DIVINE INVASION: THE WORK OF GOD IN PSALM 139
A few Psalms receive repeated use by authors from all times and centuries. Psalm 139
has been a favorite for many Christians and churches. Some have abused Ps 139 and used it as a
proof text for various doctrines. Psalm 139 has a type of elegance and beauty while remaining
deeply theological. Pastors and exegetes have received comfort knowing that God is aware of
each intricacy of life. People have taken solace in the idea that God is with them all throughout
the day in their resting and rising (Ps 139: 2). However, this is not entirely the sense that the
Psalm gives. This Psalm is about the forceful entrance of God into every aspect of the author’s
life. Many of the omniscient attributes of God, which have traditionally given hope to people, are
actually claims of discomfort and rebellion towards God. Psalm 139 records the author thoughts
about moving from the place of rebellion to the place of righteousness. The author would likely
not begrudge any type of hope or comfort the people have received from the text, but that was
not the author’s original intension.
LOCATION OF PSALM 139
It is notoriously difficult to determine a date and historical context for each Psalm. A few
Psalms, like Ps 137, give historical clues as to their contexts, but this is not the case for most of
Psalms. Psalm 139 has a prescript similar to many other psalms, which associates the Psalm with
David. Traditionally churches have understood these prescripts to indicate authorship, but the
Hebrew text does not necessitate Davidic authorship. The prescript of Ps 139 has the phrase “For
the overseer, a song of David.” This is the tradition reading, which renders the Hebrew
1
2
proposition lamed (ְ‫ )ל‬as possessive when attached to David.1 The traditional reading is plausible
grammatically, but one could easily render the text “For the overseer, a song for David.” Davidic
authorship is dubious. Additionally, verse 8 contains an Aramaic loanword.2 While it is uncertain
when Aramaic began influencing Hebrew, it was most likely after the time of David. Marco
Treves believes that a likely period for Ps 139 is the second century B.C.E.3 There is no way to
be certain of a date and historical context for Ps 139, but the themes, vocabulary and content
indicate that it is from exilic or post-exilic period.
ANALYSIS OF THE POETRY
While Psalm 139 has served a beloved liturgical piece for the church, it is a difficult
Psalm to translate. Translators have frequently rendered words in unique ways for Psalm 139 to
make sense of the text. Below is an original rendering of the text.
1. For the overseer, a song for David
Oh YHWH, you have explored me and you know4 2 You know my resting and my rising,
you know my purpose5 from a distance
3 You winnowed my path and my lying down, and you are familiar with all my ways
4 For there is no word on my tongue, thus you YHWH know all of it
5 You bind6 me up behind and before, you put your hand upon me
6 Knowledge more wonderful than me, unattainable, I cannot hold on to it
7 Where can I go from your spirit? And where can I flee from your presence?
8 If I climb7 up to the heavens, you are there, if I make a couch8 in Sheol, behold it is you
For a full discussion of the semantic variability of ‫ל‬, see Frances Brown, S. R. Driver and
Charles A Briggs. “‫ ”ל‬BDB: 510-18.
2
‫ אֶ ּסק‬is the First common singular imperfect of the Aramaic word, ‫סלק‬, meaning “to ascend.”
3
Marco Treves, The Dates of the Psalms, (Pisa: Giardini, 1988), 99-100.
4
This verb is lacking an object in the text, but the object from the previous verb serves as the object for this
verb. “You have explored me and you know me”
5
The MT reads ‫ ֵרעִ י‬which means purpose. Traditional translations render this according to the LXX and
Syriac traditions as “thoughts.”
6
This is an energetic form of the verb ‫צּור‬, which carries a negative connotation. It could mean to bind or
siege. For further discussion of the semantic variability of this word See Brown “‫צּור‬,” BDB: 848
7
Aramaic loan word ‫סלק‬, the Syriac is ‫ܣܠܩ‬. Hebrew and Aramaic have a similar morphology for the
imperfect 1st common singular in the Qal (Hebrew) and the Pe’al (Aramaic).
