Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Psalms 8:6
Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all [things] under his feet:
6. Again a reference to Gen 1:26; Gen 1:28. ‘Thou hast put all things under his feet’ reads like a paraphrase of the word there rendered ‘let them have dominion,’ which means primarily ‘to tread under foot,’ and thence ‘to rule.’ On St Paul’s application of the words in 1Co 15:27 see above.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Thou madest him to have dominion – Thou didst cause him to have, or didst give him this dominion. It does not mean that God made or created him for that end, but that he had conceded to him that dominion, thus conferring on him exalted honor. The allusion is to Gen 1:26, Gen 1:28.
Over the works of thy hands – His works upon the earth, for the dominion extends no further.
Thou hast put all things under his feet – Hast placed all things in subjection to him. Compare Psa 47:3; Psa 91:13; Lam 3:34; Rom 16:20; 1Co 15:25. The language is taken from the act of treading down enemies in battle; from putting the feet on the necks of captives, etc. The idea is that of complete and entire subjection. This dominion was originally given to man at his creation, and it still remains (though not so absolute and entire as this), for nothing is in itself more remarkable than the dominion which man, by nature so feeble, exercises over the inferior creation. it is impossible to account for this in any other way than as it is accounted for in the Bible, by the supposition that it was originally conceded to man by his Creator. On the question of the applicability of this to Christ, see the notes at Heb 2:6-9.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Psa 8:6
Thou madest him to have dominion.
Mans dominion
Dominion is a far-reaching word. We have not yet thrown our measuring line upon it, and realised all its suggestions and inspiration. Is there not a stirring sometimes in the heart, which means: I was meant to be a king; I was meant to be master; I was meant to exercise dominion–dominion over the enticements of matter; it was intended that I should be able to say to the most fascinating spectacles that could appeal to me–Stand back! Man was meant to have dominion over the satisfactions of sense. Is it not quite heroic, in some small way at least, that a man shall be able to say to a habit, I have done with thee; you do not leave this day fortnight–you leave now. That is what God means man to be and to do in regard to everything that is not of the nature of God Himself. It is well to put our very habits through a process of discipline, supposing the habit to be not altogether wicked. Is it worth while that we should be able to hold things in dominion if we cannot hold ourselves in check? The great aim of every life should be self-control, dominion over self. (Joseph Parker, D. D.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Psa 8:6-8
Thou hast put all things under his feet, etc.
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Cruelty to animals
If the lower creation were not too insignificant or worthless to contribute to the glory of Jesus, they cannot be deemed too insignificant for Him to care for, and for us to protect and honour. We know it is said of His saints that he that toucheth them, toucheth the apple of His eye. In other words, He feels what is done to His people as sensitively as if it had been done to Himself. And, of course, while there is a sense in which, using human language, He must be jealous of them, as He is in regard to no other (they being emphatically the fruit of the travail of His soul), yet if all creatures have been intrusted to His sovereignty, and are the subjects of His sway, He must regard any wanton injustice or cruelty inflicted on the meanest and the lowliest as an unwarranted aggression on what the old divines call His rectorial rights. It may seem to some an unnecessary straining of the subject: that it would be better to rest and vindicate it on principles of ordinary benevolence. It is well, indeed, that we can take up the lower ground too, and, for those who would scorn the appeal to gospel motive, address ourselves to the claims and sympathies of our common humanity. But I do confess it seems to me that this theme secures a far more commanding demonstration when we see the lower animals, whose oppression we are called to denounce, placed under the especial care and authority of the Redeemer; that as the living creatures were brought one by one to the first Adam to be named and placed under his protection, so the second Adam, the Lord from heaven, who is to restore in every respect what the other forfeited, has had among the all things put under His feet, all sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field, and the fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the sea. Though the members of the lowlier creation are represented in the text as subjected to the rule of Christ, they have been subordinated by Him to the care of man. To man, as high priest of creation, they have been made over at once for his use, and to secure his protection and kindness. In thus consigning them to his custody, this great Lord of nature has given significant intimation of the treatment He Himself designs them to receive at the hands of their deputed governor. He has manifested on every side a desire for the happiness of His creatures. Pain is in no instance the law or condition of their being. The sport of the insect, the carol of the lark, the gambols of the quadruped, the gush of summer song in the groves and woods, all read the design and intention of a bountiful, beneficent, and