Psalms 8:1–9, King James Version
Italic words were supplied in the English translation for clarity.
Psalms 8:1–9
Human frailty crowned with entrusted dignity
Majesty overhead, and praise from the smallest mouths
The communal voice names the LORD's name excellent in all the earth, with glory above the heavens. Strength is ordained from the mouth of children and nursing infants, enough to still an enemy and an avenger.
The poem will crown the human, but it starts with a God whose praise does not wait for the powerful to speak.
Dust under stars, then a borrowed crown
Looking at moon and stars, the speaker asks what a human being is that God remembers him, what the son of man is that God visits him. The answer is gift, not achievement: made a little lower than heavenly beings, crowned with glory and honor, given rule over flock, beast, bird, and fish.
The psalm's envelope repeats the excellent name. Human dominion is entrusted stewardship under that name, not a license to ruin land and creature, and not a ranking that some humans bear less dignity than others.
How this should shape us
Hold two truths together: we are small under the night sky, and we are crowned with a charge we did not invent. Use power as care for what God already named good. Do not baptize domination with this crown.
Teach it back
Explain Psalms 8:1–9 in your own words. Name the poetic voice and movement, trace its place in Psalm 8 and Book I, identify one exact source control or uncertainty, and reject one use the passage does not authorize.
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Go deeper
The explanation above is meant to stand on its own. Open these notes only if you want language, history, disagreements, or source locations.
Where careful interpreters disagreeThe strongest options and their difficulties
Where do responsible readings differ?
Best judgment: Human dominion is accountable creaturely stewardship, not a license for ecological destruction, domination, or claims that some people bear less dignity.
How certain? probableResearch trail and exact locationsThe source record behind this section
Supports: Exact displayed KJV wording, verse order, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete thought-unit coverage.
Psalms 8:1–9, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM-derived repository corpus
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording and morphology checked at the exact unit without treating morphology as a complete apparatus or interpretation.
Open Scriptures MorphHB v2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Ps.xml, OSIS 8:1–9
Supports: Verse-level controls for poetic syntax, imagery, older KJV language, textual issues, headings, and alternatives in Psalms 8:1–9.
Official NET Bible Psalm 8 HTML, translator, textual, and study notes attached to Psalms 8:1–9
Supports: Five-book, genre, poetic, historical, theological, liturgical, communal, and reception synthesis with visible limits.
Enter the Bible Psalms course, Summary, Outline, Introductory Issues, and Theological Themes; applied to Psalms 8:1–9
Supports: Ancient Greek wording, numbering, division, and superscription evidence where it materially clarifies translation or reception.
NETS Psalms, Pietersma introduction pp. 542–543 and exact Greek translation headed Ps 8 for Psalms 8:1–9
Sources for This Section
These records identify the source, the claim it supports, and the exact location used. A source remains evidence to evaluate; it does not replace the biblical text.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact displayed KJV wording, verse order, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete thought-unit coverage.
Exact location: Psalms 8:1–9, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM-derived repository corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Psalms
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording and morphology checked at the exact unit without treating morphology as a complete apparatus or interpretation.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Ps.xml, OSIS 8:1–9
Open the fixed Hebrew Psalms file ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible Notes: Psalms 1-150
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, current official online edition
Supports: Verse-level controls for poetic syntax, imagery, older KJV language, textual issues, headings, and alternatives in Psalms 8:1–9.
Exact location: Official NET Bible Psalm 8 HTML, translator, textual, and study notes attached to Psalms 8:1–9
Open the official NET Psalms notes ↗modern scholarly book course
Psalms course: summary, outline, background, introductory issues, theological themes, and Bible in the world
Fred Gaiser; revised by Nicholas Schaser
Enter the Bible, Luther Seminary, revised May 2024
Supports: Five-book, genre, poetic, historical, theological, liturgical, communal, and reception synthesis with visible limits.
Exact location: Enter the Bible Psalms course, Summary, Outline, Introductory Issues, and Theological Themes; applied to Psalms 8:1–9
Open the Enter the Bible Psalms course ↗ancient greek text translation and introduction
A New English Translation of the Septuagint: Psalms
Albert Pietersma
International Organization for Septuagint and Cognate Studies; Oxford University Press, 2009
Supports: Ancient Greek wording, numbering, division, and superscription evidence where it materially clarifies translation or reception.
Exact location: NETS Psalms, Pietersma introduction pp. 542–543 and exact Greek translation headed Ps 8 for Psalms 8:1–9
Open NETS Psalms ↗