17:3 You have scrutinized my inner motives; 3
you have examined me during the night. 4
You have carefully evaluated me, but you find no sin.
I am determined I will say nothing sinful. 5
44:21 would not God discover it,
for he knows 6 one’s thoughts? 7
For the music director, a psalm of David.
139:1 O Lord, you examine me 9 and know.
139:2 You know when I sit down and when I get up;
even from far away you understand my motives.
139:3 You carefully observe me when I travel or when I lie down to rest; 10
you are aware of everything I do. 11
139:12 even the darkness is not too dark for you to see, 12
and the night is as bright as 13 day;
darkness and light are the same to you. 14
17:10 I, the Lord, probe into people’s minds.
I examine people’s hearts. 15
I deal with each person according to how he has behaved.
I give them what they deserve based on what they have done.
23:24 “Do you really think anyone can hide himself
where I cannot see him?” the Lord asks. 16
“Do you not know that I am everywhere?” 17
the Lord asks. 18
1 sn The term translated room 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).
2 tc See the tc note on “will reward you” in 6:4: The problem is the same and the ms support differs only slightly.
3 tn Heb “you tested my heart.”
4 tn Heb “you visited [at] night.”
5 tc Heb “you tested me, you do not find, I plan, my mouth will not cross over.” The Hebrew verbal form זַמֹּתִי (zammotiy) is a Qal perfect, first person singular from the root זָמַם (zamam, “plan, plan evil”). Some emend the form to a suffixed form of the noun, זִמָּתִי (zimmatiy, “my plan/evil plan”), and take it as the object of the preceding verb “find.” However, the suffix seems odd, since the psalmist is denying that he has any wrong thoughts. If one takes the form with what precedes, it might make better sense to read זִמּוֹת (zimmot, “evil plans”). However, this emendation leaves an unclear connection with the next line. The present translation maintains the verbal form found in the MT and understands it in a neutral sense, “I have decided” (see Jer 4:28). The words “my mouth will not cross over” (i.e., “transgress, sin”) can then be taken as a noun clause functioning as the object of the verb.
6 tn The active participle describes what is characteristically true.
7 tn Heb “would not God search out this, for he knows the hidden things of [the] heart?” The expression “search out” is used metonymically here, referring to discovery, the intended effect of a search. The “heart” (i.e., mind) is here viewed as the seat of one’s thoughts. The rhetorical question expects the answer, “Of course he would!” The point seems to be this: There is no way the Israelites who are the speakers in the psalm would reject God and turn to another god, for the omniscient God would easily discover such a sin.
8 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.
9 tn The statement is understood as generalizing – the psalmist describes what God typically does.
10 tn Heb “my traveling and my lying down you measure.” The verb זָרָה (zarah, “to measure”) is probably here a denominative from זָרָת (zarat, “a span; a measure”), though some derive it from זָרָה (zarat, “to winnow; to sift”; see BDB 279-80 s.v. זָרָה).
11 tn Heb “all my ways.”
12 tn The words “to see” are supplied in the translation for clarification and for stylistic reasons.
13 tn Heb “shines like.”
14 tn Heb “like darkness, like light.”
15 tn The term rendered “mind” here and in the previous verse is actually the Hebrew word for “heart.” However, in combination with the word rendered “heart” in the next line, which is the Hebrew for “kidneys,” it is best rendered “mind” because the “heart” was considered the center of intellect, conscience, and will and the “kidneys” the center of emotions.
16 tn Heb “Oracle of the
17 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.
18 tn Heb “Oracle of the
19 tn Grk “him”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
20 tn Grk “her children,” but in this context a reference to this woman’s followers or disciples is more likely meant.
21 tn Grk “I will kill with death.” θάνατος (qanatos) can in particular contexts refer to a manner of death, specifically a contagious disease (see BDAG 443 s.v. 3; L&N 23.158).
22 tn Grk “I will give.” The sense of δίδωμι (didwmi) in this context is more “repay” than “give.”
23 sn This pronoun and the following one are plural in the Greek text.
24 tn Grk “each one of you according to your works.”