8
This word is attested frequently in Hebrew, but indicates Aramaic influence. The form is a Hiphil of ‫יצע‬,
however it does not follow the normal morphology for I-‫ י‬Hebrew Hiphil. The form does not follow typical Aramaic
1
3
9 I will lift up the wings of the dawn,9 I will dwell at the end of the sea
10 Also there your hand will guide10 me, your right hand will hold on to me
11 And saying, surely the darkness will bruise11 me, and night will shine through12 me
12 Even the darkness will not be too dark for you, and the night will shine as day and the
darkness will be as light
13 For you created my kidneys,13 you wove me in14 my mother’s belly
14 I praise you because I have been fearfully treated with distinction,15 Your works are
wonderful, my life knows this very well
15 My bones are not hidden from you, nor what I do16 in hiding, I was intricately
woven17 beneath the land
16 Your eyes saw my formlessness,18 and upon your scroll, all of them have been written.
The days were formed and there is not one in them19
17 How precious are your thoughts to me, oh God, how numerous are their heads
18 I will count them, they are more numerous than the sand, I have been continuously
awake with you
19 God, if you would kill the wicked, and men of blood turn20 away from me
morphology either for the related Aphel, but it does follow a common irregular Aramaic morphology for I-‫ י‬verbsְ
combined with the regular Hebrew Hiphil morphology for singular cohortatives.
9
The Syriac Tradition reads “Wings of an Eagle.” This gives the Psalm a different type of mythic
character. Wings of the dawn has a mythic character more related to pantheistic gods and goddesses, while the
Syriac picks up on another image in the Bible of the eagle’s wings (Ex 19:4, Is 40:31). The LXX demythologizes
this psalm and reads “My wings.” See Frank Lothar Hossfeld and Erich Zenger, Psalms 3: a commentary on Psalms
101-150, (Hermeneia, edited by Klaus Baltzer, Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2011.), 547.
10
The BHS editors have suggested “take me” ‫ ִתקָּ חֵ נִ י‬instead of “lead me”ְ‫תַ נחֵ נִ י‬. This would require minimal
emendation of the Hebrew consonants and would better fit the parallelism. The Masoretic reading is preferred here,
but the emendation fits the tone of the section of the Psalm better.
11
The BHS text does not make clear sense. Many translators have rendered the text “cover me” in light of a
proposed emendation by the BHS editors. Such a reading is plausible, but using the Masoretic reading gives a
stronger and more violent sense to the imagery. The word can still function in its place in the Psalm.
12
LXX has a dubious reading for this verse. It reads “the night is the illumination in my luxury.” It is
possible that the LXX translators were looking a differently vocalized text. The translators likely read the text ‫עָּדַ ן‬
which means “luxury.” See Hossfeld and Zenger, Psalms 3, 547. See also Brown, “‫ ”עדן‬BDB, 726.
13
‫כִ ליֹות‬, traditionally means “kidneys.” It is the ancient equivalent for the seat of emotion.
14
The LXX and the Syriac traditions read “from my mother’s belly.” This may be a case of further
demythologization by the LXX.
15
Traditionally this has been translated “I have been wonderfully made.” Both readings are plausible
grammatically, but there is no creation word in this stanza.
16
The LXX and the Syriac traditions change the verb to second person; “nor what you do in hiding.” The
MT is preferred here.
17
LXX reads “my standing.”
18
This is a hapax legomena for the Hebrew Bible, but does appear in Mishnaic Hebrew. The word could
signify further Aramaic influence. The Aramaic word means “unfinished vessel.” See Brown “‫ ”גֹ לֶם‬BDB:106, See
also Th Booij, “Psalm CXXXIX: Text, Syntax and Meaning.” VT 55 (2005), 7.
19
This translation is slightly odd, but represents a close rendering of the Hebrew words. A good
understanding of the verse requires adding an extra word in English. Here is a smoothed translation of the text “The
days were formed when there was not one among them.
