Texts in Conversation
In Psalm 8, the psalmist praises God for giving humans rule over all creation. In the Shepherd of Hermas, the Shepherd uses a similar idea, telling Hermas that people given authority over all creation can also “master” God's commandments.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Psalm 8:6
Hebrew Bible
1 For the music director, according to the gittith style; a psalm of David. O Lord, our Lord, how magnificent is your reputation throughout the earth! You reveal your majesty in the heavens above. 2 From the mouths of children and nursing babies you have ordained praise on account of your adversaries, so that you might put an end to the vindictive enemy. 3 When I look up at the heavens, which your fingers made, and see the moon and the stars, which you set in place, 4 Of what importance is the human race, that you should notice them? Of what importance is mankind, that you should pay attention to them? 5 You made them a little less than the heavenly beings. You crowned mankind with honor and majesty. 6 you appoint them to rule over your creation; you have placed everything under their authority, 7 including all the sheep and cattle, as well as the wild animals, 8 the birds in the sky, the fish in the sea, and everything that moves through the currents of the seas. 9 O Lord, our Lord, how magnificent is your reputation throughout the earth!
Shepherd of Hermas 47:3
Early Christian
1 He said these things to me very angrily, so that I was confused and very afraid of him, for his appearance had changed so that no one could endure his anger. 2 And when he saw that I was completely disturbed and confused, he started to speak more kindly and cheerfully to me, and he said: “Foolish and dull and double-minded, do you not see the glory of God, how great and mighty and marvelous it is—that He created the world for the sake of humankind, and subjected all His creation to them, and gave them all authority, so that they would be masters over everything under heaven? 3 If then,” he said, “humankind is lord over all God’s creation and rules over everything, can they not also rule over these commandments? Indeed,” he said, “the one who has the Lord in their heart can master all things and all these commandments. 4 But to those who have the Lord on their lips, while their heart is hardened and far from the Lord, these commandments are difficult and out of reach. 5 So you who are empty and fickle in the faith—set your Lord in your heart, and you will realize that nothing is easier than these commandments, nor sweeter, nor more gentle.
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Notes and References
“... The expression "his appearance was changed" [...] echoes other appearance narratives, so that not only the change to anger is intended here, but some kind of supernatural transformation that accents the centrality of the message to follow. It begins with a reminder of the theme of Ps 8:6: creation has been placed by God under human dominion (v. 2), and continues with a clever bit of rhetoric (v. 3): cannot the one who has been set as master of everything else also master these commandments? ...”
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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