Smith DTh Thesis (final).pdf - South African Theological Seminary

Chapter 4: Analysis of Psalms 3-8humanity’s seeming insignificance in relation to creation, the Creator “made[Piel of ‏,חָ‏ סֵ‏ ש 22:3:1, v. 6a] him a little lower than the heavenly beings.” 93 He‏,הָ‏ דָ‏ ש)‏ “honour” 200:51:4, v. 6b) and ‏,כָ‏ בוד)‏ “glory” crowned humanity with30:13:1, v. 6b). כָ‏ בוד is normally used with reference to the divine essence.Since Psalm 8 is directly dependent on the creation narrative in Genesis 1,“glory” here seems to refer to the fact that something of the divine nature wasconveyed to human beings (i.e., the image of God). הָ‏ דָ‏ ש portrays “a soul in itshighest manifestation of power” (Holladay 2000, s.v.), here referring to theexalted status the Creator conferred on humans. In the Ancient Near East,kings and nobles sometimes wore wreath crowns to banquets as symbols ofdignity and status. Similarly, God “crowned” ‏,ףָ‏ טַ‏ ש)‏ 7:4:2, v. 6b) humans with“glory and honour”. God also “gave him dominion” ‏,מָ‏ שַ‏ ל)‏ 80:10:1, v. 7a) overall creation (i.e., “the works of your hands”, v. 7a), putting all things “under his.(247:31:1 ‏,שֶ‏ גֶ‏ ל)‏ feet”The final strophe (vv. 8-9) specifies the nature of the “all things” mentioned inverse 7b. It catalogues the scope of human authority over the animal,(190:11:1 ‏,בְ‏ הֵ‏ מָ‏ ה)‏ ,(8:2:1 wild animals ‏,אֶ‏ לֶ‏ פ)‏ ,(2:1:1 cattle ‏,קֹנֶ‏ ה)‏ kingdom: sheep93 In this verse, “heavenly beings” renders ‏ֹלהִ‏ ים ‏,אֱ‏ which may be understood as a reference toGod Himself or to the angelic hosts.176