20
MT has this as a plural imperative, ‫סּורּו‬, “Turn away from me!” Other texts have this as a Qal perfect
third Masculine plural, ‫סָּ רּו‬: “Men of blood have turned away from me.” The form that would make the most sense of
the text is a Hiphil imperative, ‫הָּ סֵ ר‬: “Turn the men of blood away from me!” One would need to make a major
emendation to the text to arrive at this form, but other readings change the subject of the stanza from God to the
“men of blood.”
4
20 Who spoke evil plans about you, the one rising up vainly against your cities21
21 Do I not hate those who hate you? And those who rise up22 against you I loath
22 With complete hatred I hate them, they are my enemies
23 Explore me and know my heart, while leading me know my disquieting thoughts
24 See if there are any faulty23 ways in me and lead me in the ancient way
The most distinguishable feature of Hebrew poetry is the Hebraic parallelism. Parallelism
is replete throughout this Psalm. The first verse says, “you have searched me and you know”
This may be a case of heightening parallelism, because knowing is a higher level than searching,
but there are few examples of clear intensification in Ps 139. Verses 5, 10, 20 and 21 possibly
have parallelism that intensifies with the second verset, however few of these are clearly
intensification.24 There are more verses with parallelism, which do not intensify the action.
Verses 1, 6, 7, 13, 15 are clear parallelism, but do not ad intensity to the action. The author
frequently uses opposite images or antithetical parallelism.25 Antithetical patterns, such as resting
and rising, dominate the poetry. Verses 2, 3 and 8 employ this type of parallelism. The
antithetical parallelism contributes to theme of God’s omniscience. These antitheses represent
the margins of the psalmist’s life and imply that God is present everywhere between them.
Verse 23 forms an inclusio with the first verse. The same two verbs that are in the first
verse are also in verse 23. The major grammatical difference between the verbs from the
beginning of the poem and the verbs in 23 is the verbs at the beginning are in the perfect tense,
and the verbs in verse 23 are in the imperative. The poetic move in the psalm is that the author
has moved from a state of resentment towards God to a state of eagerness. Readers of the poem
have often considered the mood early in the Psalm to be positive, but the language employs
The MT could be “your cities,” but is problematic. Other witnesses read ‫עדיך‬, which is equally
problematic. The BHS editors suggest ‫ ָּעלֶיָך‬: against you.
22
The MT is corrupt and nonsensical. This translation reflects a reading from a few other manuscripts and a
logical emendation of the text. The form ought to be a Hithpolel participle.
23
The LXX reads “lawless.”
24
Robert Alter, Art of Biblical Poetry, (New York: Basic Books Inc., 1985) 62.
25
Alter, 168.
21
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words with negative connotations. In Verse 7, the author thinks about escaping from God, but the
psalmist realizes that fleeing God is futile.26 One may read the beginning of the Psalm as the
psalmist conceding God’s presence in his or her life, but he or she does this with a regretting
attitude. However, the end of the Psalm is an invitation for YHWH to continue the work, which
he already has done.
It is the inclusio of verses 1 and 23 that is the strongest evidence for the inclusion of the
final few verses in the Psalm. One may easily see the dramatic change in tone beginning in verse
19, and one may argue that the final section fits better with the following Psalm.27 However, the
inclusio in verse 23 and the echo of the idea of the path in verse 24 make in nearly certain that
these verses belong with Ps 139. There has been no corruption of the breaks in the text signifying
a new Psalm. There is also no textual history of a different division for these psalms. The
evidence for the literary unity of Ps 139 far outweighs the evidence against it.
