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1 O LORD our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth! who hast set thy glory above the heavens. 2 Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength because of thine enemies, that thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger. 3 When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; 4 What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him? 5 For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour. 6 Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet: 7 All sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field; 8 The fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas. 9 O LORD our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth!
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[AD 390] Gregory of Nazianzus on Psalms 8:1
The Majesty, or as holy David calls it, the Glory, is manifested among the creatures that it has produced and governs. These are the back parts of God, which he leaves behind him, as tokens of himself like the shadows and reflection of the sun in the water, which show the sun to our weak eyes, because we cannot look at the sun himself, for by his unmixed light he is too strong for our power of perception.

Source: ON THEOLOGY, THEOLOGICAL ORATION 2(28).3
[AD 407] John Chrysostom on Psalms 8:1
“How wonderful your name.” Through this name, in fact, death was dissolved, demons imprisoned in bonds, heaven opened, gates of paradise thrown wide, the Spirit sent down, slaves made free, enemies become sons, strangers become heirs, human beings become angels. Why speak of angels? God became man, and man became God; heaven accepted the nature from earth, earth accepted the one seated on the cherubim along with the angelic host. The wall was removed, the partition dissolved, what were separate were united, darkness was banished, light shone, death was swallowed up.

Source: COMMENTARY ON THE PSALMS 8:1
[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on Psalms 8:1
Accordingly it is said, "O Lord, our Lord, how admirable is Your Name in all the earth!" [Psalm 8:1]. I ask, how is His Name wonderful in all the earth? The answer is, "For Your glory has been raised above the heavens." So that the meaning is this, O Lord, who art our Lord, how do all that inhabit the earth admire You! For Your glory has been raised from earthly humiliation above the heavens. For hence it appeared who You were that descended, when it was by some seen, and by the rest believed, whither it was that You ascended.

Source: Exposition on Psalm 8
[AD 450] Hesychius of Jerusalem on Psalms 8:1
The church says, “O Lord, our Lord.” For after the recognition of Christ when one is freed from the slavery of idolatry, one begins to call on God and the Lord. Always the whole earth truly is full of the marvelous creations, the works of God. And even more marvelous the name of that One, namely, Christ, has been made wonderful among all the nations and foreign peoples through faith in him.

Source: LARGE COMMENTARY ON PSALMS 8:2
[AD 60] Matthew on Psalms 8:2
And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple; and he healed them. And when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying in the temple, and saying, Hosanna to the Son of David; they were sore displeased, And said unto him, Hearest thou what these say? And Jesus saith unto them, Yea; have ye never read, Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise? [Psalms 8:2]
[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on Psalms 8:2
"Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings You have made perfect praise, because of Your enemies" [Psalm 8:2]. I cannot take babes and sucklings to be any other than those to whom the Apostle says, "As unto babes in Christ I have given you milk to drink, not meat." [1 Corinthians 3:1-2] Who were meant by those who went before the Lord praising Him, of whom the Lord Himself used this testimony, when He answered the Jews who bade Him rebuke them, "Have ye not read, out of the mouth of babes and sucklings You have made perfect praise?" [Matthew 21:16] Now with good reason He says not, You have made, but, "You have made perfect praise." For there are in the Churches also those who now no more drink milk, but eat meat: whom the same Apostle points out, saying, "We speak wisdom among them that are perfect;" [1 Corinthians 2:6] but not by those only are the Churches perfected; for if there were only these, little consideration would be had of the human race. But consideration is had, when they too, who are not as yet capable of the knowledge of things spiritual and eternal, are nourished by the faith of the temporal history, which for our salvation after the Patriarchs and Prophets was administered by the most excellent Power and Wisdom of God, even in the Sacrament of the assumed Manhood, in which there is salvation for every one that believes; to the end that moved by Its authority each one may obey Its precepts, whereby being purified and "rooted and grounded in love," he may be able to run with Saints, no more now a child in milk, but a young man in meat, "to comprehend the breadth, the length, the height, and depth, to know also the surpassing knowledge of the love of Christ." [Ephesians 3:17-19]

Source: Exposition on Psalm 8
[AD 585] Cassiodorus on Psalms 8:2
The meaning is this: you are worthy of praise not only from those who are perfect who know you fully, but you are proclaimed with the mouths of beginners in the faith and little children.… The psalmist professes that even infants proclaim God. By this he means those who have begun to come to the Lord in newness of faith, so that this wisdom might appear to have been conferred through God’s intervention rather than to have been gleaned through human effort.