benevolent Ruler. And if man, therefore, abuse his delegated authority, and instead of the merciful guardian and friend of the helpless, become the rigorous tyrant and torturer, does he not thereby set himself up in guilty defiance of the purposes of the Almighty, and do what he can to abridge the happiness he was commissioned to provide and promote? We shall proceed to enforce, from a few brief considerations, the duty of abstaining from the infliction of pain on the inferior creation, and their paramount claims on mans sympathy, protection, and kindness. Let us advert, at the outset, to a lurking and widely accepted fallacy with regard to the lower animals having a comparative insensibility to pain. That they are capable of a certain amount of suffering none dare dispute, but we question if there be not at the root of much of that reckless torture of which they are the subjects, an impression that their wild and untamed habits of life and their iron frames make them proof against the physical anguish of which the human being is susceptible. I would ask what in anatomy, what in physiology is there to bear out such an hypothesis? How can I more befittingly stun up this subject than by a closing reference and reply? Some have ventured to assert that the lower animals, being infinitely beneath us in the scale of being, are unfit subjects and objects for any such special and exceptional tenderness as that for which we plead. I ask, Where should we have been at this moment if this were a recognised and universally-acted-upon law in the government of God–that a being, because superior in the scale of existence, should refuse to bestow regard or interest on those who are some degrees beneath him? Is not the whole scheme of redemption one marvellous display of the condescension and kindness of one Being to those immeasurably below Him? Mans condescension to the lower animals! What is this in comparison with Gods regardfulness of man? The former is but the attention and kindness of one creature to another, both springing from earth, both hastening to dissolution. But the kindness of God to the human offspring is that of the Infinite to the finite, Almightiness to nothingness, Deity to dust! Oh, if God, the great God Almighty, thus visits the guilty with tenderness, shall we visit the innocent and unoffending with cruelty and oppression? when He has thrown the shield of His merciful, but unmerited, protection over us, shall we thus requite His kindness by acting toward the humbler creatures of His hands with contempt and disdainful neglect? No! as we behold His kingdom stretching downwards from the pinnacles of glory to every living thing in the habitable parts of the earth, where from the beginning His delights have been, let us recognise the beauty and profound meaning of that magnificent vision which burst on the prophet by the river Chebar–significant exposition of the Mediators sovereignty: the four fold resemblances or images of creature forms, of which only one was human, and the other three of the lower animals–the lion, the ox, and the eagle; while over all, in the sapphire firmament, we read, was the likeness as the appearance of a man. It was the very truth and language of our text embodied and symbolised: the all-glorious and glorified Mediator presiding over the Kingdom of Providence, and demonstrating in the most extensive sense His Kingdom ruleth over all! Seeing, then, that all creatures thus wait upon Him, that He gives them their meat in due season, let the topic of our meditation (pleading, and pleading all the more earnestly for those who cannot plead for themselves) receive the loftiest enforcement by joining in with the loyal ascription of the Psalmist–Thou hast put all things under his feet. (J. R. Macduff, D. D.)
The supreme rule of Christ
This Psalm is stamped with a worldwide breadth; it is of no nation, it is of all time; it shines with a light transcending that of mere human genius. We are brought face to face with these three–nature, man, and God. Here is no picture drawn from nature. This description–Thou hast put all things under his feet–does not, as a matter of fact, describe mans present position on the globe. All things are not put under him. He does not reign over nature, he wrestles with nature. The Psalmist is not using here the language of prophetic inspiration. He is looking back to the primitive glory, the primeval character of man as it is written upon the very first page of this book. The Bible grasps so firmly the unseen future, just because it plants its foot so strongly upon the past. Human nature did not crawl up from sentient slime; man was born with the likeness of his Father shining out from his very countenance, able to converse with God, and to render intelligent and loving obedience to God. Turn to the New Testament Scriptures. A new light, a new glory, suddenly breaks forth from them. We see Jesus . . . crowned with glory and honour. In Scripture there is but one Divine right, and that is Gods own right. His Kingdom ruleth over all. This authority is the inherent, eternal right of God in the very nature of things. Is it impossible to transfer it? Is it conceivable that the Almighty God should give His glory to another? Jesus said, All authority is given to Me in heaven and in earth. In the days of His humiliation, our Saviour constantly exercised four kinds of authority–the authority to forgive sin; the authority to declare truth; the authority to rule nature; and the authority, over human hearts and consciences–the claim of universal and absolute obedience and faith. These four are in close and inseparable moral unity. (E. R. Conder, D. D.)
