Psalms 139:5

Psa 139:5 Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid thine hand upon me.

Ver. 5. Thou hast beset me behind and before] As a beast that is pursued, as an enemy that is begirt and environed; and lest I should think by some means to make escape (as David did from Saul and his host, by a providence, 1Sa 23:27; as Hannibal did from the Romans, by a stratagem).

Thou hast laid thine hand upon me] As by an arrest; so that I am thy prisoner, and cannot stir a foot from thee.

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.

5. (Psa 139:5) Behind and before thou dost beset me, and layest upon me thy hand. There is here an insensible transition from God's omniscience to his omni-presence, out of which the Scriptures represent it as arising. Behind and before, i.e. on all sides. The idea of above and below is suggested by the last clause. Beset, besiege, hem in, or closely surround. Thy hand, or the palm of thy hand, as the Hebrew word strictly denotes.

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

Thou so guidest me with thine hand, that I can turn no way, but where thou appointest me.

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

Verse 5. Thou hast beset me behind and before] אחור וקדם צרתני achor vekodam tsartani, "The hereafter and the past, thou hast formed me." I think Bishop Horsley's emendation here is just, uniting the two verses together. "Behold thou, O Jehovah, knowest the whole, the hereafter and the past. Thou hast formed me, and laid thy hand upon me."

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

In verse fifth some read — behind and before thou hast fashioned me; Thus the Septuagint have ἔπλασάς με, Thou hast formed me. Similar is the rendering of the Syriac. Those who embrace this view take the verb, as if the root were יצר, yatsar. “But,” says Phillips, “it is certain that the root of צרתני must be צור, to afflict, press, besiege. Hence the meaning of the verse is, ‘Thou hast so pressed upon, or besieged me, both behind and before, that I find there is no escaping from thee; Thou hast placed thy hand upon me, so that I am quite in thy power.’ The whole passage is a figure, representing God’s thorough knowledge of man.” — Phillips. “Thou besettest me behind and before, i.e. thou knowest all my doings as perfectly as if I were begirt by thee on every side.” — Cresswell.

“Comme mettant la main sur eux pour los arrester par le collet, ainsi qu’on dit, tellement qu’ils ne peuvent bouger le moins du monde qu’il ne le scache.” — Fr.

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(5) Beset—as a beleagured city from which there is no escape.

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

5. beset me] The word is used of besieging a town. God hems him in on all sides so that he cannot escape. The P.B.V. thou hast fashioned me follows the LXX and other Ancient Versions in a less probable rendering.

laid thine hand upon me] God holds him fast in His grasp, exercises His authority over him. Cp. Job_9:33.

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.

Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,.... Meaning either the knowledge of himself, such as God had of him, which was vastly superior to what he had of himself; and especially the knowledge of other persons and things, whether visible or invisible, in heaven, earth, or hell; things past, present, and to come; or else the manner in which God knew all this was amazing to him, and quite impenetrable by him; that he did know him, his thoughts, his words and actions, and so those of all others, was easy of belief; but how he should know all this was past his conception, and struck him with the profoundest admiration;

it is high; sublime, out of his reach, beyond his comprehension;

I cannot attain unto it; neither to such knowledge, nor to comprehend what it is in God; and how he should have it, and in what manner he exercises it. Kimchi, Jarchi, and Aben Ezra, connect the words with the following, as if the matter of his wonder and astonishment was the omnipresence of God, or where he should find a place to flee from him.

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

Thou hast beset me behind and before - The word rendered “beset” - צור tsûr - means properly to press; to press upon; to compress. It has reference commonly to the siege of a city, or to the pressing on of troops in war; and then it comes to mean to besiege, hem in, closely surround, so that there is no way of escape. This is the idea here - that God was on every side of him; that he could not escape in any direction. He was like a garrison besieged in a city so that there was no means of escape. There is a transition here (not an unnatural one), from the idea of the Omniscience of God to that of His Omnipresence, and the remarks which follow have a main reference to the latter.

And laid thine hand upon me - That is, If I try to escape in any direction I find thine band laid upon me there. Escape is impossible.

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

Thou hast beset me behind and before, with thine all-seeing and all-disposing providence.