Source: EXPLANATION OF THE PSALMS 8:3
[AD 215] Clement of Alexandria on Psalms 8:3
How great is the power of God! His bare volition was the creation of the universe. For God alone made it, because he alone is truly God. By the bare exercise of volition he creates; his mere willing was followed by the springing into being of what he willed. Consequently the choir of philosophers are in error, who indeed most nobly confess that humanity was made for the contemplation of the heavens but who worship the objects that appear in the heavens and are apprehended by sight.… Let none of you worship the sun, but set your desires on the Maker of the sun; nor deify the universe, but seek after the Creator of the universe.

Source: EXHORTATION TO THE GREEKS 4
[AD 339] Eusebius of Caesarea on Psalms 8:3
You are mindful of man, and you have concern for him because you did not make him as if he were a small and worthless animal, but he is worthy of so much honor that he is celebrated with hymns from the mouths of infants and sucklings.

Source: COMMENTARY ON PSALMS 8:4-5
[AD 386] Cyril of Jerusalem on Psalms 8:3
Now this Father of our Lord Jesus Christ is not circumscribed to some place, nor is there heaven beyond him, but “the heavens are the work of his fingers,” and “the whole earth is holden in the hollow of his hand.” He is in everything, and yet nothing contains him. Do not imagine that God is smaller than the sun or that he is as large as the sun. For, as he made the sun, he must have been already incomparably greater than the sun and more resplendent with light. He knows what is to come, and nothing equals him in power. He knows everything and does as he wills. He is not subject to any law of sequence, or genesis, or fortune or fate. He is perfect by every measure. He possesses unchangeably every kind of virtue, never less and never more, but ever in the same degree and manner.

Source: Catechetical Lecture 4:5
[AD 390] Gregory of Nazianzus on Psalms 8:3
Our very eyes and the law of nature teach us that God exists and that he is the efficient and maintaining cause of all things: our eyes, because they fall on visible objects and see them in beautiful stability and progress, immovably moving and revolving, if I may so say; natural law, because through these visible things and their order it reasons back to their author. For how could this universe have come into being or been put together unless God had called it into existence and held it together? For everyone who sees a beautifully made lute and considers the skill with which it has been fitted together and arranged, or who hears its melody, would think of none but the lutemaker or the luteplayer, and would recur to him in mind, though he might not know him by sight. And thus to us also is manifested that which made and moves and preserves all created things, even though he is not comprehended by the mind.

Source: ON THEOLOGY, THEOLOGICAL ORATION 2(28).6
[AD 390] Gregory of Nazianzus on Psalms 8:3
Would that I might mortify my members that are on the earth! Would that I might spend all for the spirit, walking in the way that is narrow and trodden by few, not the way that is broad and easy! For what comes after this life is splendid and great, and our hope is greater than our worth. “What is man that you are mindful of him?” What is this new mystery concerning me? I am small and great, lowly and exalted, mortal and immortal, earthly and heavenly. I am connected with the world below, and likewise with God; I am connected with the flesh, and likewise with the spirit. I must be buried with Christ, rise with Christ, be joint heir with Christ, become the Son of God, even God himself. ON HIS BROTHER ST.

Source: CAESARIUS, ORATION 7:23
[AD 407] John Chrysostom on Psalms 8:3
And why did he not say “your hands” instead of “your fingers”? To show that visible things are a work requiring the least power, and the extraordinary aspect of creation, namely, that the stars hang there without falling; at any rate, though the very nature of the foundations required, not that they be suspended above but lie below, still the excellent Architect and Creator produced a surprise in making most of the visible things surpass the logic of nature.

