Passage

Psalms 139.8

Book: Psalms · NASB95

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

"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." (Psalms 139:6-10, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"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." (Psalms 139:6-10, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"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." (Psalms 139:6-10, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"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." (Psalms 139:6-10, 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.

TBD
TBD
TBD
TBD

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.