Psalms 139:10

Hebrew (Westminster Leningrad Codex)

English Translation

Even there your hand will lead me, And your right hand will hold me.

World English Bible · Public Domain

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תַנְחֵ֑נִי

nâchâh

H5148

“to lead · me”

Verb, Hiphil, Imperfect, 3rd Person, Feminine, Singular + Suffix, Personal, 1st Person, Common, Singular

Appears 39× in the Hebrew Bible
First appears at Genesis 24:27

Full BDB Definition

Origin: a primitive root

TWOT: 1341

to lead, guide - (Qal) to lead, bring - (Hiphil) to lead, guide

About this verse

These counts appear in no published source. They are computed here, from the morphology-tagged text and Lemma’s own curated glosses. What Lemma adds →

6: words
6: distinct lemmas
Wisdom: section

Shared distinctive vocabulary

תַנְחֵ֑נִי to lead H5148 occurs in 39 verses of the Hebrew Bible. Also found in:

Grammatical profile

2 verbs
2 nouns
1 adverb
1 particle

Verb forms

תַנְחֵ֑נִי Hiphil · Imperfect
וְֽתֹאחֲזֵ֥נִי Qal · Imperfect

Hebrew & Septuagint length

In English translation the verse runs 14 words from the Hebrew and 15 from the Septuagint (LXX English) — closely comparable.

A rough comparison of the two English renderings, which tokenize alike — not a word-level alignment.

Word counts can differ between the Hebrew and the Greek without any difference in meaning — e.g. the Hebrew direct-object marker אֵת has no separate Greek word, and Greek often adds the article ὁ.

Cross-references

Topical passages linked to Psalms 139:10 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge — connected by theme and wording, ordered by reader-vote popularity; previews shown in the World English Bible.

Psalms 23:3 He restores my soul. He guides me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
Isaiah 41:13 For I, Yahweh your God, will hold your right hand, saying to you, Don't be afraid; I will help you.
Psalms 73:23 Nevertheless, I am continually with you. You have held my right hand.
Psalms 63:8 My soul stays close to you. Your right hand holds me up.
Psalms 143:9–10 Deliver me, Yahweh, from my enemies. I flee to you to hide me.

Cross-references courtesy of OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0).

Hebrew and Greek witnesses Masoretic Hebrew ↔ Greek Septuagint

The same verse in the two great witnesses to the Old Testament, shown verse-for-verse.

You’re reading Greek Psalm 138 (Hebrew Psalm 139). The Septuagint counts the superscription, so verse numbers can differ from the Hebrew — chapter-level alignment, not verse-by-verse. Numbering follows Rahlfs.

These are two independent witnesses, not word-aligned to each other, and the Septuagint is shown in lemma (dictionary) form.

Hebrew Psalms 139:10 Masoretic · Westminster Leningrad Codex

גַּם שָׁ֭ם יָדְךָ֣ תַנְחֵ֑נִי וְֽתֹאחֲזֵ֥נִי יְמִינֶֽךָ

Even there your hand will lead me, And your right hand will hold me.

World English Bible · Public Domain

Greek LXX Greek Psalm 138:10 Septuagint · lemma form

καί γάρ ἐκεῖ ὁ χείρ σύ ὁδηγέω ἐγώ καί καταἔχω ἐγώ ὁ δεξιός σύ

for even there your hand would guide me, and your right hand would hold me.

LXX2012 (modern English Septuagint) · Public Domain

Hebrew: Westminster Leningrad Codex (CC BY 4.0). Greek: Septuagint (public domain); English from LXX2012 (modern English Septuagint) (Public Domain). How the Septuagint differs from the Hebrew →

Commentary

Notes on Psalms 139:10 from classic Christian and Jewish commentators (each source and its license shown beneath its notes). The classic Christian expositions comment on the surrounding passage and are grouped to its opening verse, so a note may address several verses; the Jewish commentaries on the Tanakh (Rashi and others) are per-verse, so they appear only where the commentator wrote on this verse.

Lemma curates 59 commentaries, every one of them public domain or Creative Commons licensed, each selected and text-cleaned for this edition rather than reprinted as found. About our sources →

Trapp's Complete Commentary

John Trapp

Psa 139:10 Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me.

