English Standard Version
Psalms 139:8
8If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!
Psalms 139:8 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.
- New International Version (NIV)If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
- New King James Version (NKJV)If I ascend into heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there.
- New Living Translation (NLT)If I go up to heaven, you are there; if I go down to the grave, you are there.
Context of Psalms 139:8
6Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high; I cannot attain it. 7Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there! 9If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, 10even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me.
Read all of Psalms 139Psalms 139:8 word by word
אִם־אֶסַּ֣ק שָׁ֭מַיִם שָׁ֣ם אָ֑תָּה וְאַצִּ֖יעָה שְּׁא֣וֹל הִנֶּֽךָּ׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Psalms 139:8
- Ezekiel 28:12"Son of man, raise a lamentation over the king of Tyre, and say to him, Thus says the Lord God: "You were the signet of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.
- Amos 9:2"If they dig into Sheol, from there shall my hand take them; if they climb up to heaven, from there I will bring them down.
- Obadiah 1:4Though you soar aloft like the eagle, though your nest is set among the stars, from there I will bring you down, declares the Lord.
- Job 26:6Sheol is naked before God, and Abaddon has no covering.
- Job 34:21"For his eyes are on the ways of a man, and he sees all his steps.
- Proverbs 15:11Sheol and Abaddon lie open before the Lord; how much more the hearts of the children of man!
- Jonah 2:2saying, "I called out to the Lord, out of my distress, and he answered me; out of the belly of Sheol I cried, and you heard my voice.
Commentaries on Psalms 139:8
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 8If I ascend up into heaven - The word “heaven” here, in the original is in the plural number - “heavens,” - and includes all that there is above the earth - the highest worlds. If I make my bed - Properly, “If I strew or spread my couch.” If I should seek that as the place where to lie down. In hell - Hebrew, “Sheol.” See the notes at Isaiah 14:9, where the word is fully explained. The word here refers to the under-world - the abodes of the dead; and, in…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 7-16Verses 7-16 We cannot see God, but he can see us. The psalmist did not desire to go from the Lord. Whither can I go? In the most distant corners of the world, in heaven, or in hell, I cannot go out of thy reach. No veil can hide us from God; not the thickest darkness. No disguise can save any person or action from being seen in the true light by him. Secret haunts of sin are as open before God as the most open villanies. On the other hand, the believer…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 8if I make my bed in Sheol: God has complete access to all he has created, even the most hidden or hard-to-reach places.Read the comment
- Rashi on Tanakh · v. 8and if I make my bed Heb. ואציעה, an expression of a spread (מצע) and a bed.Read the comment
Topics related to Psalms 139:8
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Psalms 139
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- The Treasury of David
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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Commentaries