For you formed my inmost being. You knit me together in my mother’s womb.
Parallel Translations
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For you formed my inmost being. You knit me together in my mother’s womb.
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For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb.
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For Thou hast made my reins; Thou hast knit me together in my mother's womb.
Cross-references (8)
Passages linked to Psalms 139:13 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Jeremiah 1:5 “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you. Before you were born, I sanctified you. I have appointed you a prophet to the nations.”
- Psalms 119:73 Your hands have made me and formed me. Give me understanding, that I may learn your commandments.
- Isaiah 44:2 This is what Yahweh who made you, and formed you from the womb, who will help you says: “Don’t be afraid, Jacob my servant; and you, Jeshurun, whom I have chosen.
- Job 31:15 Didn’t he who made me in the womb make him? Didn’t one fashion us in the womb?
- Job 10:9-12 Remember, I beg you, that you have fashioned me as clay. Will you bring me into dust again? Haven’t you poured me out like milk, and curdled me like cheese? You have clothed me with skin and flesh, and knit me together with bones and sinews. You have granted me life and loving kindness. Your visitation has preserved my spirit.
- Psalms 71:6 I have relied on you from the womb. You are he who took me out of my mother’s womb. I will always praise you.
- Psalms 22:9-10 But you brought me out of the womb. You made me trust while at my mother’s breasts. I was thrown on you from my mother’s womb. You are my God since my mother bore me.
- Isaiah 46:3 “Listen to me, house of Jacob, and all the remnant of the house of Israel, that have been carried from their birth, that have been carried from the womb.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (17 sources)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 13. For thou hast possessed my reins Apparently he…
13. For thou hast possessed my reins Apparently he prosecutes the same subject, though he carries it out somewhat farther, declaring that we need not be surprised at God’s knowledge of the most secret thoughts of men, since he formed their hearts and their reins. He thus represents God as sitting king in the very reins of man, as the center of his jurisdiction, and shows it ought to be no ground of wonder that all the windings and recesses of our hearts are known to him who, when we were inclosed in our mother’s womb, saw us as clearly and perfectly as if we had stood before him in the light of mid-day. This may let us know the design with which David proceeds to speak of man’s original formation, its scope is the same in the verse which follows, where, with some ambiguity in the terms employed, it is sufficiently clear and obvious that David means that he had been fashioned in a manner wonderful, and calculated to excite both fear and admiration, “Fearfully and wonderfully made Never was so terse and expressive a description of the physical conformation of man given by any human being. So fearfully are we made, that there is not an action or gesture of our bodies, which does not, apparently, endanger some muscle, vein, or sinew, the rupture of which would destroy either life or health. We are so wonderfully made, that our organization infinitely surpasses, in skill, contrivance, design, and adaptation of means to ends, the most curious and complicated piece of mechanism, not only ever executed ‘by art and man’s device, but ever conceived by the human imagination.” — Warner.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain Thou hast made me in all parts, and therefore…
Thou hast made me in all parts, and therefore must needs know me.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Psa 139:13 For thou hast possessed my reins: thou…
Psa 139:13 For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb.
Ver. 13. For thou hast possessed my reins] The seat of mine affections. Thoughts kindle affections, and these cause thoughts to boil; they are causes one of another, and both well known to God. For who possesseth lands or houses, but he knoweth the right title and rooms thereof? saith an expositor.
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Thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb] But not from thine all-piercing eyes, though in so dark a place, and wrapt up in secundines .
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Thou hast possessed; or, thou dost possess; thou dwellest…
Thou hast possessed; or, thou dost possess; thou dwellest in them, thou art the Owner and Governor of them, and therefore must needs know them. Or,
thou hast formed, as some of the ancients and others render it.
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My reins; the most inward and hidden part of the body, supposed also to be the seat of men’s lusts and passions.
