within himself, and so expressed it; which is to be understood, not of man in general, nor of Adam in a state of innocence; he could not be called "Enosh", the word here used, which signifies a frail, weak, sickly mortal man; nor could he with any propriety be said to be the son of man, as in the following clause: nor of fallen man, or of Adam's posterity, descending from him by ordinary generation; for all things are not put in subjection to them, as is hereafter said of man: but this is to be understood of the man Christ Jesus, as it is interpreted in Heb 2:6; or of that individual of human nature which Christ assumed. The name of Enosh well agrees with him, who was a man of no note and esteem among men, a worm and no man, a man of sorrows and acquainted with griefs, encompassed with infirmities, and was subject to death, and did die. Now it was a marvellous thing that God should be mindful of that individual of human nature; that he should prepare it in his council and covenant; that among the vast numbers of individuals which it came up in his infinite mind to create, he should choose this, to exalt it, and appoint it to union with his own Son, and take that delight in it he did; that when it was formed by his Spirit, he should anoint it with the oil of gladness above his fellows; that he should take such providential care of it, and so often and so strongly express his affection for it; that he should regard it, and support it under sufferings; and when in the grave, did not leave it, nor suffer it to see corruption; but raised it from the dead, and gave it glory, and exalted it at his own right hand;
and the son of man, that thou visitest him? The name of "the son of man" is the name of the Messiah, in Psa 80:17; and is often given to Christ, and used by him of himself in the New Testament. And this visiting of him is not to be understood in a way of wrath, though he was so visited by God, when he bore the chastisements of his people; but in a way of favour, by bestowing upon him without measure the gifts and graces of his Spirit; by affording him his gracious presence, and tilling him with spiritual peace and joy.

expand allCommentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

expand allCommentary -- Verse Range Notes
TSK Synopsis -> Psa 8:1-9
MHCC -> Psa 8:3-9
MHCC: Psa 8:3-9 - --We are to consider the heavens, that man thus may be directed to set his affections on things above. What is man, so mean a creature, that he should b...
Matthew Henry -> Psa 8:3-9
Matthew Henry: Psa 8:3-9 - -- David here goes on to magnify the honour of God by recounting the honours he has put upon man, especially the man Christ Jesus. The condescensions o...
Keil-Delitzsch -> Psa 8:3-5
Keil-Delitzsch: Psa 8:3-5 - --
(Heb.: 8:4-6) Stier wrongly translates: For I shall behold. The principal thought towards which the rest tends is Psa 8:5 (parallel are Psa 8:2 a,...
Constable: Psa 8:1-9 - --Psalm 8
In this psalm David marveled at the fact that God had committed the dominion of the earth to man...