And laid thine hand upon me; thou keepest me, as it were, with a strong hand, in thy sight and under thy power.

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

Ver. 5. Thou hast beset me behind and before. As though we were caught in an ambush, or besieged by an army which has wholly beleaguered the city walls, we are surrounded by the Lord. God has set us where we be, and beset us wherever we be. Behind us there is God recording our sins, or in grace blotting out the remembrance of them; and before us there is God foreknowing all our deeds, and providing for all our wants. We cannot turn back and so escape him, for he is behind; we cannot go forward and outmarch him, for he is before. He not only beholds us, but he besets us; and lest there should seem any chance of escape, or lest we should imagine that the surrounding presence is yet a distant one, it is added,

And laid thine hand upon me. The prisoner marches along surrounded by a guard, and gripped by an officer. God is very near; we are wholly in his power; from that power there is no escape. It is not said that God will thus beset us and arrest us, but it is done "Thou hast beset me." Shall we not alter the figure, and say that our heavenly Father has folded his arms around us, and caressed us with his hand It is even so with those who are by faith the children of the Most High.

Ver. 5. Thou hast beset me behind and before, etc. There is here an insensible transition from God's omniscience to his omnipresence, out of which the Scriptures represent it as arising. "Behind and before", i.e., on all sides. The idea of above and below is suggested by the last clause. "Beset", besiege, hem in, or closely surround. "Thy hand", or the palm of thy hand, as the Hebrew word strictly denotes. Joseph Addison Alexander.

Ver. 5. Thou hast beset me behind and before. What would you say if, wherever you turned, whatever you were doing, whatever thinking, whether in public or private, with a confidential friend telling your secrets, or alone planning themif, I say, you saw an eye constantly fixed on you, from whose watching, though you strove ever so much, you could never escape...that could perceive your every thought? The supposition is awful enough. There is such an Eye. De Vere.

Ver. 5. Thou hast beset me behind and before. One who finds the way blocked up turns back; but David found himself hedged in behind as well as before. John Calvin.

Ver. 5. Thou hast...laid thine hand upon me. As by an arrest; so that I am thy prisoner, and cannot stir a foot from thee. John Trapp.

Ver. 5. And laid thine hand upon me. To make of me one acceptable to thyself. To rule me, to lead me, to uphold me, to protect me; to restore me; in my growth, in my walk, in my failures, in my affliction, in my despair. Thomas Le Blanc.

Ver. 5. A soul captured. Stopped, overtaken, arrested. What has it done? What shall it do?

Psalms 139:6*

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

5. Beset—Surrounded, like a besieging army, for my protection if good, to render my escape impossible if wicked.

Laid thine hand upon me—I am already in thy grasp, wholly in thy power.

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

Thou hast beset me behind and before; i.e. "thou art ever close to me, and therefore hast complete knowledge of me. Thine omniscience arises out of thy omnipresence." And laid thine hand upon me. To uphold me, and at the same time to restrain me (comp. ver. 10).

HOMILIES BY C. SHORT Ver. 5. Wonderful knowledge.

"Thou hast laid thine hand upon me." Aben Ezra called this "the crown of all the psalms." Man is completely in God"s power physically, intellectually, and morally.

I Look AT THE PROOFS.

1. Man"s spiritual nature. Sense of sin and responsibility; conscience; instinct of prayer; sense of Divine omniscience.

2. The Divine providence. God"s omnipresence; our lot appointed and mysteriously controlled.

3. In the provisions of the gospel. Cannot wholly throw off the power of the Divine love or Divine Law. God"s hold of us through Christ much greater that our hold of him.

II FOR WHAT PURPOSE DOES GOD EXERCISE HIS POWER OVER MAN? Not to destroy his freedom of will and action.

1. To assert his property in us.

2. To make man conscious of his calamity and his hope. By the remedy in the gospel.

3. To draw man to himself as the exclusive Redeemer. S.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Beset me - With thy all-seeing providence. And laid - Thou keepest me, as it were with a strong hand, in thy sight and under thy power.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

From the rear and the front My face and my back.

Your pressure your coercion and your ruling, destroit in Old French.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.