139:0
To the director. Of David. A composition.
139:1
Yahweh, you have searched me and you know [me].
139:2
You yourself know my sitting down and my standing up.
You understand my purpose from a distance.
139:3
You scrutinize my wandering and my lying down,
and you are intimately accustomed [with] all my ways.
139:4
Because there is no utterance on my tongue,
behold, Yahweh, you know all of it.
139:5
You enclose me behind and before.
and you place your palm upon me.
139:6
[It is] wonderful knowledge [far] beyond me.
It is [too] high; I am not able to attain to it.
139:7
To where will I go from your Spirit?
And to where will I flee from your face?
139:8
If I ascend to [the] heavens, there you are!
And [if] I spread out [my bed] in Sheol, behold, you [are there]!
139:9
[If] I lift up [on] the wings of the dawn,
[If] I dwell beyond the sea,
139:10
even there your hand will guide me,
and you will grasp me with your right hand.
139:11
And [if] I say, "Surely darkness will cover me
and light [is] night about me",
139:12
even darkness will not darken [me] from you
and night will shine like day; like darkness, like light.
139:13
For you yourself originated my inner parts;
You wove me in the belly of my mother.
139:14
I will praise you because I am fearfully wonderful.
Marvelous [are] your deeds;
my soul well knows [this].
139:15
My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place.
I was colourfully woven in the lowest places of the earth.
139:16
Your eyes saw my growing embryonic body
and upon your book all of them are written,
[my] days were formed [when there was] not one of them.
139:17
And how precious to me are your purposes, O God!
How mighty are their heads!
139:18
Should I count them, they would multiply more than sand.
And I awake and I am continually with you.
139:19
If [only] you would kill [the] wicked, O God!
And men of blood, depart from me,
those who speak against you [with] scheming.
139:20
They, your enemies, take up [your name] in vain.
139:21
Do I not hate those who hate you?
And [do] I [not] loathe those who defy you?
139:22
I hate them [with] the completeness of hate.
They are as enemies to me.
139:23
Search me, God, and know my heart.
Examine me and know my disquieting thoughts,
139:24
and see if [there is] a way of hurt in me
and lead me in the way eternal.
PSALM 139: DAVID’S CONFIDENCE: YAHWEH KNOWS ME [24 verses]
HEADING
Psalm 139:0 WLC לַ֭מְנַצֵּחַ לְדָוִ֣ד מִזְמֹ֑ור
Psalm 139:0 MOMT To the director. Of David. A composition.
YAHWEH’S THOROUGH & WONDERFUL KNOWLEDGE OF DAVID (vv. 1-6)
Psalm 139:1 WLC Renom-Qatal+ Wayyiqtol יְהוָ֥ה חֲ֝קַרְתַּ֗נִי וַתֵּדָֽע׃
Psalm 139:1 MOMT Yahweh, you have searched me and you know [me].
[Note here the couplet of indicative verbs חָקַר, ‘search, examine, sought out, expose’, and יָדַע, ‘know’. In verse 23, the same couplet is found in the imperative mood, where David invites Yahweh to search and try him. The couplet is also found in Ps 44:21.]
Psalm 139:2a WLC Pron-Qatal+Qal-Infin(x2) אַתָּ֣ה יָ֭דַעְתָּ שִׁבְתִּ֣י וְקוּמִ֑י
Psalm 139:2a MOMT You yourself know my sitting down and my standing up;
[God’s knowledge is a comfort to his people, but it is terrible for his enemies: so 2 Kings 19:27.]
Psalm 139:2b WLC Qatal בַּ֥נְתָּה לְ֝רֵעִ֗י מֵרָחֹֽוק׃
Psalm 139:2b MOMT You understand my purpose/aim from a distance.
[Noun רֵעַ means ‘purpose, aim’. This word only appears in Psalm 139:2, 17; cf. Ps 138:6, where Yahweh knows the haughty from afar.]
Psalm 139:3a WLC Qal-Infin(x2)-Qatal אָרְחִ֣י וְרִבְעִ֣י זֵרִ֑יתָ
Psalm 139:3a MOMT My wandering and my lying down you scrutinize.
[The verb זָרָה can mean ‘measure, scatter, fan, sift, winnow, dispersed, scrutinize’. It means scatter in Pss 44:11, 106:27 (Israel scattered among the nations). Of the 39 occurrences in the OT, it means ‘scrutinize’ only in Ps 139:3.]