Thou hast covered me; either,
1. With that covering called the after-birth, wherein the infant is wrapped and preserved in the womb by the wonderful care of Divine Providence. Or,
2. With skin and flesh, as it is expressed, Job 10:11.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and…
I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made,.... the formation of man is not of himself, nor of his parents, but of God, and is very wonderful in all its parts; it has been matter of astonishment to many Heathens, as Galen and others, who have, with any carefulness, examined the structure and texture of the human body, the exact symmetry and just proportion of all its parts, their position and usefulness; holy every bone, muscle, artery, nerve and fibre, are nicely framed and placed to answer their designed end; particularly the eye and ear, the exquisite make of them for sight and sound, have filled the most diligent inquirers into nature with amazement and wonder, and are a full proof of the wisdom and knowledge of God; see Psa 94:9; no man has cause to reproach his parents, nor blame the Former of all things for making him thus, but on the contrary should praise the Lord, as David did, who has given him life and breath, and all things; or own and confess (l), as the word may be rendered, that he is in various surprising instances a wonder of nature; see Isa 45:9. R. Moses in Aben Ezra thinks David is speaking of the first father, or the first Adam; who was wonderfully made of the dust of the earth, and had a living soul breathed into him; was made after the image of God, holy and upright: but rather he speaks of Christ, the second Adam, his antitype, who as man is a creature of God's make, and was wonderfully made, even of a virgin, without the use and knowledge of man; is the stone cut out of the mountain without hands, the tabernacle which God pitched and not man; was produced by the power of the Holy Ghost, was born without sin, which no man is, and united personally to the Son of God, and is the great mystery of godliness; and his name is justly called Wonderful, Isa 9:6. Cocceius interprets this passage of God's separating act of David, and so of others in election; which is a wonderful setting apart of than for himself, as the word is used Psa 4:3; it is the effect of amazing love, and to be ascribed to the sovereignty of God, and the unsearchable riches of his grace; but this seems not to be intended here, though it is a marvellous act, as all the works of God are, as follows; rather, since the word may be rendered, "I am wonderfully separated" (m), it may be interpreted of his being separated in his mother's womb from the rest of the mass and matter of her blood, and formed from thence; which was done in a secret, unknown, and marvellous way and manner;
marvellous are thy works; of creation, providence, sustentation of all creatures, the government of the world, the redemption of mankind, the work of grace and conversion, the perseverance of the saints, and their eternal salvation;
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and that my soul knoweth right well: having diligently sought them out, and having such a distinct knowledge of them as to be capable of talking of them, and of showing them to others, and pointing out the wonders, beauties, and excellencies of them; see Psa 111:2; however, he well and perfectly knew, or knew so much of them that they were very wonderful and amazing: some connect the word rendered "right well", which signifies "greatly", or "exceedingly", not with his knowledge, but with the marvellous works known; and take the sense to be, that he knew them to be greatly or exceedingly wonderful; so R. Moses in Aben Ezra, Kimchi, and Ben Melech.
(l) "confitebor tibi", V. L. Pagninus, Montanus; "confiteor", Tigurine version, Cocceius, Michaelis. (m) "tremendis modis separatus sum", Cocceius; so Gussetius, p. 676, 677.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 13. Thou hast possessed my reins] As the…
Verse 13. Thou hast possessed my reins] As the Hebrews believed that the reins were the first part of the human fetus that is formed, it may here mean, thou hast laid the foundation of my being.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Psa 139:13. Thou hast possessed — Or, thou dost…
Psa 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 this verse, Thou hast formed my reins; thou hast compacted me.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain For thou hast possessed my reins - The word…
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, Gen 14:19, Gen 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 but that he had “made” them, and that, “therefore,” he knew all about them. The word “reins” means literally the “kidneys;” and then, it comes to denote the inward part, the mind, the soul, the seat of the desires, affections, and passions. Jer 11:20. See Psa 7:9, note; Job 19:27, note. The meaning here is, that God had made him; that the innermost recesses of his being had been constituted as they are by God; and that, “therefore,” he must be able to see all that there is in the very depths of the soul, however it may be hidden from the eye of man.
Thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb - The word here rendered “cover” means properly to interweave; to weave; to knit together, and the literal translation would be, “Thou hast “woven” me in my mother’s womb, meaning that God had put his parts together, as one who weaves cloth, or who makes a basket. So it is rendered by DeWette and by Gesenius (Lexicon). The original word has, however, also the idea of protecting, as in a booth or hut, woven or knit together - to wit, of boughs and branches. The former signification best suits the connection; and then the sense would be, that as God had made him - as he had formed his members, and united them in a bodily frame and form before he was born - he must be able to understand all his thoughts and feelings. As he was not concealed from God before he saw the light, so he could not be anywhere.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 13, 14. From God in universal space and material…
13, 14. From God in universal space and material nature, the psalmist returns to contemplate God, in his own mysterious origin and personal being. The creative power and wisdom of God, operating according to his absolute knowledge of the formative atoms and occult laws of embryonic life, are a further mystery, and a ground of praise and thanksgiving.
Possessed—The Hebrew will bear the meaning “formed;” it may also indicate possession and control.
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Reins—In Hebrew psychology, the soul or mind, as it relates to the power of acutest sensibility.
Covered—It is more common, modernly, to translate the word woven, thou hast interweaved me, that is, with bones, sinews, nerves, muscles, vascular ducts, etc. But it is better here to take the usual rendering, “covered,” that is, sheltered, protected, which suits the idea of the extreme delicacy of the parts, as in Psa_140:7. See on Psa_139:15.
Fearfully… wonderfully made—The Niphal participial form of the word “fearfully” usually takes the sense of terrible, dreadful. Psa_45:4; Psa_65:5. There is no such word as wonderful or made in the original. The Hebrew word simply means, distinguished, equal to favoured, honoured. “I will praise thee, for I am fearfully distinguished,” namely, by my rank of being, and this amazing care and contrivance of God in my origination.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 13. For it was thou that didst form my…
13. For it was thou that didst form my reins] Thou is emphatic. The connexion of thought expressed by for is not obvious; but it appears to give a reason for the intimate knowledge of which the preceding verses have spoken. ‘Thou knowest me, for Thou didst create me.’ Psa_139:14 will then be a parenthetical exclamation of adoring wonder. The transposition of Psa_139:13-14, proposed by some critics, removes the difficulty and gives a clearer connexion of thought, but poetry does not bind itself by forms of logic.
my reins] The inmost seat of the emotions, which God ‘tries’ (Psa_7:9).
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thou hast covered me] Better, thou didst knit me together, with bones and sinews. Cp. Job_10:8-11.
13–18. God must know the Psalmist perfectly, for He ordered the first beginnings of his life, and foresaw all his destiny.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (13) For . . .—The mystery of birth regarded…
(13) For . . .—The mystery of birth regarded as one of the greatest mysteries (see Ecc_11:5), is a proof of God’s omniscience.
Possessed.—The context seems to require formed, fashioned, as, according to Gesenius, in Deu_32:6, (Authorised Version “bought”) (Comp. Gen_14:19, where maker should be read for possessor.)
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For “reins” see Psa_16:7.
Covered me.—Most critics render here didst weave me. (Comp. Job_10:11.) But the usual sense of the word cover or protect, suits equally well. The prime thought is that every birth is a divine creation.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain For thou hast possessed my reins. Thou knowest me…
For thou hast possessed my reins. Thou knowest me and seest me always, because thou madest me. Thy omniscience and thy omnipresence both rest upon thine omnipotence. Thou hast covered me (rather, woven me) in my mother"s womb. (comp. Job_10:11)
Vers. 13, 14. The mystery of being is with God.
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The expression translated, "hast covered me," really is, "thou weavest me," as boughs are woven into a hedge. The "reins" may denote the sensational and emotional part of the human being. It is not possible to deal with the detailed expressions of this psalm in a public ministry. Reticence in regard to the human origin and birth, and in regard to the inner mysteries of bodily life, is characteristic of our times. Eastern people are still accustomed to talk freely of such matters; and conversation was much less delicate at the time our Bible was translated. It must suffice for us to set before our minds the great truth concerning God which is thus illustrated.
