You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb.
Parallel translations
- WEB My frame wasn’t hidden from you, when I was made in secret, woven together in the depths of the earth.
- KJV My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.
- BSB My frame was not hidden from You when I was made in secret, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
- NKJV My frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret, And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.
- NASB My frame was not hidden from You When I was made in secret, And skillfully formed in the depths of the earth;
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Even when David was being formed in secret, hidden in the womb, his frame was not hidden from God. It stresses that God knew and oversaw him before anyone else could.
Overview
The poetic phrase 'the depths of the earth' pictures the hidden, mysterious place of the womb, paralleling the unseen workings of God's creation. Nothing about David's making escaped God's sight, underscoring His total knowledge from the very beginning of life. This unbroken divine attention assures believers that God who began His work will carry it to completion (Philippians 1:6).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 6
- Eccl 11:5As you don’t know what is the way of the wind, nor how the bones grow in the womb of her who is with child; even so you don’t know the work of God who does all.
- Ps 139:13For you formed my inmost being. You knit me together in my mother’s womb.
- Job 10:8–11“‘Your hands have framed me and fashioned me altogether, yet you destroy me.
- Ps 63:9But those who seek my soul, to destroy it, shall go into the lower parts of the earth.
- Eph 4:9Now this, “He ascended”, what is it but that he also first descended into the lower parts of the earth?
- Exod 11:5and all the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on his throne, even to the firstborn of the female servant who is behind the mill; and all the firstborn of livestock.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
The Psalms are Christ's own prayer book and a gallery of his portraits — the suffering one of Psalm 22, the risen Lord of Psalm 16, the priest-king of Psalm 110, the Son to whom the nations are given.
How Psalms 139:15 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.