Psalm 139:3b WLC We-X-Qatal וְֽכָל־דְּרָכַ֥י הִסְכַּֽנְתָּה׃
Psalm 139:3b MOMT and you are intimately accustomed [with] all my ways.
[God knows my way, derek, Ps 1; LXX foresee]
Psalm 139:4a WLC Ki-SNC כִּ֤י אֵ֣ין מִ֭לָּה בִּלְשֹׁונִ֑י
Psalm 139:4a MOMT Because there is no utterance on my tongue
Psalm 139:4b WLC conj+Renom+Qatal הֵ֥ן יְ֝הוָ֗ה יָדַ֥עְתָּ כֻלָּֽהּ׃
Psalm 139:4b MOMT behold, Yahweh, you know all of it.
[Heb 4:13 likewise teaches God’s omniscience.]
Psalm 139:5a WLC X-Qatal אָחֹ֣ור וָקֶ֣דֶם צַרְתָּ֑נִי
Psalm 139:5a MOMT You enclose me behind and before.
[Verb צוּר means ‘confine, bind, besiege, shut in, shut up, enclose, hedged’. It can also mean ‘show hostility to, treat as foe’, or ‘fashion, delineate’: BDB]
Psalm 139:5b WLC Wayyiqtol וַתָּ֖שֶׁת עָלַ֣י כַּפֶּֽכָה׃
Psalm 139:5b MOMT and you place your palm upon me.
Psalm 139:6a WLC SNC [comparative mem] [פִּלְאִיָּה כ] (פְּלִ֣יאָֽה ק) דַ֣עַת מִמֶּ֑נִּי
Psalm 139:6a MOMT [It is] wonderful knowledge [far] beyond me.
Psalm 139:6b WLC Qatal+lo-Yiqtol נִ֝שְׂגְּבָ֗ה לֹא־א֥וּכַֽל לָֽהּ׃
Psalm 139:6b MOMT It is [too] high; I am not able to attain to it.
[Is there something about Book 5 that suggests that the way God fulfills his word is marvellous and wonderful, beyond human understanding? God will keep his promises but his way. Consider also Ps 131:1. Compare Rom 11:33-36: 36Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! 34 “For who has known the mind of the Lord, Or who has been his counselor?” 35 “Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?” 36 For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.].
YAHWEH’S OMNIPRESENCE & OMNISCIENCE (vv. 7-12)
Psalm 139:7a WLC Interrog-Yiqtol אָ֭נָ֥ה אֵלֵ֣ךְ מֵרוּחֶ֑ךָ
Psalm 139:7a MOMT To where will I go/walk from your Spirit?
Psalm 139:7b WLC We-Interrog-X-Yiqtol וְ֝אָ֗נָה מִפָּנֶ֥יךָ אֶבְרָֽח׃
Psalm 139:7b MOMT And to where will I flee from your face?
[Verb בָּרַח means ‘go, pass through, flee’.]
Psalm 139:8a WLC Conj-Yiqtol+SNC אִם־אֶסַּ֣ק שָׁ֭מַיִם שָׁ֣ם אָ֑תָּה
Psalm 139:8a MOMT If I might ascend to [the] heavens, there you are!
[Verb נָסַק is a hapax The verb סָלֵק according to BDB means ‘ascend’, and is a loan-word from Aramaic סְלֵיק.]
Psalm 139:8b WLC WeYiqtol וְאַצִּ֖יעָה שְּׁאֹ֣ול הִנֶּֽךָּ׃
Psalm 139:8b MOMT And [if] I lay down/spread out my bed in Sheol, behold, you [are there]!
[The verb יַצַע only appears 4 times in the OT (Esther 4:3; Isa 14:11; 58:5), and only here in the Psalter. This challenges the idea of God’s absence in Sheol. Compare also Job 26:6: “Sheol is naked before God, and Abaddon has no covering”.]
Psalm 139:9a WLC Yiqtol אֶשָּׂ֥א כַנְפֵי־שָׁ֑חַר
Psalm 139:9a MOMT [If] I lift up [on] the wings of the dawn,
[נָשָׂא means to ‘lift up, take, bear, forgive’]
Psalm 139:9b WLC Yiqtol אֶ֝שְׁכְּנָ֗ה בְּאַחֲרִ֥ית יָֽם׃
Psalm 139:9b MOMT [If] I dwell beyond the sea,
[שָׁכַן ,שָׁכֵ֑ן, verb meaning to settle down, abide, dwell. Here, of place, אַחֲרִית means uttermost, remoteness, after-part. Elsewhere in the Psalter it means end or posterity: Psalm 37:37-38 (the end or posterity of someone); 73:17 (the end of the wicked); 109:13 (posterity).]