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Psa 9:1-20
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 6. Thou madest him to have dominion] Jesus Christ, who, being in the form of God, and equal with God, for a time emptied himself, and made himself of no reputation; was afterwards highly exalted, and had a name above every name. See the notes referred to above, and those on Php 2:6-9.
Thou hast put all things under his feet] Though the whole of the brute creation was made subject to Adam in his state of innocence; yet it could never be literally said of him, that God had put all things under his feet, or that he had dominion over the work of God’s hands; but all this is most literally true of our Lord Jesus; and to him the apostle, Heb 2:6, &c., applies all these passages.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Thou didst give all power and all things into his hands, Mat 28:18; Joh 13:3.
Thou hast put all things, both in heaven, where are the angels mentioned Psa 8:5, and in the earth, air, and sea, as it follows; for nothing is excepted besides God, 1Co 15:25,27; Heb 2:8.
Under his feet, i.e. made them subject to him, as this phrase oft signifies. See Deu 33:3; Jdg 5:27; Psa 18:38; 110:1.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands,…. All power in heaven and in earth being given to him: when he was raised from the dead, and when he ascended on high, and was set down at the right hand of God, he was made or declared Lord and Christ; Lord of the hosts of heaven, of all the angels there, King of saints, King of kings, and Lord of lords. All things in heaven and earth, which God has made, are put into his hands, to subserve his cause and glory, and for the good of his people; for he is head over all things to the church. The Ethiopic version reads, “all the works of thy hands”; among whom are angels. This is a greater dominion than was given to the first man, Adam, Ge 1:25;
thou hast put all [things] under his feet; or put them in subjection to him, as the phrase signifies, and as it is interpreted, Heb 2:8. Good angels are subject to him, as appears by their ministration to him, their dependence on him, and adoration of him, 1Pe 3:22; devils are subject to him, whether they will or not; and so are wicked men, whose power and wrath he is able to restrain, and does; and the church is subject to Christ, as her head; and so all good men, willingly and heartily, and from a principle of love, obey his commands: yea, all creatures in the earth, air, and sea, are in subjection to him; an enumeration of which is given in the following verses.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(Heb.: 8:7-9) Man is a king, and not a king without territory; the world around, with the works of creative wisdom which fill it, is his kingdom. The words “put under his feet” sound like a paraphrase of the in Gen 1:26, Gen 1:28, is unlimited, as in Job 13:1; Job 42:2; Isa 44:24. But the expansion of the expression in Psa 8:8, Psa 8:9 extends only to the earth, and is limited even there to the different classes of creatures in the regions of land, air, and water. The poet is enthusiastic in his survey of this province of man’s dominion. And his lofty poetic language corresponds to this enthusiasm. The enumeration begins with the domestic animals and passes on from these to the wild beasts-together the creatures that dwell on terra firma . ( Num 32:24) from ( ) Arab. dna ( dn’ ), as also Arab. dan , fut. o., proliferum esse is, in poetry, equivalent to , which is otherwise the usual name for small cattle. (in Aramaic, as the name of the letter shows, a prose word) is in Hebrew poetically equivalent to ; the oxen which willingly accommodate themselves to the service of man, especially of the husbandman, are so called from to yield to. Wild animals, which in prose are called , ( ) here bear the poetical name , as in Joe 2:22, cf. Joe 1:20, 1Sa 17:44. (in pause ) is the primitive form of , which is not declined, and has thereby obtained a collective signification. From the land animals the description passes on to the fowls of the air and the fishes of the water. is the softer word, instead of ; and is water. is the softer word, instead of ; and is used without the art. according to poetical usage, whereas without the art. would have sounded too scanty and not sufficiently measured. In connection with the article may be again omitted, just as with . is a collective participle. If the following were intended: he (or: since he), viz., man, passes through the paths of the sea (Bttcher, Cassel, and even Aben-Ezra and Kimchi), then it would not have been expressed in such a monostich, and in a form so liable to lead one astray. The words may be a comprehensive designation of that portion of the animal kingdom which is found in the sea; and this also intended to include all from the smallest worm to the gigantic leviathan: (Apollinaris). If man thus rules over every living thing that is round about him from the nearest to the most remote, even that which is apparently the most untameable: then it is clear that every lifeless created thing in his vicinity must serve him as its king. The poet regards man in the light of the purpose for which he was created.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
