Bible Strands
Psalms 8:4
what is man that You are mindful of him, or the son of man that You care for him?
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The psalmist addresses YHWH in a moment of awe, immediately after beholding the heavens, moon, and stars (v.3). The question is rhetorical, registering the disproportion between Creator and creature rather than seeking information.
The words — תִזְכְּרֶנּוּ (tizkerenu, "you will remember him") and תִפְקְדֶנּוּ (tifkedenu, "you will attend to him") both frame God's regard as a deliberate, active choice rather than a passive observation. The root zakar (remember) implies that God must actively bring humanity into mind.
The thread — The formula recurs in Job 7:17, Psalms 144:3, and is quoted in Hebrews 2:6, where it frames Christ's identification with humanity.
Why it lands — The verse forces the reader to hold two facts at once: the vastness of the cosmos and the fact that the One who made it looks back. It asks the reader to take seriously that being known by God is not automatic but an act of deliberate attention.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?
Cross-references
- Job 7:17 What is man that You should exalt him, that You should set Your heart upon him,
- Psalms 144:3 O LORD, what is man, that You regard him, the son of man that You think of him?
- Hebrews 2:6 But somewhere it is testified in these words: “What is man that You are mindful of him, or the son of man that You care for him?
- Psalms 146:3 Put not your trust in princes, in mortal man, who cannot save.
- Luke 1:68 “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, because He has visited and redeemed His people.
- Genesis 21:1 Now the LORD attended to Sarah as He had said, and the LORD did for Sarah what He had promised.
- 2 Chronicles 6:18 But will God indeed dwell with man upon the earth? The heavens, even the highest heavens, cannot contain You, much less this temple I have built.
- Psalms 80:17 Let Your hand be upon the man at Your right hand, on the son of man You have raised up for Yourself.
- Job 25:6 how much less man, who is but a maggot, and the son of man, who is but a worm!”
- Isaiah 51:12 “I, even I, am He who comforts you. Why should you be afraid of mortal man, of a son of man who withers like grass?