34:22 There is no darkness, and no deep darkness,
where evildoers can hide themselves. 1
33:14 From the place where he lives he looks carefully
at all the earth’s inhabitants.
97:2 Dark clouds surround him;
equity and justice are the foundation of his throne. 2
For the music director, a psalm of David.
139:1 O Lord, you examine me 4 and know.
139:2 You know when I sit down and when I get up;
even from far away you understand my motives.
139:11 If I were to say, “Certainly the darkness will cover me, 5
and the light will turn to night all around me,” 6
139:12 even the darkness is not too dark for you to see, 7
and the night is as bright as 8 day;
darkness and light are the same to you. 9
23:24 “Do you really think anyone can hide himself
where I cannot see him?” the Lord asks. 10
“Do you not know that I am everywhere?” 11
the Lord asks. 12
1 tn The construction of this colon uses the Niphal infinitive construct from סָתַר (satar, “to be hidden; to hide”). The resumptive adverb makes this a relative clause in its usage: “where the evildoers can hide themselves.”
2 sn The Lord’s throne symbolizes his kingship.
3 sn Psalm 139. The psalmist acknowledges that God, who created him, is aware of his every action and thought. He invites God to examine his motives, for he is confident they are pure.
4 tn The statement is understood as generalizing – the psalmist describes what God typically does.
4 tn The Hebrew verb שׁוּף (shuf), which means “to crush; to wound,” in Gen 3:15 and Job 9:17, is problematic here. For a discussion of attempts to relate the verb to Arabic roots, see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 251. Many emend the form to יְשׂוּכֵּנִי (yesukkeniy), from the root שׂכך (“to cover,” an alternate form of סכך), a reading assumed in the present translation.
5 tn Heb “and night, light, around me.”
5 tn The words “to see” are supplied in the translation for clarification and for stylistic reasons.
6 tn Heb “shines like.”
7 tn Heb “like darkness, like light.”
6 tn Heb “Oracle of the
7 tn The words “Don’t you know” are not in the text. They are a way of conveying the idea that the question which reads literally “Do I not fill heaven and earth?” expects a positive answer. They follow the pattern used at the beginning of the previous two questions and continue that thought. The words are supplied in the translation for clarity.
8 tn Heb “Oracle of the
7 tn Or “concealed.”
8 sn I.e., be revealed by God. The passive voice verbs here (“be revealed,” be made known”) see the revelation as coming from God. The text is both a warning about bad things being revealed and an encouragement that good things will be made known, though the stress with the images of darkness and what is hidden in vv. 2-3 is on the attempt to conceal.
8 tn Or “because.” Understanding this verse as a result of v. 2 is a slightly better reading of the context. Knowing what is coming should impact our behavior now.
9 tn Grk “spoken in the ear,” an idiom. The contemporary expression is “whispered.”
10 sn The term translated private rooms refers to the inner room of a house, normally without any windows opening outside, the most private location possible (BDAG 988 s.v. ταμεῖον 2).
11 tn The expression “proclaimed from the housetops” is an idiom for proclaiming something publicly (L&N 7.51). Roofs of many first century Jewish houses in Judea and Galilee were flat and had access either from outside or from within the house. Something shouted from atop a house would be heard by everyone in the street below.