Ver. 10. Even there shall thy hand lead me] i.e. Thy power and providence shall dispose of me; I shall flee but from thy hand to thy hand, as guilty Jonah did.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

J. A. Alexander on Psalms

Joseph Addison Alexander

10. (Psa 139:10) Even there thy hand guides me, and thy right hand holds me. From the use of similar expressions to denote a friendly guidance and support, in Psa 18:16; Psa 55:6-8; Psa 5:8; Psa 23:3; Psa 27:11; Psa 73:24, and other places, Hengstenberg infers that this must mean, when I fly to the ends of the earth before my enemies, thou art still there to protect me, and that the psalm was therefore meant not merely to alarm but to console.

Joseph Addison Alexander, The Psalms Translated and Explained (1850) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Geneva Bible (1599)

Geneva Bible translators

Thy power doth so fast hold me, that I can escape by no means from thee.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(10) Even there . . .—The expressions “lead me,” “hold me,” are elsewhere used of the protecting and guiding providence of God (Psa_5:8; Psa_23:3; Psa_27:11; Psa_73:24). And yet the psalmist speaks here as if he were a guilty being trying to escape from the Divine notice. The truth is a profound one. Even when God discovers and overtakes those who guiltily try to hide from Him, it is to take them under His loving care.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne

10. The thought in this context is not primarily that wherever he goes God’s providential care accompanies him, but that there is no place in the universe where he can escape from the control and authority of God. “Dextra Dei ubique.”

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

John Gill's Exposition

If I say, surely the darkness shall cover me,.... The darkness of a cloud or of the night, so that my actions shall not be seen; that is, if I entertain such a thought in my mind, that what I do in the dark will escape the sight and knowledge of God, and so be emboldened to commit it;

even the night shall be light about me; and make all my works manifest, as light does.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Even there shall thy hand lead me - I shall find thee there; thy hand would be upon me; I should not have gone from thy presence.

And thy right hand shall hold me - Still hold me; still be laid upon me. I should find myself there, as certainly as here, in thy hand; and in the same sense - either to seize upon me if I went astray, or to protect me, if obedient, supported by thee in all the perils of the flight. God, still the same - the same in all respects - would be with me there as he is here.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations

I could neither go thither without thy conduct, nor subsist there without thy powerful support, and much less could I go out of try sight; for a man may see many things which, are out of his power.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

The Treasury of David

Charles H. Spurgeon

Ver. 10. Even there shall thy hand lead me. We could only fly from God by his own power. The Lord would be leading, covering, preserving, sustaining us even when we were fugitives from him.

And thy right hand shall hold me. In the uttermost parts of the sea my arrest would be as certain as at home: God's right hand would there seize and detain the runaway. Should we be commanded on the most distant errand, we may assuredly depend upon the upholding right hand of God as with us in all mercy, wisdom, and power. The exploring missionary in his lonely wanderings is led, in his solitary feebleness he is held. Both the hands of God are with his own servants to sustain them, and against rebels to overthrow them; and in this respect it matters not to what realms they resort, the active energy of God is around them still.

Psalms 139:11*

Charles H. Spurgeon's The Treasury of David (1869–1885) — public domain. Psalms only. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Whedon's Commentary on the Bible

Daniel D. Whedon

10. Even there—The power and presence of God are as real and effective there as here, or at any place.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Lesson kit

Teaching starters — assembled from the data on this page, not authored interpretation. Every prompt links to the verse data it draws on. Edit before teaching.

Psalms, in the Wisdom, opens this verse with 6 words (6 distinct Hebrew lemmas). Its most distinctive word is nâchâh (“to lead”). A historical commentator’s framing appears above. Read the whole chapter for the surrounding context.

Discussion questions

The word nâchâh carries the sense “to lead.” How does it shape the verse?
Genesis 24:27 shares the word «to lead» with this verse. How do the two illuminate each other?
These translations render this verse differently. What is at stake in choosing one wording over another?
The verb «תַנְחֵ֑נִי» is Hiphil Imperfect. How does its form color the action?
Reading how Trapp's Complete Commentary and J. A. Alexander on Psalms read this verse, where do the two commentators agree and where do they part?

Things to notice

These translations choose different wording for 2 words in this verse.
6 distinct Hebrew lemmas span 6 words in this verse.