Psalm 8:2
ESV
Out of the mouth of babies and infants, you have established strength because of your foes, to still the enemy and the avenger.
NIV
Through the praise of children and infants you have established a stronghold against your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger.
NASB
From the mouths of infants and nursing babies You have established strength Because of Your enemies, To do away with the enemy and the revengeful.
CSB
From the mouths of infants and nursing babies, you have established a stronghold on account of your adversaries in order to silence the enemy and the avenger.
NLT
You have taught children and infants to tell of your strength, silencing your enemies and all who oppose you.
KJV
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.
NKJV
Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants You have ordained strength, Because of Your enemies, That You may silence the enemy and the avenger.
What does Psalm 8:2 mean?
God is so strong and great that He can derive praise even from infants and children. Jesus referred to this verse after He cleansed the temple (Matthew 21:16). The cries of babies—here more generally meaning children—and those still being weaned can bring down the enemy. Perhaps David had in mind the cry of baby Moses, when Pharaoh's daughter retrieved him from the reeds of the Nile. Exodus 2:6 tells us that when she opened the basket, "she saw the child, and behold, the baby was crying." It was this same child who grew to manhood and was used of God to stand before Pharaoh, the Hebrew's enemy, and command him to let the Hebrews go from Egypt and their slavery there.God often chooses "what is weak in the world to shame the strong" (1 Corinthians 1:27). Paul echoes some of the same themes in his second letter to the Corinthians. There, he explains how God places His powerful gospel in fragile, limited vessels, for His own glory (2 Corinthians 4:7).
