Commentary for Psalms 8:13

the gittith A musical instrument that came from Gath, where craftsmen were found to make it (Machbereth Menachem p. 60). But our Sages said (Mid. Ps. 8:1): Concerning a nation [Edom] that is destined to be trodden like a winepress, as it is written (in Isaiah 63:3): “A winepress I trod alone.” However, the contents of the psalm do not indicate it.

For the Chief Musician: set to the Gittith. A Psalm of David. – We have expounded already above (Ps. iv. i) that Gittith is a kind of music. And there are those who say that David composed and recited (the Psalm) when he was in Gath; while others say (Ibn Ezra) that he gave it to the sons of Obed Edom the Gittite. This Psalm also is a hymn and rendering of praise and thanks to God, and a recounting of His acts of power.

how mighty is Your name more than the strength of the measure of the earthlings. The earthlings did not deserve that You should cause Your Shechinah to rest among them.

O Lord, our Sovereign Lord: – for Thou art Lord of the created things, those above and those below.

for which You should bestow Your majesty upon the heavens It is fitting that You bestow it upon the heavens. But You, with Your great humility...

How Excellent is Thy Name: – Equivalent to How Excellent art Thou ! For His Name is He, and He is His Name. Name (here) is the Tetragrammaton, and is not a common noun; and it is Excellent.

in all the earth ! – He means to say: Thy power is seen in all the earth; whether in the inhabited parts, or in the desert, or in the sea in all the earth Thy might is seen; but the supreme glory and mightiest power are visible in the heavens, for the earth is but a tiny thing in comparison with the heavens, being like the point in the centre of the circle.

Who hast set Thy glory over the heavens: – The word תְּנָה (set) is the infinitive in place of (the perfect) נָתַתָּ (hast set), for the infinitive is used in place of a past tense, as (in the text) "calveth and forsaketh" (Jerem. 14:5), where the infinitive עָזוֹב is equivalent to עָזְבָה, and other instances besides; and also in place of a future and present participle, as we have expounded in the book Miklol in the grammatical section thereof. And the meaning of the verse is this: How Excellent is Thy Name in all the earth! And Excellent inasmuch as Thou hast set Thy glory over the heavens. And the interpretation of the word glory (הוד) is " might and splendour." And it is possible to explain Who hast set Thy glory over the heavens as the reason why Thy Name is Excellent in all the earth. His meaning (then) is: because Thou hast invested the higher, (elements) with power to control the lower; for the earth and all that it contains, the seas and all therein all are in the control of the higher (elements).

Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings You have established strength You caused Your Shechinah to rest in the Temple, and You decreed that we thank You. This is strength [that emerges] from the mouth of the Levites and the priests, who are people raised in filth like babes and sucklings. [The word] עוללים is an expression of (Job 16:15) “and sullied my radiance in the dust,” and because of the filth, all infants are called עוללים.

Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings Thou hast laid the foundation of Strength: – The first of the distinguishing marks in man after his coming into the (light and) air of the world is the power to suck. It is needful that man should confess the Creator and recognise His might and power on account of His works that are visible in heaven and in earth; and also from the constitution of his body, which is created from a drop of seed which turns to blood, and from that grows little by little until the limbs are perfectly formed and it comes forth into the (light and) air of the world. He has already made mention of this in the Psalm "O Lord, Thou hast searched vie and known" (cxxxix. infra). In the present Psalm he says that the wonders of the Creator and His loving-kindness toman are to be recognised from the moment of his first coming into the (light and) air of the world, and from his early infancy. It is for this reason that he uses the word יסדת (Thou hast laid the foundation); for, just as יסוד (foundation) is the beginning of the building, so the suckling period is the beginning of the (power to) recognise the loving-kindness of the Creator towards man after his coming into the (light and) air of the world, because the Holy One - Blessed be He ! - has made for him in the breasts an incision like the eye-hole of a fine needle. It is no wider, for if it were wider, the milk would flow forth in a stream without sucking, and too much would come into his mouth, so that he would be choked by it; and if it were smaller than it is, sucking would be difficult to the child and his lips would become painful. Everything, however, is in due proportion and measure. Further, He has distinguished man from the rest of the creatures in that He has put his mother's teats in the place of understanding, as our Rabbis of blessed memory have remarked (Babli, Berakhoth 10 a). It is for this reason that he says: Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings Thou hast laid the foundation of strength, that man may be able to see that all is within the design of a Designer, and not, as the enemies of the Lord say, that everything happens by nature and chance without the direction of a Director and the design of a Designer. And this is the meaning of what he says next:

because of Your adversaries To inform them that we are Your people.

Because of Thine adversaries, That Thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger: – Although this loving-kindness is to be seen also in like manner in the case of the beasts and living creatures, to man God has given understanding and discernment to recognise God's work and to confess Him and praise Him for all; and all of them have been created for his (man's) use. Such being the case, it is incumbent upon him to reflect, and to recognise the work of God, and to confess Him in everything. And the learned Rabbi Abraham ben Ezra has expounded {ad loc.) that he speaks so "on account of man's being honoured above all the lower creatures, for from the time that the child begins to speak (and this is the meaning of out of the mouth of babes), then the spirit, by reason of his constitution, begins to receive strength until it discerns the power of its Creator by a deliberate act of judgement, for the soul is strengthened day after day; and this is the meaning of Thou hast laid the foundation of strength. And the meaning of because of Thine adversaries (is) to bring to naught the words of the deniers, who say there is no God." And our teacher Moses ha-Cohen ben Giktilla has expounded thus: out of the mouth of babes, though they cannot speak with their mouths, (yet) in themselves they teach of the multitude of Thy loving-kindnesses, for Thou dost sustain them and makest them to grow in their bodily development.

to put an end to the disgrace of the enemy and avenger, who says, “You are no better than the other nations.” But I, when I see Your heavens, etc.,... I wonder in my heart, what is man that You should remember him?