Psalm 139:10a WLC Conj-X-Yiqtol גַּם־שָׁ֭ם יָדְךָ֣ תַנְחֵ֑נִי
Psalm 139:10a MOMT even there your hand will guide me.
[v. 24; Verb נָחָה means ‘lead, guide’. In Psalter, in Pss 5:8, 23:3, 27:11, 31:3, 43:3, 60:9, 61:2, 67:4, 73:24, 77:20; 78:14, 53, 72; 107:30; 108:10; 139:10, 24; 143:10].
Psalm 139:10b WLC WeYiqtol וְֽתֹאחֲזֵ֥נִי יְמִינֶֽךָ׃
Psalm 139:10b MOMT and you will grasp me with your right hand.
[Verb אָחַז means ‘grasp, take hold, take possession’. Also in Pss 48:6; 56:1; 73:23; 77:4; 119:53; 137:9; 139:10.]
Psalm 139:11a WLC Wayyiqtol+conj-X-Yiqtol וָ֭אֹמַר אַךְ־חֹ֣שֶׁךְ יְשׁוּפֵ֑נִי
Psalm 139:11a MOMT and [if] I say, ‘Surely darkness will cover me
Psalm 139:11b WLC SNC וְ֝לַ֗יְלָה אֹ֣ור בַּעֲדֵֽנִי׃
Psalm 139:11b MOMT and light [is] night about me,
Psalm 139:12a WLC Conj-X-lo-Yiqtol גַּם־חֹשֶׁךְ֮ לֹֽא־יַחְשִׁ֪יךְ מִ֫מֶּ֥ךָ
Psalm 139:12a MOMT even darkness will not darken [me] from you
Psalm 139:12b WLC We-X-Yiqtol וְ֭לַיְלָה כַּיֹּ֣ום יָאִ֑יר ׃
Psalm 139:12b MOMT and night will shine like day;
Psalm 139:12c WLC Prep+noun(x2) כַּ֝חֲשֵׁיכָ֗ה כָּאֹורָֽה׃
Psalm 139:12c MOMT like darkness, like light.
[Cf. the statement about wicked being unable to hide themselves from Yahweh “There is no gloom or deep darkness where evildoers may hide themselves. (ESV)”: Job 34:22]
YAHWEH DAVID’S PERSONAL CREATOR (vv. 13-18)
Psalm 139:13a WLC Ki-Pron-Qatal כִּֽי־אַ֭תָּה קָנִ֣יתָ כִלְיֹתָ֑י
Psalm 139:13a MOMT For you yourself originated my inner parts;
[The verb קָנָה means ‘get, acquire’, and in poetry, of God, it means ‘originating, creating’.
Genesis 14:19, 22: קֹנֵה שָׁמַיִם וָאָרֶץ || ‘possessor’ or ‘creator’ of heaven and earth. Also Deuteronomy 32:6: “Is not he [Yahweh] your father, who created (קָנָה) you (Israel), who made (עָשָׂה) you and established (כּוּן) you?”. Cf. v. 15 below.]
Psalm 139:13b WLC Yiqtol תְּ֝סֻכֵּ֗נִי בְּבֶ֣טֶן אִמִּֽי׃
Psalm 139:13b MOMT You wove me in the belly of my mother.
[The verb סָכַךְ means ‘overshadow, screen, cover’ but has a second meaning of ‘weave together’: BDB.]
Psalm 139:14a WLC Yiqtol+prep+ki-X-Qatal אֹֽודְךָ֗ עַ֤ל כִּ֥י נֹורָאֹ֗ות נִ֫פְלֵ֥יתִי
Psalm 139:14a MOMT I will praise you because I am fearfully wonderful. [or ‘fearfully set apart’]
[Niphal feminine plural participle of יָרֵא appears to act as a adverb. Verb פָלָה in Niphal means to be ‘separated, distinct, set apart’, but the singular here, נִפְלֵיתִי means ‘I am wonderful’ (in bodily stature etc): BDB.]
