Psalms 139 · Verse 16

Psalms 139:16

Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.
Psalms 139:16, King James Version

Psalms 139:16 in other translations

BSBYour eyes saw my unformed body; all my days were written in Your book and ordained for me before one of them came to be.
WEBYour eyes saw my body. In your book they were all written, the days that were ordained for me, when as yet there were none of them.
ASVThine eyes did see mine unformed substance; And in thy book they were all written, Even the days that were ordained for me, When as yet there was none of them.
YLTMine unformed substance Thine eyes saw, And on Thy book all of them are written, The days they were formed--And not one among them.
DARBYThine eyes did see my unformed substance, and in thy book all my members were written; during many days were they fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.
BBEYour eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book all my days were recorded, even those which were purposed before they had come into being.
WebsterThy eyes saw my substance, yet being imperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.

What does Psalms 139:16 mean?

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 16 Thine eyes did see my substance - גלמי golmi, my embryo state - my yet indistinct mass, when all was wrapped up together, before it was gradually unfolded into the lineaments of man. "Some think," says Dr. Dodd, "that the allusion to embroidery is still carried on. As the embroiderer has still his work, pattern, or carton, before him, to which he always recurs; so, by a method as exact, revere all my members in continuance fashioned, i.e., from the rude embryo or mass they daily received some degree of figuration; as from the rude skeins of variously coloured silk or worsted, under the artificer's hands, there at length arises an unexpected beauty, and an accurate harmony of colcurs and proportions." And in thy book all my members were written - "All those members lay open before God's eyes; they were discerned by him as clearly as if the plan of them had been drawn in a book, even to the least figuration of the body of the child in the womb."

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 139:16 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.

גָּלְמִ֤י\׀gal.Mishapeless form myH1564
רָ֘א֤וּra.'Uthey sawH7200
עֵינֶ֗יךָ'ei.Nei.khaeyes yourH5869
וְעַֽל\־ve.'al-and onH5921
סִפְרְךָ֮sif.re.Khascroll yourH5612
כֻּלָּ֪םku.Lamall of themH3605
יִכָּ֫תֵ֥בוּyi.Ka.Te.vuthey were writtenH3789
יָמִ֥יםya.MimdaysH3117
יֻצָּ֑רוּyu.Tza.ru[which] they were ordainedH3335
וְל֖וֹve.loand to it
אֶחָ֣ד'e.ChadoneH259
בָּהֶֽם\׃ba.Hemamong them

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

Cross references for Psalms 139:16

  • Psalms 56:8

    Thou tellest my wanderings: put thou my tears into thy bottle: are they not in thy book?

  • Malachi 3:16

    Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another: and the Lord hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the Lord, and that thought upon his name.

  • Revelation 20:12

    And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.

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

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
in thy book.
56:8; Mal 3:16; Re 20:12
all my members. Heb. all of them. which in continuance werefashioned. or, what days they should be fashioned.

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

Context

  • Psalms 139:15

    My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.

  • Psalms 139:16

    Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.

  • Psalms 139:17

    How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them!

Read all of Psalms 139

Psalms 139:16 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Mi embrión vieron tus ojos, y en tu libro estaban escritas todas aquellas cosas que fueron luego formadas, sin faltar una de ellas.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Tes yeux ont vu ma substance informe, et dans ton livre mes membres étaient tous écrits; de jour en jour ils se formaient, lorsqu’il n’y en avait encore aucun.
German
Elberfelder 1871		Meinen Keim sahen deine Augen, und in dein Buch waren sie alle eingeschrieben; während vieler Tage wurden sie gebildet, als nicht eines von ihnen war.