Psalms 139 · Verse 12

Psalms 139:12

Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee.
Psalms 139:12, King James Version

Psalms 139:12 in other translations

BSBeven the darkness is not dark to You, but the night shines like the day, for darkness is as light to You.
WEBeven the darkness doesn’t hide from you, but the night shines as the day. The darkness is like light to you.
ASVEven the darkness hideth not from thee, But the night shineth as the day: The darkness and the light are both alike to thee.
YLTAlso darkness hideth not from Thee, And night as day shineth, as is darkness so is light.
DARBYEven darkness hideth not from thee, and the night shineth as the day: the darkness is as the light.
BBEEven the dark is not dark to you; the night is as bright as the day: for dark and light are the same to you.
WebsterYes, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee.

What does Psalms 139:12 mean?

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 12 Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee - Darkness and light, ignorance and knowledge, are things that stand in relation to us; God sees equally in darkness as in light; and knows as perfectly, however man is enveloped in ignorance, as if all were intellectual brightness. What is to us hidden by darkness, or unknown through ignorance, is perfectly seen and known by God; because he is all sight, all hearing, all feeling, all soul, all spirit - all in All, and infinite in himself. He lends to every thing; receives nothing from any thing. Though his essence be unimpartible, yet his influence is diffusible through time and through eternity. Thus God makes himself known, seen, heard, felt; yet, in the infinity of his essence, neither angel, nor spirit, nor man can see him; nor can any creature comprehend him, or form any idea of the mode of his existence. And yet vain man would be wise, and ascertain his foreknowledge, eternal purposes, infinite decrees, with all operations of infinite love and infinite hatred, and their objects specifically and nominally, from all eternity, as if himself had possessed a being and powers co-extensive with the Deity! O ye wise fools! Jehovah, the fountain of eternal perfection and love, is as unlike your creeds as he is unlike yourselves, forgers of doctrines to prove that Ithe source of infinite benevolence is a streamlet of capricious love to thousands, while he is an overflowing, eternal, and irresistible tide of hatred to millions of millions both of angels and men! The antiproof of such doctrines is this: he bears with such blasphemies, and does not consume their abettors. "But nobody holds these doctrines." Then I have written against nobody; and have only to add the prayer, May no such doctrines ever disgrace the page of history; or farther dishonor, as they have done, the annals of the Church!

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Psalms 139:7-16

We cannot see God, but he can see us. The psalmist did not desire to go from the Lord. Whither can I go? In the most distant corners of the world, in heaven, or in hell, I cannot go out of thy reach. No veil can hide us from God; not the thickest darkness. No disguise can save any person or action from being seen in the true light by him. Secret haunts of sin are as open before God as the most open villanies. On the…

Read the full comment on Psalms 139:7-16 →

Psalms 139:12 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

גַּם\־gam-alsoH1571
חֹשֶׁךְ֮cho.sheKhdarknessH2822
לֹֽא\־lo'-notH3808
יַחְשִׁ֪יךְyach.Shikhit is [too] darkH2821
מִ֫מֶּ֥ךָmi.Me.khafor youH4480
וְ֭לַיְלָהVe.lay.lahand nightH3915
כַּיּ֣וֹםkai.Yomlike the dayH3117
יָאִ֑ירya.'Irit shinesH215
כַּ֝חֲשֵׁיכָ֗הka.cha.shei.Khahas <the> darknessH2825
כָּאוֹרָֽה\׃ka.'o.Rahas the lightH219

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Psalms 139:12

  • Daniel 2:22

    He revealeth the deep and secret things: he knoweth what is in the darkness, and the light dwelleth with him.

  • Job 34:22

    There is no darkness, nor shadow of death, where the workers of iniquity may hide themselves.

  • Exodus 20:21

    And the people stood afar off, and Moses drew near unto the thick darkness where God was.

  • Hebrews 4:13

    Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.

  • Job 26:6

    Hell is naked before him, and destruction hath no covering.

  • Exodus 14:20

    And it came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel; and it was a cloud and darkness to them, but it gave light by night to these: so that the one came not near the other all the night.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
the darkness.
Ex 14:20; 20:21; Job 26:6; 34:22; Da 2:22; Heb 4:13
hideth not. Heb. darkeneth not. the darkness, etc. Heb. asis the darkness, so is the light.

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Psalms 139:11

    If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me.

  • Psalms 139:12

    Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee.

  • Psalms 139:13

    For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb.

Read all of Psalms 139

Psalms 139:12 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909
Aun las tinieblas no encubren de ti, y la noche resplandece como el día: lo mismo te son las tinieblas que la luz.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885
Les ténèbres même ne sont pas obscures pour me cacher à toi, et la nuit resplendit comme le jour, l’obscurité est comme la lumière.
German
Elberfelder 1871
Auch Finsternis würde vor dir nicht verfinstern, und die Nacht würde leuchten wie der Tag, die Finsternis wäre wie das Licht.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate
Vir linguosus non dirigetur in terra; virum injustum mala capient in interitu.