Psalms 139:16

American Standard Version with Strong's Numbers

Thine eyes did see mine unformed substance; And in thy book they were all written, [Even] the days that were ordained [for me], When as yet there was none of them.

Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

גָּלְמִ֤י ׀ רָ֘א֤וּ עֵינֶ֗יךָ וְעַֽל־סִפְרְךָ֮ כֻּלָּ֢ם יִכָּ֫תֵ֥בוּ יָמִ֥ים יֻצָּ֑רוּ *ולא **וְל֖וֹ אֶחָ֣ד בָּהֶֽם׃

Transliteration

gālmî rāʾû ʿênêkā and-upon-siprəkā kullām yikkātēbû yāmîm yuṣṣārû and-not/and-to-him ʾeḥād bāhem

Grammar Details

*gālmî*: noun, masculine singular + 1st person singular suffix - my unformed substance/embryo
*rāʾû*: verb, Qal perfect 3rd person common plural - they saw
*ʿênêkā*: noun, feminine dual + 2nd person masculine singular suffix - your eyes
*siprəkā*: noun, masculine singular + 2nd person masculine singular suffix - your book
*kullām*: noun + 3rd person masculine plural suffix - all of them
*yikkātēbû*: verb, Niphal imperfect 3rd person masculine plural - they were written
*yāmîm*: noun, masculine plural - days
*yuṣṣārû*: verb, Pual perfect 3rd person common plural - they were formed
*ʾeḥād*: numeral - one
*bāhem*: preposition + 3rd person masculine plural suffix - in/among them

Word Meanings

*gālmî*: my unformed substance/my embryo/my developing body
*rāʾû*: saw/perceived/observed
*siprəkā*: your book/your scroll/your record
*yikkātēbû*: were written/were recorded
*yāmîm*: days/time
*yuṣṣārû*: were formed/were fashioned/were ordained
*ʾeḥād*: one/single/first
*wəlōʾ*: and not/though not
*wəlô*: and to him/yet for him

ℹ️

About this Translation

American Standard Version with Strong's Numbers

Formal EquivalenceSource: American Standard VersionBest for: Word studies and original-language research

🎯 Translation Approach

A highly literal, word-for-word translation (ASV, 1901) augmented with Strong's numbering to connect English words to underlying Hebrew and Greek terms for study.

Word-for-word

5/5

Readability

2/5

💎 Distinctive Features

Integrated Strong's numbering: Links English terms to underlying Hebrew and Greek words for deeper lexical study.
Formal equivalence: Prioritizes close alignment with source-language forms and structures.
Divine name rendering: Frequently renders the Tetragrammaton as Jehovah in the Old Testament, following ASV tradition.
Study-focused formatting: Optimized for reference and research rather than casual reading.

✅ Strengths

High fidelity to original languages
Includes Strong's numbers for precise word study
Consistent lexical choices aid exegesis
Stable, longstanding scholarly text

⚠️ Considerations

Archaic language reduces readability
Older textual basis compared to some modern translations
Strong's numbers are a concordance index, not full lexical definitions

👥 Who is this for?

Ideal for

Pastors and teachers
Seminary students
Serious Bible students
Readers conducting word studies
Those referencing Hebrew/Greek tools

Consider alternatives for

Casual readers
Children and early teens
ESL learners seeking simple English
Readers preferring contemporary language

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Additional Resources

Referenced Verses

Ps 56:8 : 8 Thou numberest my wanderings: Put thou my tears into thy bottle; Are they not in thy book?
Mal 3:16 : 16 Then they that feared Jehovah spake one with another; and Jehovah hearkened, and heard, and a book of remembrance was written before him, for them that feared Jehovah, and that thought upon his name.
Rev 20:12 : 12 And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne; and books were opened: and another book was opened, which is [the book] of life: and the dead were judged out of the things which were written in the books, according to their works.

Similar Verses (AI)

These verses are found using AI-powered semantic similarity based on meaning and context. Results may occasionally include unexpected connections.

