Thomas Aquinas, on Ps 8:7

“And hast set him over the works of thy hands.”

“Third, when he says "the sheep and the oxen," etc., he enumerates the subjects: and he lists animals so that plants may be understood as well. Among the animals, some are subject according to their whole kind, namely the tame and domestic animals by their nature, that is, sheep and oxen: and he says this in the feminine, "all of them," because herds are made up especially of cows and sheep. Others are those not subject according to their whole kind: and of these some are walking creatures: and regarding this he says "moreover the beasts of the field," etc., that is, boars, deer, and the like. And in the judgment some are good: and of these some subjects are signified by sheep: 2 Kgs. 24: "These who are sheep, what have they done?" Some are prelates, and these are signified by oxen: Prov. 14: "Where there are many harvests, there the strength of the ox is manifest." Some are wicked: and of these there are three kinds: 1 Jn. 2: "Everything that is in the world is either the concupiscence of the eyes, or the concupiscence of the flesh, or the pride of life." And first he sets forth the lustful: and these are the sheep and oxen and beasts of the field, because they delight in bestial things: Joel 1: "The beasts have rotted in their dung, and the storehouses of the field are demolished." He says this because they go by the broad way, Mt. 7.”

Imported from an open dataset — not yet checked against the printed edition.