Mazmur 8:3

8:3 When I look up at the heavens, which your fingers made,

and see the moon and the stars, which you set in place, ¹ 

Mazmur 144:5

144:5 O Lord, make the sky sink ²  and come down! ³ 

Touch the mountains and make them smolder! ⁴ 

[8:3]  ¹ tn Heb “when I see your heavens, the works of your fingers, the moon and stars which you established.” The verb “[and] see” is understood by ellipsis in the second half of the verse.

[144:5]  ² tn The Hebrew verb נָטָה (natah) can carry the sense “to [cause to] bend; to [cause to] bow down.” For example, Gen 49:15 pictures Issachar as a donkey that “bends” its shoulder or back under a burden. Here the Lord causes the sky, pictured as a dome or vault, to sink down as he descends in the storm. See Ps 18:9.

[144:5]  ³ tn Heb “so you might come down.” The prefixed verbal form with vav (ו) conjunctive indicates purpose after the preceding imperative. The same type of construction is utilized in v. 6.

[144:5]  ⁴ tn Heb “so they might smolder.” The prefixed verbal form with vav (ו) conjunctive indicates purpose after the preceding imperative.