Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Stephen Shead <sshead.email AT gmail.com>]

Hi George,

You say there's "nothing about Adam and Even in the Psalm", as if it would be completely arbitrary to read it intertextually with Gen 1:26-27 (which is I presume what you meant?). But surely the indicators are strong enough to make it a less than arbitrary connection:

- Context of contemplating the works of creation (moon and stars), v.4

- A little less than אלהים, v.6

- The lordship of humanity over a list of animals, birds and fish, v.7-9 (Gen. 1:26, 28)

Seems to me that there are a number of things to suggest that the psalmist is indeed reflecting on the creation narrative, despite the lack of overlapping terminology. And if that's the case, the ambiguity of אלהים simply reflects the same ambiguity in Gen 1:26-27 (with the plural נעשׂה "let us make" etc.).

Michael, with regard to your question:

By itself, of course, the word מעט can't mean anything so complicated as what you asked about. It just means "a little" (or "a few", etc.). But in the context, if the psalmist does have Gen 1 in mind, it's clearly talking pre-fall. One relevant question, however, might be: In what sense "less than" אלהים? That may need consideration - but would take us well beyond the grammar of the Hebrew.

Stephen Shead

Centro de Estudios Pastorales

Santiago, Chile

---------- Forwarded message ----------

From: George Athas <George.Athas AT moore.edu.au>
To: "b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org" <b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org>
Cc: 
Date: Wed, 12 Sep 2012 00:35:06 +0000
Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] Psalm 8:6 made lower or lessened
Michael Abernathy wrote:

I'm a little uncertain how Psalm 8:6 should be understood.  Does the Hebrew word מעט suggest something that is originally made less than another or was previously equal to and then lessoned?

ותחסרהו מעט מאלהים    וכבוד והדר תעטרהו

If the latter would it be wrong to suggest that prior to the fall Adam and Eve were supposed to be equal to the angels?

================

Firstly, there is nothing about Adam and Eve in the Psalm. It simply makes the statement that Yahweh created humanity a little lower than אלהים. You can certainly choose to read the Psalm intertextually with Gen 2, but the Psalm itself does not do this.

Whether the text implies 'a little lower than God' or 'a little lower than gods' is debatable. When the Greek translation was made, monotheism was very firmly embedded within Judaism. But what the Greek tells us is that the Greek translators did not read 'a little lower than God' (singular), because that could have been translated without any emendation. Rather, they felt the Hebrew to be stating 'a little lower than gods' (plural). In a monotheistic setting, 'gods' becomes problematic, and therefore the emendation to 'angels' was logical. Indeed, I think the Hebrew naturally tends towards this understanding, as it addresses Yahweh directly in the second person, but talks about אלהים indirectly in the third person. It makes more sense, I think, that אלהים is being seen as distinct from Yahweh.

Cheers!

GEORGE ATHAS
Dean of Research,
Moore Theological College (moore.edu.au)
Sydney, Australia