Discovery BoxPsalms 11:4
Context11:4 The Lord is in his holy temple; 1
the Lord’s throne is in heaven. 2
his eyes 5 examine 6 all people. 7
Psalms 17:3
Context17:3 You have scrutinized my inner motives; 8
you have examined me during the night. 9
You have carefully evaluated me, but you find no sin.
I am determined I will say nothing sinful. 10
Psalms 44:21
Context44:21 would not God discover it,
for he knows 11 one’s thoughts? 12
Psalms 139:1-12
ContextFor the music director, a psalm of David.
139:1 O Lord, you examine me 14 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; 15
you are aware of everything I do. 16
139:4 Certainly 17 my tongue does not frame a word
without you, O Lord, being thoroughly aware of it. 18
139:5 You squeeze me in from behind and in front;
you place your hand on me.
139:6 Your knowledge is beyond my comprehension;
it is so far beyond me, I am unable to fathom it. 19
139:7 Where can I go to escape your spirit?
Where can I flee to escape your presence? 20
139:8 If I were to ascend 21 to heaven, you would be there.
If I were to sprawl out in Sheol, there you would be. 22
139:9 If I were to fly away 23 on the wings of the dawn, 24
and settle down on the other side 25 of the sea,
139:10 even there your hand would guide me,
your right hand would grab hold of me.
139:11 If I were to say, “Certainly the darkness will cover me, 26
and the light will turn to night all around me,” 27
139:12 even the darkness is not too dark for you to see, 28
and the night is as bright as 29 day;
darkness and light are the same to you. 30
Jeremiah 23:23-24
Context23:23 Do you people think 31 that I am some local deity
and not the transcendent God?” 32 the Lord asks. 33
23:24 “Do you really think anyone can hide himself
where I cannot see him?” the Lord asks. 34
“Do you not know that I am everywhere?” 35
the Lord asks. 36
[11:4] 1 tn Because of the royal imagery involved here, one could translate “lofty palace.” The
[11:4] 2 sn The
[11:4] 3 sn His eyes. The anthropomorphic language draws attention to God’s awareness of and interest in the situation on earth. Though the enemies are hidden by the darkness (v. 2), the Lord sees all.
[11:4] 4 tn The two Hebrew imperfect verbal forms in this verse describe the
[11:4] 6 tn For other uses of the verb in this sense, see Job 7:18; Pss 7:9; 26:2; 139:23.
[11:4] 7 tn Heb “test the sons of men.”
[17:3] 8 tn Heb “you tested my heart.”
[17:3] 9 tn Heb “you visited [at] night.”
[17:3] 10 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.
[44:21] 11 tn The active participle describes what is characteristically true.
[44:21] 12 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.
[139:1] 13 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.
[139:1] 14 tn The statement is understood as generalizing – the psalmist describes what God typically does.
[139:3] 15 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).
[139:3] 16 tn Heb “all my ways.”
[139:4] 18 tn Heb “look, O
[139:6] 19 tn Heb “too amazing [is this] knowledge for me, it is elevated, I cannot attain to it.”
[139:7] 20 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] 21 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] 22 tn Heb “look, you.”
[139:9] 24 sn On the wings of the dawn. This personification of the “dawn” may find its roots in mythological traditions about the god Shachar, whose birth is described in an Ugaritic myth (see G. R. Driver, Canaanite Myths and Legends, 126) and who is mentioned in Isa 14:12 as the father of Helel.
[139:9] 25 tn Heb “at the end.”
[139:11] 26 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.
[139:11] 27 tn Heb “and night, light, around me.”
[139:12] 28 tn The words “to see” are supplied in the translation for clarification and for stylistic reasons.
[139:12] 29 tn Heb “shines like.”
[139:12] 30 tn Heb “like darkness, like light.”
[23:23] 31 tn The words “Do you people think” at the beginning of this verse and “Do you really think” at the beginning of the next verse are not in the text but are a way of trying to convey the nature of the rhetorical questions which expect a negative answer. They are also a way of trying to show that the verses are still connected with the preceding discussion addressed to the people (cf. 23:16, 20).
[23:23] 32 tn Heb “Am I a god nearby and not a god far off?” The question is sometimes translated as though there is an alternative being given in v. 23, one that covers both the ideas of immanence and transcendence (i.e., “Am I only a god nearby and not also a god far off?”). However, the hey interrogative (הַ) at the beginning of this verse and the particle (אִם, ’im) at the beginning of the next show that the linkage is between the question in v. 23 and that in v. 24a. According to BDB 210 s.v. הֲ 1.d both questions in this case expect a negative answer.
[23:23] 33 tn Heb “Oracle of the
[23:24] 34 tn Heb “Oracle of the
[23:24] 35 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.
