Passage

Psalms 139.1-12

Book: Psalms · NASB95

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

"1. ^{For the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.} O Jehovah, thou hast searched me, and known me. 2. Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising; Thou understandest my thought afar off. 3. Thou searchest out my path and my lying down, And art acquainted with all my ways. 4. For there is not a word in my tongue, But, lo, O Jehovah, thou knowest it altogether. 5. Thou hast beset me behind and before, And laid thy hand upon me. 6. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; It is high, I cannot attain unto it. 7. Whither shall I go from thy Spirit? Or whither shall I flee from thy presence? 8. If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, thou art there. 9. If I take the wings of the morning, And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; 10. Even there shall thy hand lead me, And thy right hand shall hold me. 11. If I say, Surely the darkness shall overwhelm me, And the light about me shall be night; 12. Even the darkness hideth not from thee, But the night shineth as the day: The darkness and the light are both alike to thee."

"13. For thou didst form my inward parts: Thou didst cover me in my mother's womb. 14. I will give thanks unto thee; For I am fearfully and wonderfully made: Wonderful are thy works; And that my soul knoweth right well." (Psalms 139:1-14, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"1. For the Chief Musician. A Psalm by David. Yahweh, you have searched me, and you know me. 2. You know my sitting down and my rising up. You perceive my thoughts from afar. 3. You search out my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways. 4. For there is not a word on my tongue, but, behold, Yahweh, you know it altogether. 5. You hem me in behind and before. You laid your hand on me. 6. This knowledge is beyond me. It’s lofty. I can’t attain it. 7. Where could I go from your Spirit? Or where could I flee from your presence? 8. If I ascend up into heaven, you are there. If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, you are there! 9. If I take the wings of the dawn, and settle in the uttermost parts of the sea; 10. Even there your hand will lead me, and your right hand will hold me. 11. If I say, “Surely the darkness will overwhelm me; the light around me will be night”; 12. even the darkness doesn’t hide from you, but the night shines as the day. The darkness is like light to you."

"13. For you formed my inmost being. You knit me together in my mother’s womb. 14. I will give thanks to you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Your works are wonderful. My soul knows that very well." (Psalms 139:1-14, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"1. To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. O LORD, thou hast searched me, and known me. 2. Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off. 3. Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways. ^{compassest: or, winnowest} 4. For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O LORD, thou knowest it altogether. 5. Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid thine hand upon me. 6. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it. 7. Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? 8. If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. 9. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; 10. Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me. 11. If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me. 12. Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee. ^{hideth: Heb. darkeneth not} ^{the darkness and: Heb. as is the darkness, so is the light}"

"13. For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother's womb. 14. I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well. ^{right: Heb. greatly}" (Psalms 139:1-14, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"1. To the Overseer., A Psalm by David. Jehovah, Thou hast searched me, and knowest. 2. Thou, Thou hast known my sitting down, And my rising up, Thou hast attended to my thoughts from afar. 3. My path and my couch Thou hast fanned, And [with] all my ways hast been acquainted. 4. For there is not a word in my tongue, Lo, O Jehovah, Thou hast known it all! 5. Behind and before Thou hast besieged me, And Thou dost place on me Thy hand. 6. Knowledge too wonderful for me, It hath been set on high, I am not able for it. 7. Whither do I go from Thy Spirit? And whither from Thy face do I flee? 8. If I ascend the heavens, there Thou [art], And spread out a couch in Sheol, lo, Thee! 9. I take the wings of morning, I dwell in the uttermost part of the sea, 10. Also there Thy hand doth lead me, And Thy right hand doth hold me. 11. And I say, 'Surely darkness bruiseth me, Then night [is] light to me. 12. Also darkness hideth not from Thee, And night as day shineth, as [is] darkness so [is] light."

"13. For Thou, Thou hast possessed my reins, Thou dost cover me in my mother's belly. 14. I confess Thee, because that [with] wonders I have been distinguished. Wonderful [are] Thy works, And my soul is knowing [it] well." (Psalms 139:1-14, YLT)

Setting

Speaker: TBD
Audience: TBD
Location: TBD
Time period: TBD

Theological reading

Patristic / early-church-father exegesis, to be added.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

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TBD
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Quoted in

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.