Job 26:6

26:6 The underworld ¹  is naked before God; ² 

the place of destruction lies uncovered. ³ 

Psalms 139:6-8

139:6 Your knowledge is beyond my comprehension;

it is so far beyond me, I am unable to fathom it. ⁴ 

139:7 Where can I go to escape your spirit?

Where can I flee to escape your presence? ⁵ 

139:8 If I were to ascend ⁶  to heaven, you would be there.

If I were to sprawl out in Sheol, there you would be. ⁷ 

Amos 9:2

9:2 Even if they could dig down into the netherworld, ⁸ 

my hand would pull them up from there.

Even if they could climb up to heaven,

I would drag them down from there.

Ephesians 3:18-19

3:18 you may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, ⁹  3:19 and thus to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled up to ¹⁰  all the fullness of God.

[26:6]  ¹ tn Heb “Sheol.”

[26:6]  ² tn Heb “before him.”

[26:6]  ³ tn The line has “and there is no covering for destruction.” “Destruction” here is another name for Sheol: אֲבַדּוֹן (’avaddon, “Abaddon”).

[139:6]  ⁴ tn Heb “too amazing [is this] knowledge for me, it is elevated, I cannot attain to it.”

[139:7]  ⁵ tn Heb “Where can I go from your spirit, and where from your face can I flee?” God’s “spirit” may refer here (1) to his presence (note the parallel term, “your face,” and see Ps 104:29-30, where God’s “face” is his presence and his “spirit” is the life-giving breath he imparts) or (2) to his personal Spirit (see Ps 51:10).

[139:8]  ⁶ 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).

[139:8]  ⁷ tn Heb “look, you.”

[9:2]  ⁸ tn Heb “into Sheol” (so ASV, NASB, NRSV), that is, the land of the dead localized in Hebrew thought in the earth’s core or the grave. Cf. KJV “hell”; NCV, NLT “the place of the dead”; NIV “the depths of the grave.”

[3:18]  ⁹ sn The object of these dimensions is not stated in the text. Interpreters have suggested a variety of referents for this unstated object, including the cross of Christ, the heavenly Jerusalem (which is then sometimes linked to the Church), God’s power, the fullness of salvation given in Christ, the Wisdom of God, and the love of Christ. Of these interpretations, the last two are the most plausible. Associations from Wisdom literature favor the Wisdom of God, but the immediate context favors the love of Christ. For detailed discussion of these interpretive options, see A. T. Lincoln, Ephesians (WBC), 207-13, who ultimately favors the love of Christ.

[3:19]  ¹⁰ tn Or “with.”