Psalm 139:14b WLC SNC נִפְלָאִ֥ים מַעֲשֶׂ֑יךָ
Psalm 139:14b MOMT Wonderful/marvelous [are] your deeds;
[Verb פָלָא means ‘surpassing, extraordinary’. Here Niphal participle mp, which agrees with person and number of the noun, its complement, מַעֲשֶׂ֑יךָ. The verb appears in Book One four times (Pss 9:1; 26:7; 31:21; 40:5), twice in Book Two (71:17; 72:18), five times in Book Three (75:1; 78:4; 78:11, 32; 86:10); six in Book Four (96:3, 98:1, 105:2, 5; 106:7, 22), and 13 in Book Five (107:8, 15, 21, 24, 31; 111:4; 118:23; 119:18, 27; 131:1; 136:4; 139:14; 145:5).]
Psalm 139:14c WLC We-SNC וְ֝נַפְשִׁ֗י יֹדַ֥עַת מְאֹֽד׃
Psalm 139:14c MOMT my soul well knows [this].
[Feminine singular noun וְ֝נַפְשִׁ֗י agrees with feminine singular participle יֹדַ֥עַת.]
Psalm 139:15a WLC lo-Qatal לֹא־נִכְחַ֥ד עָצְמִ֗י מִ֫מֶּ֥ךָּ
Psalm 139:15a MOMT My frame was not hidden from you
[Verb כָּחַד means to hide, efface. Here in Niphal. Noun עֹצֶם can mean ‘might’ or ‘bones’ (collective). BDB understands it to mean ‘frame’.]
Psalm 139:15b WLC Rel-Qatal אֲשֶׁר־עֻשֵּׂ֥יתִי בַסֵּ֑תֶר
Psalm 139:15b MOMT when I was made [Pual passive] in the secret place,
Psalm 139:15c WLC Qatal רֻ֝קַּ֗מְתִּי בְּֽתַחְתִּיֹּ֥ות אָֽרֶץ׃
Psalm 139:15c MOMT I was colourfully woven in the lowest places of the earth.
[Pual pf of רָקַם, to variegate, weave in colours, do needle work: BDB. The earth here is probably a metaphor for the hidden womb, picking up on the idea of the first man coming from the earth or ground.]
Psalm 139:16a WLC X-Qatal גָּלְמִ֤י ׀ רָ֘א֤וּ עֵינֶ֗יךָ
Psalm 139:16a MOMT Your eyes saw my growing embryonic body
[גֹּ֫לֶם Hapax, Hebrew noun masculine, embryo, late Hebrew גּוֺלֶם, Aramaic גּוֺלְמָא, unfinished vessel, here, my imperfect substance (RV): BDB. It means a kind of unshapen mass or rolled up ball; the raw material from which a vessel is made; LXX: ἀκατέργαστον; Symmachus: ἀμόρφωτον: Keil & Deilitzsch].
Psalm 139:16b WLC We-X-Yiqtol וְעַֽל־סִפְרְךָ֮ כֻּלָּ֪ם יִכָּ֫תֵ֥בוּ
Psalm 139:16b MOMT and upon your book all of them are written,
[Is the growing body written in God’s book (AV, RV), or the days (RV mg)? Most modern interpreters take the latter.]
Psalm 139:16c WLC dependent subject-clause X-Qatal יָמִ֥ים יֻצָּ֑רוּ [וְלֹא כ] (וְלֹ֖ו ק) אֶחָ֣ד בָּהֶֽם׃
Psalm 139:16c MOMT [my] days were formed [when there was] not one of them.
[The days יצּרוּ which were formed are the subject of the passive Pual verb יָצַר meaning, ‘form, fashion’. “[A]ssuming the original character of the לא in a negative signification, it is to be rendered: The days which were (already) formed, and there was not one among them, i.e., when none among them had as yet become a reality. The suffix of כּלּם points to the succeeding ימים, to which יצּרוּ is appended as an attributive clause; ולא אחד בּהם is subordinated to this: Keil & Deilitzsch. DeWette renders this, “The days were determined before any one of them was.” However, Keil & Deilitzsch prefer the qere: “This ולו, referred to גלמי, gives the acceptable meaning: and for it (viz., its birth) one among them (these days)”. Gill has the Targum saying: “in the book of thy memory all my days are written, in the day the world was created, from the beginning that all creatures were created.” Rashi comments: “and on Your book they were all written And all the creatures of the world, like me, like them, even all of them, before they were created, were together revealed before You. days have been formed and one of them All man’s deeds and the end of the days are revealed before You as if they were already formed, although not one of them was in existence, and not one was yet in the world. These are the wonders of God’s works and the way of His might, that future events are revealed to Him before they come. And so, Scripture says (Jer. 1:5): “When I had not yet formed you in the womb, etc.”: Rashi on Psalms 139:16:4 with Connections (sefaria.org). JPS 1917 updated: “Your eyes saw my unformed substance, and in your book they were all written— even the days that were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.”]
