Psalms 8:3

When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained;

King James Version · Read in your translation · Open the Explore console

Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
consider	אֶרְאֶ֣ה 'er.'Eh	H7200	to see · verb, qal imperfect, 1st person common singular
heavens	שָׁ֭מֶיךָ Sha.mei.kha	H8064	the sky (as aloft · noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
work	מַעֲשֵׂ֣י ma.'a.Sei	H4639	an action (good or bad) · noun, common masculine plural construct
fingers	אֶצְבְּעֹתֶ֑יךָ 'etz.be.'o.Tei.kha	H676	something to sieze with · noun, common feminine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
moon	יָרֵ֥חַ ya.Re.ach	H3394	the moon · noun, common masculine singular absolute
stars	וְ֝כוֹכָבִ֗ים ve.kho.kha.Vim	H3556	a star (as round or as shining) · conjunction + noun, common masculine plural absolute
ordained	כּוֹנָֽנְתָּה ko.Na.ne.tah	H3559	properly · verb, piel perfect, 2nd person masculine singular

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
Psalms 33:6 By the word of the LORD were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth.
Psalms 89:11 The heavens are thine, the earth also is thine: as for the world and the fulness thereof, thou hast founded them.
Psalms 104:19 He appointed the moon for seasons: the sun knoweth his going down.
Psalms 111:2 The works of the LORD are great, sought out of all them that have pleasure therein.
Romans 1:20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eter…
Exodus 8:19 Then the magicians said unto Pharaoh, This is the finger of God: and Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he hearkened not unto them; as the LO…
Luke 11:20 But if I with the finger of God cast out devils, no doubt the kingdom of God is come upon you.

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Psalms 8:3–end

David here goes on to magnify the honour of God by recounting the honours he has put upon man, especially the man Christ Jesus. The condescensions of the divine grace call for our praises as much as the elevations of the divine glory. How God has condescended in favour to man the psalmist here observes with wonder and thankfulness, and recommends it to our thoughts. See here, I. What it is that leads him to admire the condescending favour of God to man; it is his consideration of the lustre and influence of the heavenly bodies, which are within the view of sense (Psa 8:3): I consider thy heavens, and there, particularly, the moon and the stars. But why does he not take notice of the sun, whi…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Psalms 8:3

The allusion to the magnificence of the visible heavens is introduced for the purpose of illustrating God's condescension, who, though the mighty Creator of these glorious worlds of light, makes man the object of regard and recipient of favor.

John Gill on Psalms 8:3

When I consider thy heavens,.... Where God dwells, and which he has made; the airy and starry heavens, which are to be seen with the bodily eye; and the heaven of heavens, which is to be beheld and considered by faith: the work of thy fingers; being curiously wrought by his power, and garnished by his Spirit: for the finger of God is the Spirit of God; see Matthew 12:28; compared with Luke 11:20; the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained, or "prepared" (h), for various uses to the earth, and the inhabitants of it. The sun is not mentioned, because it cannot be looked upon, as the moon and the stars may, nor be seen when they are. And it is generally thought that David composed this…

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John Calvin on Psalms 8:3-4

Psalm 8:3-4 3. When I see thy heavens, the works of thy fingers; the moon and the stars which thou hast arranged: 4. What is man [143] that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him? [144] As the Hebrew particle ky, ki, has often the same meaning as because or for, and simply affirms a thing, both the Greek and the Latin fathers have generally read the fourth verse as if it were a complete sentence by itself. But it is, doubtless, closely connected with the following verse; and, therefore, the two verses ought to be joined together. The Hebrew word ky, ki, might be very properly translated into the disjunctive particle, although, making the meaning to be this: Alt…

The Church Fathers

By saying "founded" he meant the stability and immutability of the order and succession given them by God.
— John Damascene, ORTHODOX FAITH 2:7

You are mindful of man, and you have concern for him because you did not make him as if he were a small and worthless animal, but he is worthy of so much honor that he is celebrated with hymns from the mouths of infants and sucklings.
— Eusebius of Caesarea, COMMENTARY ON PSALMS 8:4-5

And why did he not say "your hands" instead of "your fingers"? To show that visible things are a work requiring the least power, and the extraordinary aspect of creation, namely, that the stars hang there without falling; at any rate, though the very nature of the foundations required, not that they be suspended above but lie below, still the excellent Architect and Creator produced a surprise in making most of the visible things surpass the logic of nature.
— John Chrysostom, COMMENTARY ON THE PSALMS 8:6

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Astronomy — The Hebrews were devout students of the wonders of the starry firmanent (Amos 5:8; Ps. 19). In the Book of Job, which is the oldest book of the Bible in all probability, the constellations are…
Gittith — A stringed instrument of music. This word is found in the titles of Ps. 8, 81, 84. In these places the LXX. render the word by “on the wine-fats.” The Targum explains by “on the harp which David…
Moon — Heb. yareah, from its paleness (Ezra 6:15), and lebanah, the “white” (Cant. 6:10; Isa. 24:23), was appointed by the Creator to be with the sun “for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years”…
Music, Instrumental — Among instruments of music used by the Hebrews a principal place is given to stringed instruments. These were, (1.) The kinnor, the “harp.” (2.) The nebel, “a skin bottle,” rendered “psaltery.” (3.)…
Psalms, Book Of — The present Hebrew name of the book is Tehill’im, “Praises;” but in the actual superscriptions of the psalms the word Tehillah is applied only to one, (Psalms 145:1) ... which is indeed emphatically…
Astronomy · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Creation · Insignificance of man seen from — Insignificance of man seen from
Humility · EXEMPLIFIED — EXEMPLIFIED
Man · INSIGNIFI — INSIGNIFI
Moon · Created by God — Created by God
Moon, The · Created by God — Created by God
Power Of God, The · Expressed by the: Finger of God

Psalms 8:3

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Psalms 8:3–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Psalms 8:3

John Gill on Psalms 8:3

John Calvin on Psalms 8:3-4

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Psalms 8:3

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Psalms 8:3–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Psalms 8:3

John Gill on Psalms 8:3

John Calvin on Psalms 8:3-4

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Keil & Delitzsch on Psalms 8:3-5

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Psalms 8:3-5

Spurgeon's Treasury of David on Psalms 8:3-4