When I consider Thy heavens, the work of Thy fingers, The moon and the stars which Thou hast ordained: – He does not mention the sun. Some say that (David) uttered this Psalm at night, at a time when he was considering the moon and stars, and discerning the wonders of the Creator. Others also say (Ibn Ezra, ad loc.) that in the daytime only the sun is seen, while at night a very great host is seen. It is for this reason, then, that he makes no mention of the sun. And others again say (ibid, in the name of others) that when he said Who hast set Thy glory over the heavens he hinted at the sun in this, for it is the great creation par excellence. And he says When I consider Thy heavens as though meaning: "When I consider Thy great creations in the world, and reflect upon human affairs, then I stand amazed." So he says:

What is man, that Thou art mindful of him? And the son of man, that Thou visitest him? – What is man! is the antithesis of How Excellent is Thy Name! for the latter expression is intended to magnify, but this to depreciate. He says, When I consider Thy heavens, the moon and the stars, great creations and intelligences as they are, (I exclaim) What is man ! that Thou dost remember him and hast imparted to him some of the glory of the higher incorporeal intelligences; for even in the case of those that are corporeal I see their great bodily size and relative superiority, and that man is as nothing compared with them. And he says, the work of Thy fingers, and also which Thou hast ordained, to confute the scoffers who say the world is eternal; therefore he says work and Thou hast ordained, for Thou didst make them all new. And he says: I will consider of Thy heavens, although only the nearest is visible to us, because they are concentric up to the eighth, which is the sphere of the Zodiac, and because they are all transparent, as an object in a glass vessel which is visible from outside. And the learned Rabbi Abraham ben Ezra, of blessed memory, has written that the Psalmist says Thy fingers because the fingers are ten in number and the spheres are ten - seven firmaments containing the seven planets, the sphere of the Zodiac, the ninth sphere above that of the Zodiac, and the tenth the Throne of Glory. What is man that Thou art mindful of him? And the son of man that Thou visitest him? repeating the idea with a change of terms. Or he means to say by that Thou art mindful of him, that Thou didst remember him at his creation and didst impart to him some of Thy glory. And Thou visitest him - all the days of his life Thou watchest over him and his deeds to reward every man according to his ways.

Yet You have made him slightly less than the angels, etc. Heb. מאלהים, which is an expression of angels, for You gave power to Joshua to still the sun and to dry up the Jordan, and to Moses to split the waters of the Sea of Reeds and to ascend to the heavens, and to Elijah to resurrect the dead.

For Thou hast made him but little lower than Elohim: – that is, the angels - in that the spirit of man is of the (same) quality as that of the angels, which is incorporeal just as they are incorporeal; and the inferiority consists in the fact of its {i.e. man's spirit) being (lodged) in a body.

And crownest him with glory and honour – by the higher spirit which Thou hast placed in him. And by it

Thou makest him to have dominion over the works of Thy hands: – i.e. the inferior beings. Or the meaning of the expression may include the higher ones also; and the dominion then consists in his knowing by his understanding the movement of the spheres and the stars.

Thou hast put all things under his feet: – The lower (beings) are all under him, as it says (Gen. 9:2): "And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth and upon every fowl of the air.'"

Flocks and cattle Heb. צנה ואלפים [equivalent to] צאן ובקר, like (Deut. 7:13), “the young of your cattle (אלפך).” צנה is an expression of industry, as (in Num. 32:24), “and enclosures for your flocks (לצנאכם)”; oveyledic in Old French, enclosures to pen the small livestock. There are many Aggadic midrashim, but they do not fit the verses.

Flocks and cattle: – The aleph of צֹאן (flocks) is elided in צֹנֶה, and the he of צנה is changed for aleph, as is seen in the word לצנאכם (for your flocks) (Num. 32:24). And he says flocks and cattle because they grow up with him, and are serviceable for his work and for his food and for his clothing. And the flocks include sheep and goats, and the cattle (אלפים) are the oxen.

And he says all of them – with reference to the rest of the animals that grow up with him the horses and asses and camels.

And he says And also beasts of the field: – meaning the wild creatures of the field. And he adds And also, for also over them, that do not grow up with him about his dwelling, he has dominion through his understanding and his cunning devices against them. And he says further:

Fowl of heaven and fish of the sea: – He says: Even over those which are not in the earth with him, as the fowl which flies in the air, and the fishes which swim in the waters, he rules over all and snares them by his cunning devices. And further, by his understanding and his cunning devices

He passes over the paths of the sea: – in that he makes ships and passes in them over the paths of the sea.

O Lord, our Sovereign Lord, How Excellent is Thy Name in all the earth ! – He returns once more to praise when he has finished the recital of the loving kindnesses which He (God) shews towards man, and the power He has given him over all; and because, though he is small and of no account in comparison with the great creatures on high, he is their equal in understanding. (And so) he returns to praise and says, O Lord, our Sovereign Lord, etc.