Source: COMMENTARY ON THE PSALMS 8:6
[AD 407] John Chrysostom on Psalms 8:3
“What is it about human beings?” … Taking full account of such marvelous care and such wonderful providence on God’s part, and the arrangements he put in place for the salvation of the human race, [the psalmist] is struck with complete wonder and amazement as to why on earth God considered them worthy of attention. Consider, after all, that all the visible things were for their sake. For them the design implemented from the time of Adam up to his coming; for them paradise, commandments, punishments, miracles, retribution, kindnesses after the Law; for them the Son of God became human. What could anyone say of the future they are intended to enjoy? So all those things are going through his mind when he says, to be thought worthy of such wonderful privileges, what must the human being be? I mean, if you consider what was done and is being done for their sake, and what they will enjoy afterwards, you will be stricken with awe, and then you will see clearly how this being is an object of such attention on God’s part.

Source: COMMENTARY ON THE PSALMS 8:6-7
[AD 420] Jerome on Psalms 8:3
The psalmist is speaking here of the frailty of the body and of human weakness, and what does he say? If you consider his flesh, what is a person? If you consider his spirit, he is noble. Let us by no means scorn the flesh, but let us reject its works. Let us not despise the body that will reign in heaven with Christ. “Flesh and blood can obtain no part in the kingdom of God”; no, not flesh and blood of themselves, but the works of the flesh. “Flesh and blood can obtain no part in the kingdom of God.” How, then, are they going to reign together with Christ; how shall we be seated together in heaven in Christ?

Source: HOMILY ON PSALM 143
[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on Psalms 8:3
"For I shall see Your heavens, the works of Your fingers" [Psalm 8:3]. We read that the law was written with the finger of God, and given through Moses, His holy servant: by which finger of God many understand the Holy Ghost. Wherefore if, by the fingers of God, we are right in understanding these same ministers filled with the Holy Ghost, by reason of this same Spirit which works in them, since by them all holy Scripture has been completed for us; we understand consistently with this, that, in this place, the books of both Testaments are called "the heavens." Now it is said too of Moses himself, by the magicians of king Pharaoh, when they were conquered by him, "This is the finger of God." [Exodus 8:19] And what is written, "The heavens shall be rolled up as a book." Although it be said of this æthereal heaven, yet naturally, according to the same image, the heavens of books are named by allegory. "For I shall see," he says, "the heavens, the works of Your fingers:" that is, I shall discern and understand the Scriptures, which You, by the operation of the Holy Ghost, hast written by Your ministers.

Source: Exposition on Psalm 8
[AD 749] John Damascene on Psalms 8:3
By saying “founded” he meant the stability and immutability of the order and succession given them by God.