Psalm 139:17a WLC We-X-Interrog-Qatal וְלִ֗י מַה־יָּקְר֣וּ רֵעֶ֣יךָ אֵ֑ל
Psalm 139:17a MOMT And how precious to me are your purposes, O God!
Psalm 139:17b WLC Interrog-Qatal מֶ֥ה עָ֝צְמוּ רָאשֵׁיהֶֽם׃
Psalm 139:17b MOMT How mighty are their heads!
[עָצֹם ,עָצַם, verb, be vast, mighty, numerous, Hiphil, make strong: BDB].
Psalm 139:18a WLC Yiqtol+Yiqtol אֶ֭סְפְּרֵם מֵחֹ֣ול יִרְבּ֑וּן
Psalm 139:18a MOMT Should I count them, they would multiply more than sand.
Psalm 139:18b WLC Qatal+SNC הֱ֝קִיצֹ֗תִי וְעֹודִ֥י עִמָּֽךְ׃
Psalm 139:18b MOMT and I awake and I am continually with you.
The verb קוּץ means to arise, be awake, watch.]
IMPRECCATION AGAINST THE WICKED (vv. 19-22)
Psalm 139:19a WLC Conj-Yiqtol אִם־תִּקְטֹ֖ל אֱלֹ֥והַּ ׀ רָשָׁ֑ע
Psalm 139:19a MOMT If [only] you would kill [the] wicked, O God!
Psalm 139:19b WLC We-X-Impv וְאַנְשֵׁ֥י דָ֝מִ֗ים ס֣וּרוּ מֶֽנִּי׃
Psalm 139:19b MOMT And men of blood, depart from me,
Psalm 139:20a WLC Rel-Yiqtol אֲשֶׁ֣ר יֹ֭אמְרֻךָ לִמְזִמָּ֑ה
Psalm 139:20a MOMT those who speak against you [with] scheming.
Psalm 139:20b WLC Qatal נָשֻׂ֖א לַשָּׁ֣וְא עָרֶֽיךָ׃
Psalm 139:20b MOMT They, your enemies, take up [your name] in vain.
[Exod 20:7: לֹ֥א תִשָּׂ֛א אֶת־שֵֽׁם־יְהוָ֥ה אֱלֹהֶ֖יךָ לַשָּׁ֑וְא || You shall not take the name of Yahweh your God in vain.]
Psalm 139:21a WLC Interrog-lo-X-Yiqtol הֲלֹֽוא־מְשַׂנְאֶ֖יךָ יְהוָ֥ה ׀ אֶשְׂנָ֑א
Psalm 139:21a MOMT Do I not hate the ones who hate you?
Psalm 139:21b WLC We-X-Yiqtol וּ֝בִתְקֹומְמֶ֗יךָ אֶתְקֹוטָֽט׃
Psalm 139:21b MOMT and I loathe those who defy you.
Psalm 139:22a WLC X-Qatal תַּכְלִ֣ית שִׂנְאָ֣ה שְׂנֵאתִ֑ים
Psalm 139:22a MOMT I hate them [with] the completeness of hate.
Psalm 139:22b WLC X-Qatal לְ֝אֹויְבִ֗ים הָ֣יוּ לִֽי׃
Psalm 139:22b MOMT They are as enemies to me.
PETITION THAT GOD EXAMINE DAVID (vv. 23-24)
Psalm 139:23a WLC Impv+We-Impv חָקְרֵ֣נִי אֵ֭ל וְדַ֣ע לְבָבִ֑י
Psalm 139:23a MOMT Search me, God, and know my heart.
Psalm 139:23b WLC Impv+We-Impv בְּ֝חָנֵ֗נִי וְדַ֣ע שַׂרְעַפָּֽי׃
Psalm 139:23b MOMT Examine me and know my disquieting thoughts.
Psalm 139:24a WLC We-Impv וּרְאֵ֗ה אִם־דֶּֽרֶךְ־עֹ֥צֶב בִּ֑י
Psalm 139:24a MOMT and see if [there is] a way of grief/pain/hurt in me
Psalm 139:24b WLC We-Impv וּ֝נְחֵ֗נִי בְּדֶ֣רֶךְ עֹולָֽם׃
Psalm 139:24b MOMT and lead me in the way eternal. [see v. 10]