6. Thou hast set him over. David now comes to the second point, which I have just now spoken of, namely, that from the dominion over all things which God has conferred upon men, it is evident how great is the love which he has borne towards them, and how much account he has made of them. As he does not stand in need of any thing himself, he has destined all the riches, both of heaven and earth, for their use. It is certainly a singular honor, and one which cannot be sufficiently estimated, that mortal man, as the representative of God, has dominion over the world, as if it pertained to him by right, and that to whatever quarter he turns his eyes, he sees nothing wanting which may contribute to the convenience and happiness of his life. As this passage is quoted by Paul in his First Epistle to the Corinthians, (1Co 15:27) where he discourses concerning the spiritual kingdom of Christ, some may object and say, that the meaning he puts upon it is very different from the sense which I have given. But it is easy to answer this objection, and the answer which I give to it is this, That generally the whole order of this world is arranged and established for the purpose of conducing to the comfort and happiness of men. In what way the passage may properly apply to Christ alone, I have already declared a little before. The only thing which now remains to be considered is, how far this declaration extends — that all things are subjected to men. Now, there is no doubt, that if there is any thing in heaven or on earth which is opposed to men, the beautiful order which God had established in the world at the beginning is now thrown into confusion. The consequence of this is, that mankind, after they were ruined by the fall of Adam, were not only deprived of so distinguished and honorable an estate, and dispossessed of their former dominion, but are also held captive under a degrading and ignominious bondage. Christ, it is true, is the lawful heir of heaven and earth, by whom the faithful recover what they had lost in Adam; but he has not as yet actually entered upon the full possession of his empire and dominion. Whence the apostle concludes, that what is here said by David (153) will not be perfectly accomplished until death be abolished. Accordingly, the apostle reasons in this manner, “If all things are subdued to Christ, nothing ought to stand in opposition to his people. But we see death still exercising his tyranny against them. It follows then, that there remains the hope of a better state than the present.” Now, this flows from the principle of which I have spoken, that the world was originally created for this end, that every part of it should tend to the happiness of man as its great object. In another part of his writings, the apostle argues on the same principle, when, in order to prove that we must all stand at the last day before the judgment-seat of Christ, he brings forward the following passage, Unto me every knee shall bow,” (Rom 14:10.) In this syllogism, what Logicians call the minor proposition must be supplied, (154) namely, that there are still too many who proudly and obstinately cast off his yoke, and are averse to bow the knee in token of their submission to him.
(153) “ Que ce qui est yci dit par David.” — Fr.
(154) “ Car il faut suppleer en ceste argument la proposition que les Dialecticiens appellent.” — Fr.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(6) The poet continues, in a rapturous strain, to complete the cycle of animated nature, and to describe mans kingship over all other created beings. For St. Pauls expansion of the thought, and elevation of it into yet a higher sphere, see 1Co. 15:27.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
6. Dominion A strictly regal prerogative, belonging not to angels, but is part of God’s image in man.
Works of thy hands A Hebraism for thy works.
All things under his feet In complete subjection to him. The word is absolute and universal, but the enumeration of Psa 8:7-8, limit it to this earth, as also Gen 1:26. On the restitution of human nature in Christ see on Psa 8:5, and compare Rev 2:26-27; Rev 3:21; 1Co 6:2; Heb 2:7-9; and notes.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘You made him to have dominion over the works of your hands,
You have put all things under his feet,
All sheep and oxen,
Yes, and beasts of the field,
The birds of the air, and the fish of the sea,
Whatever passes through the paths of the seas.’