Source: ORTHODOX FAITH 2:7
[AD 55] 1 Corinthians on Psalms 8:4-6
Now if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen: And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain. Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God; because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ: whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not. For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised: And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins. Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable. But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept. For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming. Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. For he hath put all things under his feet. But when he saith, all things are put under him, it is manifest that he is excepted, which did put all things under him. [Psalms 8:4-6] And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all. Else what shall they do which are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all? why are they then baptized for the dead? And why stand we in jeopardy every hour? I protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily. If after the manner of men I have fought with beasts at Ephesus, what advantageth it me, if the dead rise not? let us eat and drink; for to morrow we die. Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners. Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God: I speak this to your shame.
[AD 69] Hebrews on Psalms 8:4-6
For unto the angels hath he not put in subjection the world to come, whereof we speak. But one in a certain place testified, saying, What is man, that thou art mindful of him? or the son of man, that thou visitest him? Thou madest him a little lower than the angels; thou crownedst him with glory and honour, and didst set him over the works of thy hands: Thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet. For in that he put all in subjection under him, he left nothing that is not put under him. But now we see not yet all things put under him. [Psalms 8:4-6] But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man. For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. For both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren, Saying, I will declare thy name unto my brethren, in the midst of the church will I sing praise unto thee. And again, I will put my trust in him. And again, Behold I and the children which God hath given me. Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham. Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted.
[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on Psalms 8:4
"What is man, that You are mindful of him? Or the son of man, that You visit him?" [Psalm 8:4]. It may be asked, what distinction there is between man and son of man. For if there were none, it would not be expressed thus, "man, or son of man," disjunctively. For if it were written thus, "What is man, that You are mindful of him, and son of man, that You visit him?" it might appear to be a repetition of the word "man." But now when the expression is, "man or son of-man," a distinction is more clearly intimated. This is certainly to be remembered, that every son of man is a man; although every man cannot be taken to be a son of man. Adam, for instance, was a man, but not a son of man. Wherefore we may from hence consider and distinguish what is the difference in this place between man and son of man; namely, that they who bear the image of the earthy man, who is not a son of man, should be signified by the name of men; but that they who bear the image of the heavenly Man, [1 Corinthians 15:49] should be rather called sons of men; for the former again is called the old man and the latter the new; but the new is born of the old, since spiritual regeneration is begun by a change of an earthy, and worldly life; and therefore the latter is called son of man. "Man" then in this place is earthy, but "son of man" heavenly; and the former is far removed from God, but the latter present with God; and therefore is He mindful of the former, as in far distance from Him; but the latter He visits, with whom being present He enlightens him with His countenance. For "salvation is far from sinners;" and, "The light of Your countenance has been stamped upon us, O Lord." So in another Psalm he says, that men in conjunction with beasts are made whole together with these beasts, not by any present inward illumination, but by the multiplication of the mercy of God, whereby His goodness reaches even to the lowest things; for the wholeness of carnal men is carnal, as of the beasts; but separating the sons of men from those whom being men he joined with cattle, he proclaims that they are made blessed, after a far more exalted method, by the enlightening of the truth itself, and by a certain inundation of the fountain of life. For he speaks thus: "Men and beasts You will make whole, O Lord, as Your mercy has been multiplied, O God. But the sons of men shall put their trust in the covering of Your wings. They shall be inebriated with the richness of Your house, and of the torrent of Your pleasures You shall make them drink. For with You is the fountain of life, and in Your light shall we see light. Extend Your mercy to them that know You." Through the multiplication of mercy then He is mindful of man, as of beasts; for that multiplied mercy reaches even to them that are afar off; but He visits the son of man, over whom, placed under the covering of His wings, He extends mercy, and in His light gives light, and makes him drink of His pleasures, and inebriates him with the richness of His house, to forget the sorrows and the wanderings of his former conversation. This son of man, that is, the new man, the repentance of the old man begets with pain and tears. He, though new, is nevertheless called yet carnal, while he is fed with milk; "I would not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal," says the Apostle. And to show that they were already regenerate, he says, "As unto babes in Christ, I have given you milk to drink, not meat." And when he relapses, as often happens, to the old life, he hears in reproof that he is a man; "Are ye not men," he says, "and walk as men?"

Source: Exposition on Psalm 8
[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on Psalms 8:5-6
Therefore was the son of man first visited in the person of the very Lord Man, born of the Virgin Mary. Of whom, by reason of the very weakness of the flesh, which the Wisdom of God vouchsafed to bear, and the humiliation of the Passion, it is justly said, "You have lowered Him a little lower than the Angels" [Psalm 8:5]. But that glorifying is added, in which He rose and ascended up into heaven; "With glory," he says, "and with honour have You crowned Him; and hast set Him over the works of Your hands" [Psalm 8:6]. Since even Angels are the works of God's hands, even over Angels we understand the Only-begotten Son to have been set; whom we hear and believe, by the humiliation of the carnal generation and passion, to have been lowered a little lower than the Angels.

Source: Exposition on Psalm 8
[AD 585] Cassiodorus on Psalms 8:5
From here on the humility and glory of the Lord Savior is related. He was made less not because of any necessity inherent in his role as servant, but by his loving free wish; as the Apostle says, “He emptied himself, taking the form of a servant.” The psalm continues with the words “a little less than angels,” because Christ took up the cross to win the salvation of all, since it was for this reason that the Creator of angels was made less than angels. The words “a little less” are well stated, since he took on himself a mortal body, though he had no sin. He “was crowned with glory and honor” when, after his utterly miraculous resurrection, as God he was exalted in as much as he had been made man, and he received the trust of the whole world.

