All rights reserved. The verse only says (in the NRSV), “In your book were written all the days that were formed for me…” (emphasis added). Follow either of the two large buttons below to see these verses in their broader context of the King James Bible or a Bible concordance. If the exact number of days we shall live is settled in God’s mind, they argue, the whole of the future must be settled as well. As with king Josiah which we examined above (1 Kings 13:2-3), it is possible that certain events are preordained for many of us prior to our birth. His loving presence surrounds us at every moment, wherever we go (vs. 5–12). Follow the buttons in the right-hand column for detailed definitions and verses that use the same root words. Which was vastly superior to what he had of himself. “For I the Lord do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, have not perished.” Some cite this verse as evidence that God need never be flexible in his plans and change his mind. Joseph later says, “Even though you intended to do harm to me, God intended it for good, in order to preserve a numerous people…”…, “The Lord says to Moses, “Who gives speech to mortals? of
This book of Psalm like many others is written by King David, the ruler of Israel, the man after God’s own heart and the greatest King that ever graced the earth. Information based on Strong's Exhaustive Concordance[1]. Topics: Open Theism, Responding to Objections We'll send you an email with steps on how to reset your password. This rendition of the verse, though admittedly awkward, has the advantage of consistency with the immediate context of the verse. This interpretation can be understood to imply that certain events were predestined about this person’s life before he was born, though within the parameters of this predestined outline, his life is free. The King James Bible (1611) and Strong's Concordance (1890) with Hebrew and Greek dictionaries are sourced from the BibleForgeDB database (https://github.com/bibleforge) within the BibleForge project (http://bibleforge.com). Darby Bible Translation To get what Psalm 139:16 means based on its source text, scroll down or follow these links for the original scriptural meaning , biblical context and relative popularity. →. Category: Q&A So intimate is his involvement that he knows our thoughts before we utter them (vs. 2–4). Three things may be said. Third, the Hebrew in this passage is quite ambiguous in that a) the word translated in the NRSV as “formed” (yotsar) can be interpreted in a strong sense of “determined” or in a weaker sense of “planned”; and b) the subject matter of what was “formed” and written in the “book” before they existed is not supplied in the original Hebrew. Even if the poetic genre of the verse isn’t enough to discourage someone from trying to resolve a metaphysical issue on this basis, the ambiguity of the verse itself should certainly be enough. Follow the buttons on the right to get more detail. 38:1–5) as does the Lord’s self-professed willingness to alter decrees he’s made in the light of new circumstances (Jer. This page was last modified on September 15, 2017, at 5:17 AM. Rather, throughout history, in response to the choices…, IX Contemporary Science, Free Will and Time. Use the scale on the left to tell how often the verses below are googled compared to each other. First, as a matter of…. And especially the knowledge of other persons and … Doesn’t Psalm 139:16 refute the open view of the future? Some of the Jewish doctors are of opinion that this is the most excellent of all the psalms of David; and a very pious devout meditation it is upon the doctrine of God’s omniscience, which we should therefore have our hearts fixed upon and filled with in singing this psalm. The point of this passage is to poetically express God’s care for the psalmist from his conception, not resolve metaphysical disputes regarding the reality of the future. It’s not that names either were or were not written in the “book of life” before they were ever born. Chapter 139. Indeed, the first stanza of verse 16, “Your eyes beheld my unformed substance” also concerns the intimate awareness the Lord has of the psalmist even before he’s formed. 17 How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! Quotes available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. This is a simplified translation of the original Hebrew word. Hezekiah’s success in changing God’s mind regarding the length of his life supports this perspective (Isa. First, even if this verse said that the exact length of our life is settled before we’re born, it wouldn’t follow that everything about the future is settled before we’re born. Whole Psalm. 32:33; Rev. Many have argued that verse 16 of this chapter implies that the future is exhaustively settled. © 2017 QuotesCosmos ● Home ● About ● Privacy ● Terms ● Principles ● Sitemap ● Contact. God can predetermine and/or foreknow a great many things about the future without predetermining and/or foreknowing everything about the future. As mentioned above, the theme of verses 13 through 15 is the formation of the psalmist’s body in the womb. Several have voiced questions similar to the reader’s (below), so we thought it would be helpful to post Greg’s answer here on his blog. Copyright © 2020, Bible Study Tools. 18 If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand: when I awake, I am still with thee.