Psalms 8
Old Testament · Brenton Septuagint with Greek parallel
Psalms chapter 8 is given here in full, verse by verse, in Sir Lancelot Brenton's classic English translation of the Septuagint (LXX), with the Greek text of the Septuagint set beneath each verse. The text follows the Septuagint tradition received throughout the Orthodox Church.
7 patristic excerpts are attached to this chapter, from Saint Augustine of Hippo. The translator's notes for this chapter (3) follow the text.
Psalms 8
1For the end, concerning the wine presses, a Psalm of David.Εἰς τὸ τέλος, ὑπὲρ τῶν ληνῶν, ψαλμὸς τῷ Δαυίδ.
2O Lord, our Lord, how wonderful is your name in all the earth! for your 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.
3✡ Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings have you perfected praise, because of your enemies; that you might put down the enemy and avenger.Ἐκ στόματος νηπίων καὶ θηλαζόντων κατηρτίσω αἶνον· ἕνεκα τῶν ἐχθρῶν σου, τοῦ καταλῦσαι ἐχθρὸν καὶ ἐκδικητήν.
4For I will regard the heavens, the work of your fingers; the moon and stars, which you have established.Ὅτι ὄψομαι τοὺς οὐρανοὺς ἔργα τῶν δακτύλων σου, σελήνην καὶ ἀστέρας, ἃ σὺ ἐθεμελίωσας·
5✡ What is man, that you are mindful of him? or the son of man, that you visit him?Τί ἐστιν ἄνθρωπος, ὅτι μιμνήσκῃ αὐτοῦ; ἢ υἱὸς ἀνθρώπου, ὅτι ἐπισκέπτῃ αὐτόν;
6You made him a little less than angels, you have crowned him with glory and honor;Ἠλάττωσας αὐτὸν βραχύ τι παρʼ ἀγγέλους, δόξῃ καὶ τιμῇ ἐστεφάνωσας αὐτὸν,
7and you have set him over the works of your hands: you have put all things under his feet:καὶ κατέστησας αὐτὸν ἐπὶ τὰ ἔργα τῶν χειρῶν σου· πάντα ὑπέταξας ὑποκάτω τῶν ποδῶν αὐτοῦ,
8sheep and all * oxen, yes and the cattle of the field;πρόβατα καὶ βόας πάσας, ἔτι δὲ καὶ τὰ κτήνη τοῦ πεδίου,
9the 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.
10O Lord our Lord, how wonderful is your name in all the earth!Κύριε ὁ Κύριος ἡμῶν, ὡς θαυμαστὸν ὄνομά σου ἐν πάσῃ τῇ γῇ;
Translator's Notes
These notes come from the printed edition of Sir Lancelot Brenton's classic English translation of the Septuagint (LXX), and record where the Greek differs from the English rendering or admits more than one reading.
- v. 2✡Matt 21:16
- v. 4✡Heb 2:6-9
- v. 7*Gr. cows.
The Fathers on Psalms 8
Saint Augustine of Hippo comments on this chapter. Each excerpt below is drawn from the full text held in the Fathers Library; follow the link on any entry to read the whole work.
On Psalms 8:2Saint Augustine of Hippo4. Accordingly it is said, “O Lord, our Lord, how admirable is Thy Name in all the earth!” (ver. 1). I ask, how is His Name wonderful in all the earth? The answer is, “For Thy 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 Thee! for Thy glory hath been raised from earthly humiliation above the heavens. For hence it appeared…
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On Psalms 8:3Saint Augustine of Hippo5. “Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings Thou hast made perfect praise, because of Thine enemies” (ver. 2). I cannot take babes and sucklings to be any other than those to whom the Apostle says, “As unto babes in Christ I have given you milk to drink, not meat.” Who were meant by those who went before the Lord praising Him, of whom the Lord Himself used this testimony, when He answered the Jews who bade Him…
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On Psalms 8:4Saint Augustine of Hippo7. “For I shall see Thy heavens, the works of Thy fingers” (ver. 3). 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 Holy Ghost, by reason of this same Spirit which worketh in them, since by them all holy…
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On Psalms 8:5Saint Augustine of Hippo10. “What is man, that Thou art mindful of him? or the son of man, that Thou visitest him?” (ver. 4). It may be asked, what distinction there is between man and son of man. For if there were none, it would not be expressed thus, “man, or son of man,” disjunctively. For if it were written thus, “What is man, that Thou art mindful of him, and son of man, that Thou visitest him?” it might appear to be a repetition…
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On Psalms 8:6–7Saint Augustine of Hippo11. 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, “Thou hast lowered Him a little lower than the Angels” (ver. 5). But that glorifying is added, in which He rose and ascended up into heaven; “With glory,”…
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On Psalms 8:9Saint Augustine of Hippo12. “Thou hast 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.” And to the Hebrews he uses this very testimony from this Psalm, when he would have it to be understood that all things are…
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On Psalms 8:9Open Psalms 8 in the interactive reader Switch translations, hear the chapter read aloud, tap any verse for its patristic commentary, and study the Greek word by word.Saint Augustine of Hippo13. “Yea moreover,” saith 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 been written even thus, “all sheep and oxen and beasts of the field;” it might be reasonably…
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