Source: EXPLANATION OF THE PSALMS 8:6
[AD 339] Eusebius of Caesarea on Psalms 8:6
When it is says, “You have set him over the works of your hand,” clearly the word reveals that he is set over the heavens, a man established by the God of the universe. How and when are these future things unless when the kingdom of heaven is received as an inheritance according to the promises made and according to the word of the apostle: “The heir of God and the coheirs of Christ”? So in this age, let the earthly creatures as oxen, cattle, beasts of burden, birds and fish, be subject to humankind. To humankind is reserved the life common to angels in the heavenly city of God, when people are received into the kingdom of heaven and appointed over the works of the hands of God, and they will be the rulers and protectors of all things of the heavens, the moon and stars and everything of the heavens above. The letter to the Hebrews considering this word treats the statement for the future age: “All things you have placed under his feet.” For after the lower course of this life, whenever that new age comes in which the kingdom of heaven is awaited and following the glorious appearance of our Savior all things will be subjected, according to that witness that has been made by the promise from the Father to him: “Sit on my right, until I place your enemies a footstool under your feet.”

Source: COMMENTARY ON PSALMS 8:6
[AD 390] Diodorus of Tarsus on Psalms 8:6
There is no work of God that is exempt from the authority of the one appointed Lord.

Source: COMMENTARY ON PSALM 8
[AD 397] Ambrose of Milan on Psalms 8:6
The Father is not “among” all things, for to him it is confessed that “all things serve you.” Nor is the Son reckoned “among” all things, for “all things were made by him,” and “all things exist together in him, and he is above all the heavens.” The Son, therefore, exists not “among” but above all things, being, indeed, after the flesh, of the people, of the Jews, but yet at the same time God over all, blessed forever, having a name that is above every name, it being said of him, “You have put all things in subjection under his feet.” But in making all things subject to him, he left nothing that is not subject, even as the apostle has said.

Source: Exposition of the Christian Faith 4.11.140
[AD 397] Ambrose of Milan on Psalms 8:6
One who, by way of ignorance, pretended to the insensibility and lack of knowledge characteristic of a beast begins to be a human once he has been encompassed by the grace of God. Indeed, if he is capable of reason and of grace, he is proved human by that very fact, and thus he rejoices that he has been separated from the dumb animals and has been admitted into the company of humankind, which God visits and protects. For what are human beings except that the Lord is mindful of them and that they are visited by the Lord?

Source: THE PRAYER OF JOB AND DAVID 3:9.26
[AD 410] Prudentius on Psalms 8:6
From his Providence, humanity has received
All that he grasps with imperious hand:
All that the sky and the earth and the sea
Yields from the air and the waves and the fields,
This he subjects to me, me to himself.

Source: HYMNS FOR EVERY DAY 3:36-40
[AD 458] Theodoret of Cyrus on Psalms 8:6
And this is a precise demonstration of your lovingkindness and power, he is saying, imbuing the lowly nature of human beings with wisdom so that they might have control over not only the land creatures but also those that fly and that swim and that do both, use their skills to hunt those in the heights and in the depths, and keep under control those that pass through the air and those hidden in the water.… Uncreated nature alone, you see, is separate from this subjection as something free. The nature that receives existence from it, however, is subject whatever it be—visible or invisible—to Christ the Lord, both as God and as man. Such is the honor human nature received from the God of all. Hence, as a conclusion he used the same verse as at the beginning: “O Lord, our Lord, how wonderful is your name in all the earth!”

Source: COMMENTARY ON THE PSALMS 8:6-7
[AD 585] Cassiodorus on Psalms 8:6
“You have placed all things under his feet.” … Just as nothing is independent of the work of the Lord, so nothing can be shown to be outside the power of Christ, since he is going to judge the world. For by saying “all things,” the psalm seems to have omitted neither earthly nor heavenly things. This interpretation is in harmony with what the divine interpreter, the Apostle testifies: “In subjecting all things to him, he left nothing that is not subject to him.”

