Psalm 8/Notes/Phrasal.Vv. 7-8.214401
From Psalms: Layer by Layer
- V. 7
- That which your hands made. "The works of your hands" (NIV, ESV) >> "everything your hands have made" (CEV). The patient of משל is very often indicated by a ב preposition (e.g., Gen 37:8; 45:8; Judg 9:2; Joel 2:17; etc.).
- The key word everything (כֹּל) is repeated now for the second time (see notes on v. 2). It is fronted for marked focus.[1] YHWH has subjected absolutely everything to humanity's rule; no creature has been excluded.
- V. 8
- The phrase בַּהֲמוֹת שָׂדָי (lit.: "land animals in the field") refers here to wild animals (GNT). "Given the juxtaposition (וגם [v. 8b]) of the taxon בהמות (label 3) in Psalm 8 to two domesticated land animal subclasses, and the fact that the habitat modifier שדי is used in labels for wild land animals but not in labels for domesticated land animals, the label בהמות שדי (label 3) must refer to wild land animals."[2]