If Psalm has a different tone in the last two verses from the first few, there must be a
turning point. The turning point occurs somewhere between verses 12-13. The darkness’s
inability to conquer God may signify the shift in the poetry, but verse 13 moves the imagery to
decisively positive imagery. Verse 15 holds the first true expression of praise to God. “I praise
you because I have been fearfully treated with distinction.” In verse 13, the psalmist depicts God
weaving him or her in the womb and creating his or her kidneys. Hossfled breaks the Psalm at
verse 13.28 The threads of rebellion have disappeared from the Psalm. The imprecatory section of
Ps 139 fits in a progression of the author’s thoughts. Verses 1-12 describe the author trying to
rebel or flee God, but 13-18 describe the author accepting God’s presence. Hossfled breaks
Yair Mazor “When Aesthetics Is Harnessed to Psychological Characterization: Ars Poetica in Psalm
139.” Zeitschrift Fur Die Altestamentliche Wissenschaft 109 (1997), 263.
27
Mazor, 265.
28
Hossfled and Zenger, 539.
26
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verses 1-12 into two parts, separating 1-6 and 7-12.29 However, these ought to be one section,
because 1-6 set up the futility of fleeing from God and the reason for it. If YHWH did not
omnisciently plague him or her, there would have been no reason for the author to try to flee
God. The final verses (19-24) describe the author as trying to participate with God. The call for
the end of God’s enemies may represent a high degree of agreement with God and his plan, thus
a further progression towards righteousness for the psalmist. The imprecatory section may not
seem like a movement towards greater righteousness to twenty-first century, western readers, but
it is consistent with Jewish ideas about what God wanted.
INTERTEXTUALITY OF PSALM 139
Intertextuality is key to the interpretation of Ps 139, and it employs similar themes to
Jeremiah, Amos and Job. The parallelism of Ps 139 and Job demonstrates the negative force of
the imagery in the first six verse of the Psalm.30 The author of Job uses the same image of God’s
hand being on him. While it may have been slightly ambiguous whether the imagery is positive
or negative in Ps 139, it is decisively negative in Job. “Distance your hand from me!” (Job
13:21) Job attributed his suffering to the hand of God. While there is no suffering in Ps 139, the
author borrows a clearly negative image. The author of Ps 139 would probably like to utter the
same cry, “Distance your hand from me!” as Job. Another close corollary is Job’s desire to hide
in Sheol31 (Job 14:13). The psalmist contemplates the same thing, but as the authors of Ps 139,
Job and Amos 9 are keenly aware, it is futile to flee from a God who can reach Sheol. Further
themes that link Job and Ps 139 include the darkness’s inability to overcome God and the
inferiority of man compared to God.32
29
Ibid
Mazor, 267.
31
Ibid
32
Mazor, 268.
30
7
The poem opening Amos 9 uses similar language to Ps 139:7-10. However, the imagery
in Amos is for the destruction of people whom God pursues. It is difficult to determine which
text precedes the other, but literary dependence is likely. From an external viewpoint, Amos
likely has an early authorship date than Ps 139. Themes and vocabulary of Ps 139 contribute to
likely hood of a later date, indicating it is more plausible that Ps 139 borrows from Amos 9. If
one accepts Treves’ hypothesis of second century B.C.E. authorship for Ps 139,33 it is newer than
the latest redactions to Amos.34
1b None from them will escape, there will not be a survivor delivered from them
2 If they dig into Sheol, from there my hand will pluck them
If they ascend to heaven, I will bring them down
3 If they hide on the top of Carmel, from there I will search them out and pluck them
If they hide away from my eyes on the floor of the sea, from there I will command the
dragon and he will bite them...
4b I will set my eye upon them for evil and not for good
(Amos 9:1b-3, 4b)
This passage casts Ps139 in slightly different light. It specifically uses the images in common
with Psalm 139 of descending to Sheol, ascending to heaven and hiding at an extreme location
related to the sea. Additionally, fleeing from the presence of God in Ps 139 and God’s eye in
Amos 9:4 may be corollary. One might argue that the imagery from Ps 139 is positive, but Amos
9 shows that presence of God is not always comforting. The sense that Ps 139 gives is that the
author could not hide from YHWH in order to commit sin, but the sin never happened. While
this is positive overall, at the time, the author does not consider it good and the psalmist was
contemplating fleeing from God. Amos 9 is completely negative for the one God pursues.