I THE DESIGN OF A HUMAN BEING IS THE THOUGHT OF GOD, Here we may be met by the doctrine of evolution, which teaches that the bodily organization of man is a development out of some lower forms of life. But this in no way affects our position. It does not say that man is an accident made without any design; it only explains to us what the design was; it unfolds for us the particular method in which the Divine design was out-wrought and accomplished. Because God"s design took ages to complete, it did not cease to be God"s design. God thought a man. But a man is much more than a body. Man is not the fulfillment of God"s design until God has got him into his image, breathed into him the breath of life, and even requickened him with a spiritual life. But what a thought that design of God was! It embraced all the complicated and delicate organs of man"s frame, all the subtle relations of body and mind, and all the varying response which body and mind must ever make to surrounding circumstances. A man designs a house or a machine, and his work is within limits that can be grasped. God designs a man, and the complications are beyond us; we can only wonder and adore.
II THE WORKING OUT OF HIS DESIGN IS IN THE HANDS OF GOD. A man may give his design into the hands of a fellow man, and entrust him with the duty of working it out. God can never trust his design to anybody; for there is nobody who could understand or grasp it. He must work it out himself. And to us the great glory of the complex story of humanity is this humanity is God"s thought and God"s purpose, and that thought and purpose God himself is working out. R.T.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Charles H. Spurgeon 1885 · Public Domain Ver. 13. For thou hast possessed my reins. Thou…
Ver. 13. For thou hast possessed my reins. Thou art the owner of my inmost parts and passions: not the indweller and observer only, but the acknowledged lord and possessor of my most secret self. The word "reins" signifies the kidneys, which by the Hebrews were supposed to be the seat of the desires and longings; but perhaps it indicates here the most hidden and vital portion of the man; this God doth not only inspect, and visit, but it is his own; he is as much at home there as a landlord on his own estate, or a proprietor in his own house.
Thou hast covered me in my mother's womb. There I lay hidden covered by thee. Before I could know thee, or aught else, thou hadst a care for me, and didst hide me away as a treasure till thou shouldest see fit to bring me to the light. Thus the Psalmist describes the intimacy which God had with him. In his most secret parthis reins, and in his most secret conditionyet unborn, he was under the control and guardianship of God.
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Ver. 13. Thou hast possessed my reins. From the sensitiveness to pain of this part of the body, it was regarded by the Hebrews as the seat of sensation and feeling, as also of desire and longing (Ps 72:21 Job 16:13 19:27). It is sometimes used of the inner nature generally (Ps 16:7 Jer 20:12), and specially of the judgment or direction of reason (Jer 11:20 12:2). William Lindsay Alexander, in Kitto's Cyclopaedia.
Ver. 13. Thou hast possessed my reins. The reins are made specially prominent in order to mark them, the seat of the most tender, most secret emotions, as the work of him who trieth the heart and the reins. Franz Delitzsch.
Ver. 13. Thou hast covered me in my mother's womb. The word here rendered cover means properly to interweave; to weave; to knit together, and the literal translation would be, "Thou hast woven me in my mother's womb", meaning that God had put his parts together, as one who weaves cloth, or who makes a basket. So it is rendered by De Wette and by Gesenius (Lex.). The original word has, however, also the idea of protecting, as in a booth or hut, woven or knit together, to wit, of boughs and branches. The former signification best suits the connection; and then the sense would be, that as God had made him as he had formed his members, and united them in a bodily frame and form before he was bornhe must be able to understand all his thoughts and feelings. As he was not concealed from God before he saw the light, so he could not be anywhere. Albert Barnes.
Psalms 139:14*
Charles H. Spurgeon's The Treasury of David (1869–1885) — public domain. Psalms only. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain For Thou hast possessed my reins: Thou hast covered…
Psa_139:13-18
For Thou hast possessed my reins: Thou hast covered me in my mothers womb.
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God as the Creator of man
I. He created man, who is a wonder to mans self (verses 13, 14).
II. He created man, who comes by the process of evolution (verses 15, 16). The oak is not less a Divine creation because it came out of the acorn, nor the acorn a less Divine production because it is composed of various substances of the earth: and man is not less the creation of God because he came by a process of evolution.
III. He created man, who appears by a Divine plan (verse 16). Everything in the universe, from the smallest to the largest, is constructed on a fixed and unalterable type. In truth, the whole creation existed in His mind in archetype millions of years before it took its present form. In Thy book, metaphorically, God is represented as having written a book; it is the book of an architect, full of plans. There are the plans of worlds and systems that have all been and are no more. The plans of all that now exist, and the plans of all that are yet to appear.
