Psalm 139:8–12

139:8 If I were to ascend8 to heaven, you would be there.

If I were to sprawl out in Sheol, there you would be.9

139:9 If I were to fly away10 on the wings of the dawn,11

and settle down on the other side12 of the sea,

139:10 even there your hand would guide me,

your right hand would grab hold of me.

139:11 If I were to say, “Certainly the darkness will cover me,13

and the light will turn to night all around me,”14

139:12 even the darkness is not too dark for you to see,15

and the night is as bright as16 day;

darkness and light are the same to you.17

8	tn The Hebrew verb סָלַק (salaq, “to ascend”) occurs only here in the OT, but the word is well-attested in Aramaic literature from different time periods and displays a wide semantic range (see DNWSI 2:788–90).
9	tn Heb “look, you.”
10	tn Heb “rise up.”
11	sn On the wings of the dawn. This personification of the “dawn” may find its roots in mythological traditions about the god Shachar, whose birth is described in an Ugaritic myth (see G. R. Driver, Canaanite Myths and Legends, 126) and who is mentioned in Isa 14:12 as the father of Helel.
12	tn Heb “at the end.”
13	tn The Hebrew verb שׁוּף (shuf), which means “to crush; to wound,” in Gen 3:15 and Job 9:17, is problematic here. For a discussion of attempts to relate the verb to Arabic roots, see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101–150 (WBC), 251. Many emend the form to יְשׂוּכֵּנִי (yesukkeniy), from the root שׂכך (“to cover,” an alternate form of סכך), a reading assumed in the present translation.
14	tn Heb “and night, light, around me.”
15	tn The words “to see” are supplied in the translation for clarification and for stylistic reasons.
16	tn Heb “shines like.”
17	tn Heb “like darkness, like light.”