Psalm 139:15-16

Context

Psalm 139 is a prayer psalm attributed in its superscription to David. It is a confession in which the psalmist speaks directly to God, addressing him as "Lord." The psalm falls into four sections:

• Verses 1-6: God knows the psalmist thoroughly.
• Verses 7-12: There is nowhere to flee from God.
• Verses 13-18: The psalmist celebrates his formation in the womb.
• Verses 19-24: The psalmist pleads concerning the wicked and closes with the petition "Search me, O God."

Verses 15-16 build on verse 13, "thou hast covered me in my mother's womb." The phrases "in secret" and "in the lowest parts of the earth" are commonly understood as a poetic parallelism (a pair of corresponding expressions) referring to the womb. The Hebrew word golem, rendered "substance" in the King James Version, occurs only here in the Old Testament. It is generally taken to mean a mass that has not yet taken shape, that is, an embryo.

Interpretation

• Providence and decree: In the Reformed tradition, the statement that all was "written" in God's "book" is read as a confession that God ordained the course of a person's life in advance. The passage is therefore cited as one of the proof texts for providence (God's governance of and care for the world) and for the divine decree (God's eternal determination).
• Foreknowledge and care: In Wesleyan theology and Arminianism, the passage is received as a confession that God knows and cares for a person even before birth. These traditions are cautious, however, about extending it to the conclusion that every human choice has been predetermined.
• Poetic praise: Many biblical scholars regard the passage not as a doctrinal statement but as a poem of wonder. They explain the "book" as a familiar Old Testament image of God's record, which also appears in Exodus 32:32, Psalm 56:8, and Psalm 69:28.
• Bioethics: The passage is cited in support of the view that the unborn, too, are known to God.

Controversies and Issues

• Translation: The Hebrew grammar of verse 16 is difficult, and interpreters differ over what was written in the book. The Korean Revised Version and the New Korean Revised Version render the verse as saying that the "days ordained" were written, whereas the King James Version has the members of the body being written: "in thy book all my members were written." The Masoretic Text (the standard text of the Hebrew Old Testament) preserves both a written form (ketiv) read as lo' ("not") and a marginal reading (qere) directing that it be read as lo ("for him"). As a result, the sentence is construed differently from one translation to another.
• Citation in debates over the unborn: Opponents of abortion point out that the passage speaks of the unborn as an "I" in relationship with God. Others contend, however, that drawing conclusions about when personhood begins from poetic language goes beyond what the context supports.
• Fatalism: Objections have been raised against reading "the days ordained" fatalistically, as though one's lifespan or the events of one's life were unalterably fixed. This issue connects to the broader discussion of predestination and free will.

In the Korean Church

The passage is reportedly read often in prayers for unborn children and expectant mothers and in worship services for family occasions such as childbirth, first-birthday celebrations, and birthday blessings. It is also cited in sermons and in church discussions addressing the issue of abortion.

Related Passages

• Job 10:8-12
• Jeremiah 1:5
• Isaiah 49:1
• Ephesians 1:11