Psalms 8:9

8:9 O Lord, our Lord, ¹ 

how magnificent ²  is your reputation ³  throughout the earth! ⁴ 

Psalms 8:1

Psalm 8 ⁵ 

For the music director, according to the gittith style; ⁶  a psalm of David.

8:1 O Lord, our Lord, ⁷ 

how magnificent ⁸  is your reputation ⁹  throughout the earth!

You reveal your majesty in the heavens above! ¹⁰ 

[8:9]  ¹ tn The plural form of the title emphasizes the Lord’s absolute sovereignty.

[8:9]  ² tn Or “awesome, majestic.”

[8:9]  ³ tn Heb “name,” which here stands metonymically for God’s reputation.

[8:9]  ⁴ sn Using the poetic device of inclusio, the psalmist ends the psalm the way he began it. The concluding refrain is identical to v. 1.

[8:1]  ⁵ sn Psalm 8. In this hymn to the sovereign creator, the psalmist praises God’s majesty and marvels that God has given mankind dominion over the created order.

[8:1]  ⁶ tn The precise meaning of the Hebrew term הגתית is uncertain; it probably refers to a musical style or type of instrument.

[8:1]  ⁷ tn The plural form of the title emphasizes the Lord’s absolute sovereignty.

[8:1]  ⁸ tn Or “awesome”; or “majestic.”

[8:1]  ⁹ tn Heb “name,” which here stands metonymically for God’s reputation.

[8:1]  ¹⁰ tc Heb “which, give, your majesty on the heavens.” The verb form תְּנָה (tÿnah; an imperative?) is corrupt. The form should be emended to a second masculine singular perfect (נָתַתָּה, natatah) or imperfect (תִתֵן, titen) form. The introductory אֲשֶׁר (’asher, “which”) can be taken as a relative pronoun (“you who”) or as a causal conjunction (“because”). One may literally translate, “you who [or “because you”] place your majesty upon the heavens.” For other uses of the phrase “place majesty upon” see Num 27:20 and 1 Chr 29:25.