Ps 139:12-15
4 verses
87%
12Even the darkness hideth not from thee, But the night shineth as the day: The darkness and the light are both alike [to thee].
13For thou didst form my inward parts: Thou didst cover me in my mother's womb.
14I will give thanks unto thee; For I am fearfully and wonderfully made: Wonderful are thy works; And that my soul knoweth right well.
15My frame was not hidden from thee, When I was made in secret, [And] curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.
Ps 139:17-18
2 verses
80%
17How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! How great is the sum of them!
18If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand: When I awake, I am still with thee.
Job 10:8
75%
8Thy hands have framed me and fashioned me Together round about; yet thou dost destroy me.
Ps 139:1-8
8 verses
75%
1For the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David. O Jehovah, thou hast searched me, and known [me].
2Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising; Thou understandest my thought afar off.
3Thou searchest out my path and my lying down, And art acquainted with all my ways.
4For there is not a word in my tongue, But, lo, O Jehovah, thou knowest it altogether.
5Thou hast beset me behind and before, And laid thy hand upon me.
6[ Such] knowledge is too wonderful for me; It is high, I cannot attain unto it.
7Whither shall I go from thy Spirit? Or whither shall I flee from thy presence?
8If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, thou art there.
Jer 1:5
73%
5Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee, and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee; I have appointed thee a prophet unto the nations.
Job 31:15
73%
15Did not he that made me in the womb make him? And did not one fashion us in the womb?
Ps 56:8
72%
8Thou numberest my wanderings: Put thou my tears into thy bottle; Are they not in thy book?
Ps 51:5-6
2 verses
72%
5Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity; And in sin did my mother conceive me.
6Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts; And in the hidden part thou wilt make me to know wisdom.
Isa 49:16
72%
16Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me.
Ps 22:9-10
2 verses
72%
9But thou art he that took me out of the womb; Thou didst make me trust [when I was] upon my mother's breasts.
10I was cast upon thee from the womb; Thou art my God since my mother bare me.
Job 3:16
72%
16Or as a hidden untimely birth I had not been, As infants that never saw light.
Ps 71:6
72%
6By thee have I been holden up from the womb; Thou art he that took me out of my mother's bowels: My praise shall be continually of thee.
Ps 119:73
71%
73YODH. Thy hands have made me and fashioned me: Give me understanding, that I may learn thy commandments.
Job 14:16
71%
16But now thou numberest my steps: Dost thou not watch over my sin?
Job 10:11
71%
11Thou hast clothed me with skin and flesh, And knit me together with bones and sinews.
Ps 8:3
71%
3When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, The moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained;
Ps 139:10
70%
10Even there shall thy hand lead me, And thy right hand shall hold me.
Ps 139:23
70%
23Search me, O God, and know my heart: Try me, and know my thoughts;
Jer 16:17
70%
17For mine eyes are upon all their ways; they are not hid from my face, neither is their iniquity concealed from mine eyes.
Job 19:26-27
2 verses
70%
26And after my skin, [even] this [body], is destroyed, Then without my flesh shall I see God;
27Whom I, even I, shall see, on my side, And mine eyes shall behold, and not as a stranger. My heart is consumed within me.
Isa 48:8
70%
8Yea, thou heardest not; yea, thou knewest not; yea, from of old thine ear was not opened: for I knew that thou didst deal very treacherously, and wast called a transgressor from the womb.
Prov 8:25-26
2 verses
70%
25Before the mountains were settled, Before the hills was I brought forth;
26While as yet he had not made the earth, nor the fields, Nor the beginning of the dust of the world.
Ezek 16:5
69%
5No eye pitied thee, to do any of these things unto thee, to have compassion upon thee; but thou wast cast out in the open field, for that thy person was abhorred, in the day that thou wast born.
Jer 12:3
69%
3But thou, O Jehovah, knowest me; thou seest me, and triest my heart toward thee: pull them out like sheep for the slaughter, and prepare them for the day of slaughter.
Job 10:18
69%
18Wherefore then hast thou brought me forth out of the womb? I had given up the ghost, and no eye had seen me.
Jer 20:17
69%
17because he slew me not from the womb; and so my mother would have been my grave, and her womb always great.
Job 14:5
69%
5Seeing his days are determined, The number of his months is with thee, And thou hast appointed his bounds that he cannot pass;
Heb 1:10
69%
10And, Thou, Lord, in the beginning didst lay the foundation of the earth, And the heavens are the works of thy hands:
Ps 142:3
69%
3When my spirit was overwhelmed within me, Thou knewest my path. In the way wherein I walk Have they hidden a snare for me.
Matt 10:30
69%
30but the very hairs of your head are all numbered.
Job 17:7
69%
7Mine eye also is dim by reason of sorrow, And all my members are as a shadow.
Job 10:13
69%
13Yet these things thou didst hide in thy heart; I know that this is with thee:
Job 3:10
68%
10Because it shut not up the doors of my [mother's] womb, Nor hid trouble from mine eyes.
Job 13:27
68%
27Thou puttest my feet also in the stocks, And markest all my paths; Thou settest a bound to the soles of my feet:
Ps 119:168
68%
168I have observed thy precepts and thy testimonies; For all my ways are before thee.