Reading the text in light of Amos 9 demonstrates that author of Ps 139 did not want to be like the
pursed ones from Amos 9, which is primary reason he pursues righteousness.
33
Treves, 100.
Amos 9 is part of the book which some consider to be a later redaction. For further discussion of
redactions to Amos, see Devadasan Premnath, “The Book of Amos,” NIDB 1:136.
34
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THEMES OF PSALM 139
Psalm 139 describes God in an omniscient way. God knows all the thoughts and words of
the author prior to their occurrence. This stands in slight opposition to the early parts of the
Hebrew Bible. At places, the Hebrew Bible portrays God as neither being all knowing, nor
omniscient. Apparent examples of God’s lack of omniscience are in the Exodus narrative.35
Moses persuasion of God not to destroy the Israelites twice is not congruent with common
understandings of an omniscient God (Ex 32:11-14, Num 14:11-12). It may be surprising that the
psalmist believed that God’s omniscience reached Sheol. Christian understandings of hell do not
completely correlate to Sheol, but it may still have been surprising to an ancient reader that
YHWH would be in Sheol (Ps 139:8). To other ancient Near Eastern people, the chief gods,
Baal, El and Marduk, being in Sheol would be perplexing, but this is consistent with other
passages in the Hebrew Bible.36 Amos 9:2 depicts God reaching into Sheol, and Job 26:6 depicts
Sheol as being naked before God.
Sheol is not the only place subterranean location in Ps 139. The author says that God
wove him beneath the land (Ps 139:15). This imagery is a blending of metaphors. The primary
metaphor is that of a weaver. God created a masterpiece, as the Psalm references in verse 14. The
metaphor that runs throughout the section is a mother’s womb. “Beneath the land” represents
being in the mother’s womb. The weakest metaphor is the metaphor of a seed. The author was
beneath the land like the seed of a tree but has sprouted forth. The theme of God’s seeing the
author in every situation and the author’s inability to understand God are the unifying pieces to
David M. Gunn, “Reading Right: Reliable and Omniscient Narrator, Omniscient God, and Foolproof
Composition in the Hebrew Bible” (The Bible in Three Dimensions, edited by David Clines, Stephen Fowl and
Stanley Porter. Sheffield: JSOT Press, 1990) 60.
36
Berlin L. Wachter “Sheol” TDOT 14:246
35
9
the middle section (vs12-18). God sees and people do not. God sees the bones of the author in 15
and the author’s formlessness in 16. Nothing can hide from God.
JEREMIAH AND PSALM 139
Palm 139 speaks about God knowing the author in the womb, which is similar to
Jeremiah’s prophetic call (Jer 1:5).37 This gives Jeremiah special election to be YHWH’s prophet
to the nations, but there is no explicit mention of special election in Ps 139. Traditional readings
of the Ps 139 have understood that God has searched out each individual and known each
individual in the womb. Jeremiah 17 discusses the concept of God searching a person as in Ps
139:1.38 Jeremiah 17 gives credibility to the traditional readings of Ps 139, as it describes God as
giving “to each man according to his ways.” (Jer 17:10) Both texts describe God’s search a
person as judging or purifying a person.39
Poem ends with the theologically rich term, ‫( עֹולָּם‬forever). The term is difficult to
translate, and context always plays a major role in its translation. The term can be forever,
eternal or everlasting.40 The fascinating aspect of this usage is its connection to ‫( דֶ ֶרְך‬path). Few
translators have rendered this phrase “ancient path,” but this is a likely understanding of the
phrase and draws an interesting connection to Jeremiah. Twice Jeremiah uses the phrase “ancient
paths,”41 to talk about “good paths,” (Jer 6:16) or a path of righteousness. In both cases, the
author of Jeremiah uses a different word for path than the one in Ps 139, but the word in Ps 139
for “path” is present in both verses disconnection to ‫עֹולָּם‬. Psalm 139’s repeated use of themes and
ideas in Jeremiah make it highly plausible that the author of Ps 139 attempted to convey a similar
Hossfeld and Zenger, “Psalms 3, 545.