The idea is based on Gen 1:21-28; Gen 2:19-20. The word in Genesis for ‘have dominion’ has the root meaning of ‘tread under foot’. Note that cattle, wild animals, birds and fish are all included, finally also including the great sea monsters (‘whatever passes through the paths of the seas’). He has in mind not only those that man has domesticated, or tamed, but the whole of living creation. That is man’s privilege, only partially fulfilled but it is his ultimate destiny (Isa 11:6-9).
To the psalmist this was the height of attainment. A world restored to innocence with righteous man, walking in submission to God, ruling over all creation.
But this idealistic picture finds its greater final fulfilment through Christ when as ‘the last Adam’, ‘the second man’, all things are put in subjection under His feet (1Co 15:27; 1Co 15:45; 1Co 15:47) in the final Kingly Rule of God (1Co 15:50) in the far superior new creation. What God intends for restored man is better far than man could ever dream.
Summary of the Thought.
That the writer is not just celebrating the special position of mankind as a whole comes out in his mention of the adversaries, the enemy and the avenger. What he has in mind is therefore believing man, righteous man, man when true to God. It is they, as first pictured in terms of babes and sucklings, who have dominion and rule under God. It is they for whom God has foreordained glory. Thus the writer in Hebrews is not unduly overextending the passage when he sees it as fulfilled in Christ, the representative man and Saviour, the only One Who was finally truly innocent.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Psa 8:6. Thou madest him to have dominion As these words, and those which follow, are not here spoken of man, till after it is said that God had abased and humbled him; and man having not been established king and ruler of the world, after having degraded himself by his sin, but, on the contrary, having then lost all the right which before this he had over the other creatures; the advancement here spoken of can have no relation to him. Besides, under these general terms, the works of his hands, the angels being also comprehended, as appears from Heb 1:4-5 these words can relate only to JESUS CHRIST. It should be particularly observed, that in the description which the prophet here gives, Psa 8:7-8 of the empire of the second Adam, he has borrowed the ideas and expressions of the dominion which God gave to the first Adam, Gen 1:28.; much after the same manner that the prophets have usually borrowed the terms and ideas of the Jewish church in their times, whereby to describe the Christian church. See Isa 18:7; Isa 62:9. Mal 1:11.
REFLECTIONS.1st, This Psalm opens with the Psalmist’s high admiration of the glory of God: O Lord our Lord. It is a pleasing task to contemplate the divine excellencies, and his wondrous works, when we can claim an interest in him, as our God; for then all things are ours. How excellent is thy name in all the earth! bright is the display of glory which appears in all the works of creation and providence throughout the earth; but brighter far this glory shines in the eternal world, where God has fixed his radiant throne, and angels and archangels adore him, yet cannot reach his praise, who hath set his glory above the heavens. Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength: by the weak things of this world, such as were the apostles and preachers of the Gospel, whom men despised as babes and sucklings, has God sent forth his mighty word, which is the power of God unto salvation; because of thine enemies; either to confound them, as in the Temple; or to convert them, when, unable to resist the powerful evidence, they should fall down and give glory to God. That thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger, or, cause him to cease; that is to say, the power of Satan, and his kingdom upon earth. Note; (1.) The kingdom of Christ shall finally be triumphant, however despicable its professors may now appear in the eyes of a carnal world. (2.) The weaker and more helpless we are before our spiritual foes, the more is God’s glory exalted in bruising Satan under our feet, and making us, through faith, more than conquerors.
2nd, The great condescensions of the Divine Grace to man still further awaken the Psalmist’s wonder, love, and praise; especially the glories of the man Christ Jesus, so highly exalted for us men, and for our salvation.
