volume 5, issue 1, 2013, pages 74-85

DOI: https://doi.org/10.64438/sbsGXDL8838
Published online: 2013-06-01
Published in print: 2013-06-30

Abstract: Created and glorified human being is the main theme of the central verses of Psalm 8 (vv. 5-6). Based on lexical arguments, v. 6a could be translated “you have denied him a little bit of God”. Reasoning is supported by the observation of key terms “man” ~d“a’ and “God” ~yhil{a/ (365 occurrences) in the Psalter, by a thoughtful literary placement of Psalm 8 in the context of Psalms 3–8 and by literary-thematic relation of Psalm 8 with the story of creation in Genesis 1. Psalm 8:6 introduces humans to a fuller understanding of the reality of the human relation to God. That a person does not have a divine faultlessness, it is not because of God’s arbitrary decision. Humans were denied of divine perfection not primarily because of sin, but as the psalm highlights, because they are creatures and (they are) not (equal to) God.