Ibid.
39
The verb ‫ חקר‬usually has to do with searching land, but the Hebrew Bible uses it to describe God looking
into a person. See Jer 17:10 Ps 44:21, 139:1, 139:23.
40
For further discussion of the semantic variability of ‫עֹולָּם‬, see Brown, “‫ ”עֹולָּם‬BDB 761-2.
41
ְ‫ נ ִתיבֹותְעֹולָּם‬and ‫ נ ִתבֹותְעֹולָּם‬in Jer 6:16 and 18:15 respectively
37
38
10
idea. This indicates that Ps 139:24 asks God to lead the author in the ancient path, or the path of
righteousness, rather than in the path forever.42
CONCLUSION
Psalm 139 has been one of the favorite Psalms of the church for good reason. It is deep,
complex and insightful. It is a fine example of high quality Hebrew poetry. While the language
about the omniscience of God is not as positive as traditional readings have claimed, the end of
Ps 139 brings author to a place of harmony with God. The God from whom one cannot hide
assists in walking in the way of righteousness, but is frequently discomforting to those who resist
his will. This Psalm is not about comforting people; it is about the discomfort that God brings.
The presence of God is not an optional thing. God forcefully breaks into every aspect of life.
This Psalm relates to the sequence of the life of faith. The author moves from a position of
rebellion and resentment towards God to being in harmony with the will of God. Many people
encounter the same type of sequence and movement from rebellion to obedience. This is a far
more powerful statement about the life of faith than traditional understandings of the Psalm.
The difference between the traditional translation and my rendering is that ‫ עֹולָּם‬is modifying “path”
rather than the verb “lead,” which is more consistent with the Hebrew grammar.
42
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
Allen, Leslie. Psalms 101-150, Volume 21 in Word Biblical Commentary, Edited by John D. W.
Watts. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishing, 2002.
Alter, Robert. Art of Biblical Poetry, New York: Basic Books Inc., 1985.
Booij, TH. “Psalm CXXXIX: Text, Syntax, Meaning.” Pages 1-19 in Vetus Testamentum 55
(2005).
Brown, Francis S. R. Driver and Charles A Briggs. Hebrew and English Lexicon, Peabody:
Hendrickson, 2003.
Gunn, David M. “Reading Right: Reliable and Omniscient Narrator, Omniscient God, and
Foolproof Composition in the Hebrew Bible” Pages 53-64 in The Bible in Three
Dimensions, edited by David Clines, Stephen Fowl and Stanley Porter. Sheffield: JSOT
Press, 1990.
Hossfeld, Frank Lothar and Erich Zenger, Psalms 3: A Commentary on Psalms 101-150,
Hermeneia, edited by Klaus Baltzer, Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2011.
Mazor, Yair “When Aesthetics Is Harnessed to Psychological Characterization: Ars Poetica in
Psalm 139.” Pages 260-71 in Zeitschrift Fur Die Altestamentliche Wissenschaft 109
(1997).
Premnath, Devadasan. “The Book of Amos,” Pages 135-41 in Vol. 1 of The New Interpreter’s
Dictionary of the Bible, edited by Katherine Doob Sackenfield, 5 vols. Nashville
Abingdon, 2009.
Treves, Marco. The Dates of the Psalms, Pisa: Giardini, 1988.
Wachter, Berlin L. “Sheol,” Pages 239-48 in Vol. 14 of The Theological Dictionary of the Old
Testament, Edited by Johannes Botterweck, Helmer Riggren and Heinz-Josef Fabry, 15
vols. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1992.