Rabbi Roodyn

ז )  תַּמְשִׁילֵהוּ בְּמַעֲשֵׂי יָדֶיךָ כֹּל שַׁתָּה תַחַת רַגְלָיו

You gave him dominion over Your handiwork, You placed everything under his feet.

Rav Hirsch says that the word תמשילהו  comes from the root משל, this is a term we see in this week’s sedra regarding Avraham’s faithful servant Eliezer. The pasuk says המשל בכל אשר לו, ‘who was a steward over all things in Avraham’s house’’. He assigned to everything its proper purpose and task in accordance with Avraham’s will. So too Hashem has appointed man as steward in the household of this terrestrial world.

Man must therefore not enforce his own will upon his fellow creatures, it is his task to merely rule them in accordance with the purposes revealed to him by Hashem. The world does not exist for his (man’s) sake, rather he exists for the sake of the world namely לעבדה ולשמרה to serve it (to bring it to its loftiest aims) and to guard and preserve it.

It is for this reason that Hashem has put man into the world, a creature possessed of spirit and freedom of choice, in His image. It is for this purpose that שתה, “You have laid all things at his feet”. He has received dominion over the terrestrial world from G-d’s hands as a loan. Supreme over the other creatures on earth, he must answer to G-d for the use to which he puts his position of power