When I consider thy heavens, that stupendous frame, the work of thy fingers, so curiously formed, so astonishingly magnificent; the moon and the stars, with all the various bodies, which with such order revolve in their several spheres; which thou hast ordained, or prepared, suited and admirably disposed to answer the uses for which they were intended; what is man, Enosh, miserable man, that thou art mindful of him? either man in general, to whom, in some sense, all that is said may be applicable; for whose benefit the heavens are spread abroad, the luminaries shine; in nature, next to angelical; in dignity, the head of this lower world; to whom all creatures are put in subjection, and for whose support, use, and comfort, they are given. Well might this awaken our admiration, and make us astonished at the greatness of the gift; but greater far is the glory put upon man, and to which the apostle, Heb 2:6 applies these words. God has been so mindful of man as to take the human nature into an union with the divine, in the person of his own Son, who now is become the son of man; and thou visiteth him with the most unbounded favour and regard, giving the Spirit without measure unto him, and anointing him with the oil of gladness above his fellows. For thou hast made him a little lower than the Elohim; by the assumption of the human nature, Christ is inferior to the Father as touching his manhood; or angels, as the apostle interprets the word, Christ having taken that nature, which in excellence is inferior to the evangelical, particularly as subject to death and misery: a little, not so much respecting the degree as the duration; but a little while, that is to say, during the days of his humiliation, especially when he lay in the grave, and experienced that lowest abasement of humanity. Thou hast crowned him with glory and honour, by raising him from the dead, and setting him on the mediatorial throne on high. Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands, all things are committed into his hand, in heaven and in earth; and he is above all, King of kings, and Lord of lords. Thou hast put all things under his feet, not only the affairs of this sublunary world, and the inferior creatures here specified, but angels in heaven, and devils in hell, all own his sovereign sway; and men, whether his loyal subjects who enjoy his protection, or his enemies who must lick the dust. Such an exaltation of our divine Lord fills the heart with the deepest acknowledgment to that gracious God, who thus visited us in our low estate, and, above all other, manifestations of his glory and grace, excites our highest admiration. O Lord, our Lord, now in the incarnate Jesus especially related to us, how excellent is thy name in all the earth! Note; (1.) The more we behold of the visible glories around us, the more should our hearts be led to the contemplation of the glorious Author. (2.) Redemption will ever furnish sources of wonder and praise. Indeed, the more we search, the more shall we find this ocean unfathomable; and, after endless ages spent in the delightful task, still cry, O the length, and breadth, and depth, and height of love that passeth knowledge!
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Psa 8:6 Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all [things] under his feet:
Ver. 6. Thou madest him to have dominion, &c. ] He had so at first, Gen 1:26 , shall have again, Zec 8:12 Rev 21:7 ; meanwhile (though Rebellis facta est creatura homnini, quia homo numini, the creature rebelleth against man, because man doth against God; yet) we cannot but see some footsteps remaining of that ancient sovereignty, which the very heathens also acknowledged, and therehence fetched excellent arguments for a providence (Cicero, Plutarch, Ennius). Lions hate apes, but tear men; though Simia quam similis, turpissima bestia, nobis. Hereof no probable reason be given but this, that God hath put all things under man’s feet; insomuch as that the most timorous men dare kick and beat the largest elephants. Indeed, by reason of sin, as was said, we see not all things subdued, Heb 12:8 . But why hath Nature denied to horses, asses, camels, elephants, deer, &c., a gall, which it hath given to lions, wolves, and other fierce creatures? (Bodin. Theat. Nat. p. 405). Surely herein appeareth the wonderful wisdom and goodness of God, who hath done this, that those so serviceable creatures might be the better tamed and subdued by man. Let man consider (saith one well) what excellency he hath lost through Adam’s fall, and bewail his misery. Let him also, on the other side, well weigh the grace bestowed on him in Christ, and be joyful and thankful for mercy; knowing this, that if the creatures be not now subjected unto us, it is by reason of the body and relics of sin that yet remain in us; and that therefore if we would have a conquest over the creatures, we must begin first to get a victory upon sin, or else we shall never profit that way.
Thou hast put all things under his feet
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
him: i.e. the “first man”, Adam (Gen 1:26).
dominion, &c. This he lost in the Fall.
works. Some codices, with three early printed editions and Syriac, read “work” (singular)
hands. Figure of speech Anthropopatheia. App-6.
hast = didst. See Gen 1:26.
all things. Six are enumerated in Psa 8:7 and Psa 8:8. (The number of man. See App-10.)