Source: EXPLANATION OF THE PSALMS 8:7
[AD 735] Bede on Psalms 8:6
What the psalmist said of the Father concerning our Lord as he rose from the dead, “You have put all things under his feet,” is surely the same as what our Lord himself said to his disciples as he rose, “All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me.” Indeed, even before he rose from the dead, the angelic virtues in heaven knew that they were rightfully subject to the human nature they saw had been specifically assumed by their Maker. Blind human beings on earth, however, disdained to be brought into subjection to one they knew had put on mortality in common with themselves; they declined to understand the divine power in his miracles, since they discerned that there was human weakness present in his sufferings.

Source: Homilies on the Gospels 2:8
[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on Psalms 8:7
"You have put," he says, "all things in subjection under His feet." When he says, "all things," he excepts nothing. And that he might not be allowed to understand it otherwise, the Apostle enjoins it to be believed thus, when he says, "He being excepted which put all things under Him." [1 Corinthians 15:27] And to the Hebrews he uses this very testimony from this Psalm, when he would have it to be understood that all things are in such sort put under our Lord Jesus Christ, as that nothing should be excepted. [Hebrews 2:8] And yet he does not seem, as it were, to subjoin any great thing, when he says, "All sheep and oxen, yea, moreover, the beasts of the field, birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, which walk through the paths of the sea" [Psalm 8:7]. For, leaving the heavenly excellencies and powers, and all the hosts of Angels, leaving even man himself, he seems to have put under Him the beasts merely; unless by sheep and oxen we understand holy souls, either yielding the fruit of innocence, or even working that the earth may bear fruit, that is, that earthly men may be regenerated unto spiritual richness. By these holy souls then we ought to understand not those of men only, but of all Angels too, if we would gather from hence that all things are put under our Lord Jesus Christ. For there will be no creature that will not be put under Him, under whom the pre-eminent spirits, that I may so speak, are put. But whence shall we prove that sheep can be interpreted even, not of men, but of the blessed spirits of the angelical creatures on high? May we from the Lord's saying that He had left ninety and nine sheep in the mountains, that is, in the higher regions, and had come down for one? For if we take the one lost sheep to be the human soul in Adam, since Eve even was made out of his side, [Genesis 2:21-22] for the spiritual handling and consideration of all which things this is not the time, it remains that, by the ninety and nine left in the mountains, spirits not human, but angelical, should be meant. For as regards the oxen, this sentence is easily dispatched; since men themselves are for no other reason called oxen, but because by preaching the Gospel of the word of God they imitate Angels, as where it is said, "You shall not muzzle the ox that treads out the grain." How much more easily then do we take the Angels themselves, the messengers of truth, to be oxen, when Evangelists by the participation of their title are called oxen? "You have put under" therefore, he says, "all sheep and oxen," that is, all the holy spiritual creation; in which we include that of holy men, who are in the Church, in those wine-presses to wit, which are intimated under the other similitude of the moon and stars.

Source: Exposition on Psalm 8
[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on Psalms 8:7
So, then, in accordance with the simile of the winepresses, not only the grapes but also the husks are trodden under his feet. This means not only sheep and cattle, that is to say, the holy souls of the faithful, either in the people or among the clergy, but, what is more, beasts of pleasure also and birds of pride and fish of inquisitiveness. All these types of sinners we see here and now in the churches mixed up with the good and the holy. Let God work, then, in his churches and separate wine from grapeskins. Let us cooperate with God so that we may be wine or sheep or cattle, rather than husks or beasts of the field or fish that weave their way through the pathways of the deep. This is not to say that these words can be understood and explained only in this way, but this is what the present context dictates. Somewhere else they may have a different meaning. This rule of thumb is to be upheld in every allegory, that what is expressed through a simile should be judged in the light of the immediate context. Such is the teaching of our Lord and the apostles.

