What Is Man?
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!
Texts in conversation
Compare Psalm 8:4 and Jesus Ben Sira, Sirach 18:8
Hebrew Bible · Deuterocanon
Summary
Passages
Psalm 8:4
Hebrew Bibleyou 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,
Jesus Ben Sira, Sirach 18:8
Deuterocanon · Ben Sira, Ecclesiasticusadd anything to them,
or explore them. 7 When a man has finished, he is only at the beginning.
When he stops, he will be puzzled. 8 What is mankind, and what purpose do they serve?
What is their good, and what is their evil? 9 A human life lasts at most a hundred years. 10 A few years in the day of eternity are like a drop of water from the sea
and a pebble from the sand.
References
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