139:8 If I were to ascend 1 to heaven, you would be there.
If I were to sprawl out in Sheol, there you would be. 2
139:11 If I were to say, “Certainly the darkness will cover me, 3
and the light will turn to night all around me,” 4
1 tn The Hebrew verb סָלַק (salaq, “to ascend”) occurs only here in the OT, but the word is well-attested in Aramaic literature from different time periods and displays a wide semantic range (see DNWSI 2:788-90).
2 tn Heb “look, you.”
3 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.
4 tn Heb “and night, light, around me.”