The reflection on God’s sovereign greatness leads the psalmist to wonderment at God’s concern for human beings, who are so insignificant in comparison with God’s awesome works of creation. The translation of look at thy heavens should not imply the mere act of seeing but rather should suggest contemplation. It is therefore sometimes necessary to say “when I look at and think about….” God made the heavens with his own hands (the work of thy fingers; see also 102.25). The plural heavens may reflect the idea of several levels of heaven (three or seven) in the Hebrew concept of the universe, or else it is a way of saying “the vast heaven.”
Languages indicate space above the earth in very different ways. Some simply refer to everything as “up,” while others make such distinctions as (1) the area of clouds and (2) the area where the moon and stars are. In addition, many languages use figurative expressions to indicate the realm where God is said to be; for example, “God’s town,” “God’s house,” or “the high home.” Here the term for sky should be the area where the moon and stars are thought to exist.
As commentators point out, the psalmist is looking up at the sky at night, since he mentions the moon and the stars but not the sun. Of them he says “you set (them) in their places” (Good News Translation). The verb established means here to put firmly in place, reflecting the thought of that time that the moon and the stars were set in the solid vault of heaven. It should be noted that Good News Translation “you set” is to be understood as a past tense; it would be better to have “you have set.”
Verse 3 contains four dependent clauses, and all four serve as an introduction to the double rhetorical question of verse 4. Moreover, this arrangement is made complex by the fact that there is an implied cause in verse 3 relating it to verse 4. By observing creation the psalmist is led to ask the question in verse 4. Furthermore, the psalmist is contrasting the smallness of man with the greatness of the heavens. The translator must determine:
(1) whether it is possible or natural for the clauses in verse 3 to give rise to the question in verse 4;
(2) whether or not verse 3 can remain as four dependent clauses or must be restructured;
(3) whether or not a rhetorical question requires an explicit reply; and
(4) whether or not the contrastive picture between man in verse 4 and the heavenly bodies in verse 3 is sufficiently clear.
In some languages it will be necessary in (1) to introduce the question; for example, “When I look at the sky which you have made, at the moon and the stars which you have set in their places, I ask this question:….” Regarding (2), for languages which will not permit series of dependent clauses to precede a question, these clauses may be recast as statements; for example, “I look at the sky you have made; I look at the moon and the stars which you set in their places. Therefore I ask, what are people…?” In respect to (3), if the receptor language requires a reply, one may say “What are people, that you think of them? They are nothing.” Concerning (4), in some languages it may be necessary to make the contrast between the smallness of people and the greatness of heavenly bodies more explicit; for example, “What are mere people that you think of them?” Alternatively, one may speak of the “vast heavens” and the “great moon and stars” in order to highlight the contrast with man; for example, “What are people–so small as they are–that you care for them?”
The rhetorical question in verse 4 eloquently expresses the psalmist’s wonder at God’s care for humankind. The two lines are exactly parallel, both making the same point in different ways. Both man and the son of man mean “humankind” or “a human being.” It should be emphasized that the Hebrew phrase translated son of man means “human being,” with emphasis on the creature’s frailty and mortality, as one made of the dust of the earth. In languages where the use of male-oriented language is considered undesirable, it is important to avoid saying man, if at all possible. So Bible en français courant “The human being … a mere individual.” In some languages man in the generic sense is rendered by the use of the plural. The son of man may need to be rendered with a qualifier to indicate “mere humanity”; for example, “a plain human being,” “simply people,” or “nothing more than people.” The line is repeated in 144.3; in Job 7.17 it is used ironically.
The verb art mindful is literally “remember” in the sense of being concerned about, and in some languages is rendered idiomatically as “to have a warm heart for” or “to feel in one’s insides for.”
The Hebrew verb for care for is used in a great variety of ways; the basic idea is to look for what is missing, to worry about, and to do something for it. One translation can be “show concern.” The verb is often used of God taking care of his people by going to them and acting on their behalf (see its use in 65.9a; 80.14c; 106.4b, where it is translated by a number of English verbs).
Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Reyburn, William D. A Handbook on the Book of Psalms. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1991. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .