Psalm 139:13-16 NIV

The Pulpit Commentary - Psalms 139:15-16

What a man can be and do God knows. The latter clause of Psalms 139:15 has been well rendered, "When I was wrought with a needle in the depths of the earth." There is an evidence of allusion to the sacerdotal robes, and the undescribable texture of the human system is compared to the exquisite needlework of the high priest's garments. Every man is a bundle of possibilities; but no man has precisely the same possibilities as any other man. Each man can be what nobody else can be; each man... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Psalms 139:16

Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect ; or, "my embryo." The Hebrew text has but the single word גלמי , which probably means, "the still unformed embryonic mass" (Hengstenberg). And in thy book all my members were written ; literally, all of them ; but the pronoun has no antecedent. Professor Cheyne and others suspect the passage to have suffered corruption. But the general meaning can scarcely have been very different from that assigned to the passage in the... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Psalms 139:13

For thou hast possessed my reins - The word here rendered “possessed” means properly to “set upright,” to “erect,” and hence, the derivative of the verb is applied to a cane or reed, as being erect. Then the word means to found, to create, Genesis 14:19, Genesis 14:22 - as the heavens and the earth; and then, to get, to gain, to purchase, etc. Here the word seems to be used in its original sense, to make, create, etc. The idea is, not as in our translation, that God “possessed” or “owned” them... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Psalms 139:14

I will praise thee - I will not merely admire what is so great and marvelous, but I will acknowledge thee in a public manner as wise, and holy, and good: as entitled to honor, love, and gratitude.For I am fearfully and wonderfully made - The word rendered “fearfully” means properly “fearful things;” things suited to produce fear or reverence. The word rendered “wonderfully made” means properly to distinguish; to separate. The literal translation of this - as near as can be given - would be, “I... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Psalms 139:15

My substance was not hid from thee - Thou didst see it; thou didst understand it altogether, when it was hidden from the eyes of man. The word “substance” is rendered in the margin, “strength” or “body.” The Septuagint, the Latin Vulgate, the Syriac, the Arabic, and Luther render it, “my bone,” or “my bones.” The word properly means strength, and then anything strong. Another form of the word, with different pointing in the Hebrew, means a bone, so called from its strength. The allusion here is... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Psalms 139:16

Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect - This whole verse is very obscure, but the “idea” in this expression clearly is, “Before I had shape or form thou didst see what I was to be.” The single word in the original translated “my substance, yet being unperfect,” is גלם gôlem. It occurs only in this place, though the verb - גלם gâlam - is found in 2 Kings 2:8, where it is used in reference to the mantle of Elijah: And Elijah took his mantle, and “wrapped it together,” etc. That... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Psalms 139:13

Psalms 139:13. Thou hast possessed Or, thou dost possess, my reins The most inward and hidden part of my body, supposed also to be the seat of men’s lusts and passions: thou dwellest in them, thou art the owner and governor of them, and therefore must needs know them. My most secret thoughts and intentions, and the innermost recesses of my soul, are subject to thy control. Thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb With skin and flesh, as it is expressed Job 10:11. Dr. Waterland renders... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Psalms 139:14

Psalms 139:14. I am fearfully and wonderfully made Thy infinite wisdom and power, manifested in the singular and curious structure of man’s body, fill me with wonder and astonishment, and with the dread of thy Majesty. Marvellous are thy works Both in the lesser world, man, and in the greater; and that my soul knoweth right well I am well assured, both by thy word, and by the contemplation and study of thy works, that they are wonderful, although I do not so accurately understand them... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Psalms 139:15

Psalms 139:15. My substance was not hid from thee Hebrews עצמי , my bone. So the LXX. το οστουν μου . Bone may be here taken collectively for bones, or, rather for the whole fabric of the bones: or may be put synecdochically for the whole body, as being the most substantial part of it, as in Psalms 35:10. When I was made in secret In the womb; termed, in the next clause, in the lowest parts of the earth, in a place as remote from human eyes as the lowest parts of the earth are. He... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Psalms 139:16

Psalms 139:16. Thine eyes did see my substance Hebrews גלמי , my rude mass, as Dr. Waterland renders the word: massa rudis et intricata adhuc, says Buxtorf, neque in veram formam evoluta, a mass, yet rude and entangled, and not unfolded into proper form. When the matter, out of which I was made, was an unshapen embryo, without any form, it was visible to thee how every part, however minute, would be wrought; and in thy book all my members were written Before any of them were in... read more

The Pulpit Commentary - Psalms 139:15-16

The Pulpit Commentary - Psalms 139:16

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Psalms 139:13

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Psalms 139:14

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Psalms 139:15

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Psalms 139:16

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Psalms 139:13

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Psalms 139:14

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Psalms 139:15

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Psalms 139:16

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