1. Because God works by method, we should study all His works as revelations of Himself.
2. Conformity to His methods should be the supreme aim of all our activities. Whatever we do out of keeping with His plans will come to ruin, and involve us in distress.
IV. He created man, who is capable of appreciating his thoughts (verses 17,18). Gods thoughts are indeed absolutely precious. They are original, all comprehensive without succession, infinitely beneficent, immutable, and essentially holy. (Homilist.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain David now describes the creative power and providence of…
David now describes the creative power and providence of God and adds a prayer extolling the Lord and appealing for a just trial.
v. 13. For Thou hast possessed my reins, that is, formed, framed, fashioned the organs of his body in creation; Thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb, that is, plaited or weaved the body before birth, as the bones, sinews, and flesh took shape.
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v. 14. I will praise Thee, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made, in a manner which produces awe and reverence at the miracle of creation. Marvelous are Thy works, those of creation in general, and that my soul knoweth right well, being impressed with these miracles on every hand.
v. 15. My substance, that is, the bones, the framework of the body, was not hid from Thee when I was made in secret and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth, literally, "wrought in various colors," on account of the veining of the body and the different colors of its various organs and parts, the reference to God’s creative act in the case of each human being including a reference to the original creation of man out of the dust of the earth.
v. 16. Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect, while he was still in the form of an embryo, and in Thy book all my members were written, or rather, all the days of his life, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them, that is, among the days planned in God’s counsel there was also one which was destined for the creation of David, in other words, beginning, development, and completion of all creatures take place according to God’s creative counsel. The contemplation of this power of God, as revealed in the act of God’s creation of man, fills the poet’s heart with adoring praise.
v. 17. How precious also are Thy thoughts unto me, O God! weighty, important, full of deep significance. How great is the sum of them, how overpowering in their total amount! the human mind being unable to grasp their great number and meaning.
v. 18. If I should count them, attempting to keep account of them, they are more in number than the sand, innumerable for a mere human being. When I awake, having fallen asleep in the futile attempt to form an adequate picture of their number, I am still with Thee, still engaged in the contemplation of God, the incomprehensible, still thinking about His counsels and dealings.
v. 19. Surely Thou wilt slay the wicked, O God, to whom the believer’s faith in the Lord is a source of mockery; depart from me therefore, ye bloody men, those whose consciences are burdened with blood-guilt.
v. 20. For they speak against Thee wickedly, having evil designs in their hearts, and Thine enemies take Thy name in vain, speaking of Him, mentioning Him, with craftiness and deceit, such enmity against God always resulting in sins and crimes of every kind.
v. 21. Do not I hate them, O Lord, rather, "Should not I hate those," that hate Thee? And am not I grieved with those that rise up against Thee? abhorring the adversaries of Jehovah with perfection of hatred.
v. 22. I hate them with perfect hatred, with the very extremity of abhorrence, but without personal bitterness or self-exaltation; I count them mine enemies; for those whom God considers His adversaries must be so considered by His believers.
v. 23. Search me, O God, and know my heart, to prevent all deception of self; try me and know my thoughts, testing them out for their sincerity;
v. 24. and see if there be any wicked way in me, literally, "a way of grief," namely, that leading to punishment for sins committed, and lead me in the way everlasting, that agreeing with His will, the way of righteousness, which endures forever, for that is the desire of all believers.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 You formed my inner parts
You formed my inner parts
"Inner parts" refers to the interior organs of a person, but here the expression probably stands for the entire body. AT: "You made my entire body (See: Synecdoche)
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My soul knows this very well
Here "soul" probably refers to the psalmist's innermost ability to be certain about God's love and guidance. The translator may, however, treat "soul" here as metonymy for the psalmist's mind and heart. AT: "I know this with all my heart" (See: Metonymy)
translationWords
womb
soul
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 139:13 The delicate, inner parts of the body include…
139:13 The delicate, inner parts of the body include a person’s very being. • Even when hidden in his mother’s womb, the psalmist was guided by the Lord.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.