To the chief Musician. See App-64.
upon Muth-labben = relating to the death of the champion (Goliath). Compare 1Sa 17:4, 1Sa 17:46, &c, and 144, which has, in the Septuagint,
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
madest: Gen 1:26, Gen 1:28, Gen 9:2, Mat 28:18, Heb 1:2
put: Psa 110:1, 1Co 15:24-27, Eph 1:22, Heb 2:8, 1Pe 3:22
Reciprocal: 1Ki 5:3 – put Job 41:4 – wilt thou Psa 50:10 – every Dan 7:14 – given Luk 5:9 – he Luk 12:7 – ye are 1Co 11:7 – he is 1Co 15:27 – General
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Psa 8:6-8. Thou madest him to have dominion over the work of thy hands Didst constitute him lord of the inferior creatures, and invest him with a sovereign dominion over them. The charter whereby man was to hold this royalty bore date with his creation, Gen 1:28; and though it was forfeited by his fall, it was, in a great degree, renewed after the flood; since which time man has had all things, in such a sense, under his feet, that he can not only serve himself of the labour, but also of the products and lives of the inferior creatures, which are delivered into his hands for that purpose. All sheep and oxen, &c. Thus he instances in some of the inferior creatures, and among others, names even the beasts of the field, the fowls of the air, and the fishes of the sea. For, though many of them are much stronger, and many of them much swifter than man; yet, mans superior knowledge enables him, one way or other, to reduce them under his power, and to exercise dominion over them. It must be carefully observed, however, that this refers, in a special manner, to the Lord Jesus Christ, and has its perfect accomplishment only in him. For, as the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews argues, Heb 2:6-8, We see not yet all things put under man in that complete and absolute sense which the psalmists words seem to imply; but we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, or was made lower for a little while, as the Hebrew may be rendered, for the suffering of death, that is, that he might be capable of suffering death; we see him crowned with the glory and honour of having all things, yea, and persons, put under him, in the completest and most absolute sense; exalted to the Fathers right hand, far above all principality and power, and every name that is named; invested with all power in heaven and on earth; constituted not only the head of the church but head over all things to the church, and intrusted with the administration of the kingdom of providence, in conjunction with, and subserviency to, the kingdom of grace. Now we must remember that, as it was our common human nature that Christ assumed; so our common human nature is thus exalted in him to that glory and honour, and complete dominion over the creatures, which Adam possessed in paradise, but which he lost for himself, and all his race, by the fall. Nay, in Christ our nature is raised to the possession of dignity and glory, power and dominion, riches and felicity, incomparably greater than was conferred on man at his creation. And through Christ the fallen children of men may rise; and all believers in Christ, and members of his mystical body, shall rise to a participation of this honour and happiness, and not only be made but a little lower than the angels, but as our blessed Lord testifies, , equal to the angels, if not even superior to them.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
God placed all living creatures under the control of Adam and Eve before the Fall, and when they fell He did not withdraw this privilege (cf. Gen 9:1-3; Gen 9:7). But because they sinned, man has never been able to fulfill the destiny for which God created him, namely, to be king of the earth. Man’s responsibility is to maintain order in creation, not to let it control him. Man may use any animals, domesticated or wild, for his purposes, including food (Gen 9:3; 1Ti 4:3-5). Man has tamed and even domesticated many kinds of animals, but he finds it impossible to control himself without divine assistance (Jas 3:7-8).
"In Psalms 2 Christ is seen as God’s Son and King, rejected and crucified but yet to reign in Zion. In Psalms 8, while His Deity is fully recognized (Psa 8:1; Psalms 110 with Mat 22:41-46), He is seen as Son of man (Psa 8:4-6) who, ’made [for] a little [while] lower than the angels,’ is to have dominion over the redeemed creation (Heb 2:6-11). Thus this Psalm speaks primarily of what God bestowed upon the human race as represented in Adam (Gen 1:26; Gen 1:28). That which the first man lost, the second Man and ’last Adam’ more than regained. Heb 2:6-11, in connection with Psalms 8 and Rom 8:17-21, shows that the ’many sons’ whom He is bringing to glory are joint heirs with Him in both the royal right of Psalms 2 and the human right of Hebrews 2." [Note: The New Scofield . . ., p. 604.]