All sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field;
All Commentaries on Psalms 8:7 Go To Psalms 8
George Leo Haydock
AD 1849
All sheep. St. Paul did not judge it necessary to specify these things, as they are included in the word all. (Berthier) These tame cattle designate the believing Jews; beasts, the Gentile converts; birds, the proud; fishes, the voluptuous. (St. Athanasius)
The birds may also be put for men of genius, who dive into the secrets of theology; and fishes, for anxious world lings. (Hesychius)
Sts. Augustine and Jerome understand that people who labour not for their salvation, or who are attached to the earth, men who rise up against God, or never elevate their thoughts to heaven, are emblematically specified by these creatures.
