Psalm 8:1 YHWH Adown
how excellent is your name in all the earth who has set your glory above the
heavens 2: Out of the mouth of babes and suckling’s have you ordained
strength because of your enemies that you might stop the enemy and the avenger 3:
When I consider the heavens the work of your fingers the moon and the stars
which you have ordained 4: Who is enowsh[1]
that you are mindful of them and the children[2] of
audawm[3]
that you visit them 5: For you have made them little lower than Elohiym[4]
and have crowned them with glory and honor 6: You made them to have
dominion over the works of your hands You have put all things under their feet[5] 7:
All sheep and oxen yes and the beasts of the field 8: The fowl of the
air and the fish of the sea and whatsoever passes through the paths of the seas
9: YHWH Adown
how excellent is your name in all the earth
[1] Enowsh
can refer to both women and men, as is the case of this passage. The word often
refers to humanity, in general—not just to males.
[2] The Hebrew word, ben, is not always defined as, son. Context must determine whether
or not it should be translated as son or “children.”
[3] 'âdâm
H120 Pronounced “audawm” is the name
God gave to both the first man and
the first woman; the entire human race; mixed crowds (composed of both females
and males) in the Hebrew are also referred to as adam. In this commentary, the phonetic spelling of “audawm” is used whenever the word refers
to mixed crowds of both sexes, or to the human race in general.
[4] The Hebrew does not say “angels.” It says
Elohiym
[5] Psalm
Eight is an amazing statement of the value placed upon every human being
by the creator of all things. It is also a statement of the perfect functional
equality and dominion bestowed upon his human creation (both male and
female) over every other aspect of His earthly creation. This
dominion—breathtaking in scope—Is limited only in respect to other
humans. No human has been given intrinsic dominion over any another human
based upon sex or race. Sadly, most English translations of Psalm Eight are
also master-pieces of androcentricity and
gender-biased-English-Translation-Theology in loading the language covertly (in
an audaciously overt manner), in order to identify males as the dominant sex
within the human species. This is demeaning to women and falsely accuses the
Almighty Himself, of sexism. Yet, when the same chapter is read in the
Hebrew, no sexism is detected. The Hebrew word, adam, (pronounced
audawm) was the name God gave to both the man and the woman—hence, to
the entire race. God did not call the human race, man. Yet, when Psalm
Eight is read in most English translations, women are rendered virtually
invisible. While in plain sight, they have been completely hidden from view, deleted, so to speak, from the Word
of God through androcentric translation practices. It is time to raise our
voices in stringent objection to discrimination against women through sexist
Bible translation practices and to stop ascribing malicious motives to the God
who created Iysh and Ishshaw with absolute and unqualified equality.
This post is an excerpt from the
Hungry Hearts Online Bible Commentary HHBC
Additional commentary pending for this
chapter. Questions and comments are welcome.
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