# Psalms 139.4 **Book:** [Psalms](/codex/psalms/) · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT ## Immediate context (±2 verses) **ASV** ([ASV](/codex/asv/)) > 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. (Psalms 139:2-6, ASV) **WEB** ([WEB](/codex/web/)) > 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. (Psalms 139:2-6, WEB) **KJV** ([KJV](/codex/kjv/)) > 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. (Psalms 139:2-6, KJV) **YLT** ([YLT](/codex/ylt/)) > 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. (Psalms 139:2-6, 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._ - _TBD_ - _TBD_ - _TBD_ - _TBD_ ## Quoted in **Arguments and defeaters:** - [Argument from Irrevocability](/codex/argument-from-irrevocability/), via [Psalms 139.1-6](/codex/psalms-139-1-6/) - [Argument from the Demand to Be Witnessed](/codex/argument-from-the-demand-to-be-witnessed/), via [Psalms 139.1-6](/codex/psalms-139-1-6/) - [Argument from the Information-Conservation Convergence](/codex/argument-from-the-information-conservation-convergence/), via [Psalms 139.1-6](/codex/psalms-139-1-6/) - [Argument from the Observer-Demand Convergence](/codex/argument-from-the-observer-demand-convergence/), via [Psalms 139.1-6](/codex/psalms-139-1-6/) - [God Created Me Knowing I Would Reject Him Objection Defeater](/codex/god-created-me-knowing-i-would-reject-him-objection-defeater/) **Concepts:** - [God is Impossible Paradox Cluster](/codex/god-is-impossible-paradox-cluster/), via [Psalms 139.1-12](/codex/psalms-139-1-12/) **Lexicon:** - [H3045 - yada](/codex/h3045-yada/), via [Psalms 139.1-6](/codex/psalms-139-1-6/) ## Notes _Your annotations._ --- ## 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](/codex/asv/)** (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition. - **[WEB](/codex/web/)** (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English. - **[KJV](/codex/kjv/)** (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base. - **[YLT](/codex/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](/codex/bibles/) for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.