Psalms 139:13–16
David finds himself woven by God in his mother's womb
Study it word by word13For you created my kidneys; you wove me in the womb of my mother.
14I will give you thanks, for fearfully I have been wonderfully made; wonderful are your works, and my soul knows it very well.
15My bones were not hidden from you when I was made in secret, embroidered in the depths of the earth.
16My embryo your eyes saw; and in your book all of them were written, the days that were formed, when there was not one of them.
In its context
11And if I say, “Surely darkness will cover me, and the light around me become night,”
12even darkness is not dark to you, and the night shines like the day; as the darkness, so the light.
…
17And to me how precious are your thoughts, El; how vast is the sum of them.
18If I count them, they are more than the sand; I awake, and still I am with you.
Its words in the original
- קָנִיתָkanita· acquire, buy
Acquire, get, buy; own. Sometimes "create" or "form".
- כִלְיֹתָchilyota· kidneys
Kidneys. Figuratively, the innermost part of a person, the hidden thoughts and feelings.
- תְּסֻכֵּtesuke· cover, shelter
Cover to protect, screen; shelter.
- בֶטֶןveten· womb, belly
Belly; the mother's womb; the inner part of a person.
- אִמִּimi· mother
Mother; also figuratively, a city as the mother of its people.
- אוֹדְod· praise, give thanks; confess
In one form of the verb, praise, give thanks. In another, confess: acknowledge sins or the name of God aloud. Its root sense is to throw.
- נוֹרָאוֹתnoraot· fear
Fear. It can be fright before a danger or deep reverence before God ("fear YHWH"). In some forms, be fearsome, awesome.
- נִפְלֵיתִיnifleti· make a distinction
Make a distinction, treat differently, set apart.
- נִפְלָאִיםniflaim· be wonderful, too hard
Be extraordinary, beyond what one can do; be wonderful. "Is anything too hard for YHWH?"
- מַעֲשֶׂיmaase· work, deed
Work, labor; what someone does or makes; a deed.
- נַפְשִׁnafshi· soul, living being, life
A breathing being, a living being. It is translated "living being" (people and animals), "life" (when living or dying is at stake), "person" (in counts and laws), "soul" (the person at the innermost: desires, joy, anguish) or "myself". In the Old Testament it names the whole living being, not only a part of it.
- יֹדַעַתyodaat· know
Know. Not only having a fact: it is knowing by experience and closely; also recognize, care for, make known. So Hebrew also uses it for the intimate union of a man and his wife ("he knew his wife").
- מְאֹדmeod· very, much
Very, greatly, exceedingly; a word that strengthens what goes with it. As a noun, strength, might.
- נִכְחַדnichchad· hide; destroy
Hide, conceal. In another form, cause to disappear, destroy.
- עָצְמִatsmi· strength, body
Strength of the body; also the body itself.
- עֻשֵּׂיתִיuseti· do, make
Do, make, in the widest sense: build, produce, carry out, keep (a command), prepare.
- סֵּתֶרseter· secret, hiding place
A covering: something secret, a hidden place; also a shelter.
- רֻקַּמְתִּיrukamti· embroider
Embroider, weave with colored threads; also form, shape skillfully (Psalm 139:15).
- תַחְתִּיּוֹתtachtiyot· lowest
Lowest, the lower level; the depths.
- אָרֶץarets· earth, land
The earth, in two senses: the whole world in contrast with the heavens, or a particular country or region ("the land of Egypt").
- גָּלְמִgalmi· unformed body, embryo
A mass still without form, like the embryo before it develops. It appears only in Psalm 139:16.
- רָאוּrau· see
See. Also look, observe, notice, consider; in some forms, "appear" or "show".
- עֵינֶיene· eye
Eye. "In someone's eyes" means "in his opinion"; "find favor in the eyes of" is to please him. Also a spring of water.
- סִפְרְsifr· writing, book
Writing, document, book (in ancient times, a scroll).
- יִכָּתֵבוּyikatevu· write
Write; also write down, record.
- יָמִיםyamim· day
Day: the hours of light, or a whole day from one evening to the next. Also an indefinite time or age ("in the day that...", "in those days").
- יֻצָּרוּyutsaru· form
Form, shape, like a potter who molds clay; figuratively, plan, purpose. As a noun, "potter".
- אֶחָדechad· one
One; only, the same. Also "first" in a series.