Source: EXPLANATIONS OF THE PSALMS 8:13
[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on Psalms 8:8
"Yea moreover," says he, "the beasts of the field." The addition of "moreover" is by no means idle. First, because by beasts of the plain may be understood both sheep and oxen: so that, if goats are the beasts of rocky and mountainous regions, sheep may be well taken to be the beasts of the field. Accordingly had it been written even thus, "all sheep and oxen and beasts of the field;" it might be reasonably asked what beasts of the plain meant, since even sheep and oxen could be taken as such. But the addition of "moreover" besides, obliges us, beyond question, to recognise some difference or another. But under this word, "moreover," not only "beasts of the field," but also "birds of the air, and fish of the sea, which walk through the paths of the sea" [Psalm 8:8], are to be taken in. What is then this distinction? Call to mind the "wine-presses," holding husks and wine; and the threshing-floor, containing chaff and grain; and the nets, in which were enclosed good fish and bad; and the ark of Noah, in which were both unclean and clean animals: and you will see that the Churches for a while, now in this time, unto the last time of judgment, contain not only sheep and oxen, that is, holy laymen and holy ministers, but "moreover beasts of the field, birds of the air, and birds of the sea, that walk through the paths of the sea." For the beasts of the field were very fitly understood, as men rejoicing in the pleasure of the flesh where they mount up to nothing high, nothing laborious. For the field is also "the broad way, that leads to destruction:" [Matthew 7:13] and in a field is Abel slain. [Genesis 4:8] Wherefore there is cause to fear, lest one coming down from the mountains of God's righteousness ("for your righteousness," he says, "is as the mountains of God" ) making choice of the broad and easy paths of carnal pleasure, be slain by the devil. See now too "the birds of heaven," the proud, of whom it is said, "They have set their mouth against the heaven." See how they are carried on high by the wind, "who say, We will magnify our tongue, our lips are our own, who is our Lord?" Behold too the fish of the sea, that is, the curious; who walk through the paths of the sea, that is, search in the deep after the temporal things of this world: which, like paths in the sea, vanish and perish, as quickly as the water comes together again after it has given room, in their passage, to ships, or to whatsoever walks or swims. For he said not merely, who walk the paths of the sea; but "walk through," he said; showing the very determined earnestness of those who seek after vain and fleeting things. Now these three kinds of vice, namely, the pleasure of the flesh, and pride, and curiosity, include all sins. And they appear to me to be enumerated by the Apostle John, when he says, "Love not the world; for all that is in the world is the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life." [1 John 2:15-16] For through the eyes especially prevails curiosity. To what the rest indeed belong is clear. And that temptation of the Lord Man was threefold: by food, that is, by the lust of the flesh, where it is suggested, "command these stones that they be made bread:" [Matthew 4:3] by vain boasting, where, when stationed on a mountain, all the kingdoms of this earth are shown Him, and promised if He would worship: [Matthew 4:8-9] by curiosity, where, from the pinnacle of the temple, He is advised to cast Himself down, for the sake of trying whether He would be borne up by Angels. [Matthew 4:6] And accordingly after that the enemy could prevail with Him by none of these temptations, this is said of him, "When the devil had ended all his temptation." [Luke 4:13] With a reference then to the meaning of the wine-presses, not only the wine, but the husks too are put under His feet; to wit, not only sheep and oxen, that is, the holy souls of believers, either in the laity, or in the ministry; but moreover both beasts of pleasure, and birds of pride, and fish of curiosity. All which classes of sinners we see mingled now in the Churches with the good and holy. May He work then in His Churches, and separate the wine from the husks: let us give heed, that we be wine, and sheep or oxen; not husks, or beasts of the field, or birds of heaven, or fish of the sea, which walk through the paths of the sea. Not that these names can be understood and explained in this way only, but the explanation of them must be according to the place where they are found. For elsewhere they have other meanings. And this rule must be kept to in every allegory, that what is expressed by the similitude should be considered agreeably to the meaning of the particular place: for this is the manner of the Lord's and the Apostles' teaching. Let us repeat then the last verse, which is also put at the beginning of the Psalm, and let us praise God, saying, "O Lord our Lord, how wonderful is Your name in all the earth!" For fitly, after the matter of the discourse, is the return made to the heading, whither all that discourse must be referred.

Source: Exposition on Psalm 8