Psalms 138:5
Behold, O Lord, thou hast known all things, the last and those of old: thou hast formed me, and hast laid thy hand upon me.
Open Psalms 138:5 in the Motif Searcher, word by word across all five texts →Show on the spiral →The verse in its languages
- Vulgate (Clementine)
- Ecce, Domine, tu cognovisti omnia, novissima et antiqua. Tu formasti me, et posuisti super me manum tuam.
- Septuagint (Swete)
- τὰ ἔσχατα καὶ τὰ ἀρχαῖα· σὺ ἔπλασάς με καὶ ἔθηκας ἐπ᾽ ἐμὲ τὴν χεῖρά σου.
- Hebrew (WLC) shown from Psalms 139:5
- אָח֣וֹר וָקֶ֣דֶם צַרְתָּ֑נִי וַתָּ֖שֶׁת עָלַ֣י כַּפֶּֽכָה
Haydock's commentary
Last. Hebrew, "what are behind and before:" or, joining it with the sequel, "thou hast formed behind," &c., which seems not so noble. (Berthier)
See Job x. 18.
Chaldean, "thou hast afflicted me before and behind, and hast stricken me with thy hand." Hence the Rabbins have ridiculously inferred that God reduced the extraordinary size of Adam after his sin to 100 cubits! The sense of the Chaldean may be adopted, though the hand upon me, in Hebrew, may also signify the divine protection, Psalm lxxix. 18. (Calmet)
From Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary, 1859, in the transcription made by Todd Easton and kept online by John Paul Wohlschied at johnblood.gitlab.io/haydock.
The Fathers on this verse
The Apostolic Constitutions Book V, Sec. I. Concerning the Martyrs
If, therefore, this prophetess confesses the resurrection, and does not deny the restoration of all things, and distinguishes the godly from the ungodly, it is in vain for them to deny our doctrine. Nay, indeed, they say they can show a resemblance of the resurrection, while they do not themselves believe the things they declare: for they say that there is a bird single in its kind which affords a copious demonstration of the resurrection, which they say is without a mate, and the only one in the creation. …
St Augustine Expositions on the Book of Psalms, Psalm CXXXIX
5. “Behold Thou, Lord, hast known all my last doings, and the ancient ones” ( ver. 5 ). Thou hast known my latest doings, when I fed swine; Thou hast known my ancient doings, when I asked of Thee my portion of goods. Ancient doings were the beginnings to me of latest ills: ancient sin, when we fell; latest punishment, when we came into this toilsome and dangerous mortality. And would that this may be “latest” to us; it will be, if now we will to return. For there is another “latest” for certain wicked ones, to whom it shall be said, “Go ye into everlasting fire.”…“Thou hast fashioned me, and hast laid Thine hand upon me.” “Fashioned me,” where? In this mortality; now, to the toils whereunto we all are born. For none is born, but God has fashioned him in his mother’s womb; nor is there any creature, whereof God is not the Fashioner. …
St Ambrose Exposition of the Christian Faith, Chapter X. Christ's eternity being proved from the Apostle's teaching, St. Ambrose admonishes us that the Divine Generation is not to be thought of after the fashion of human procreation, nor to be too curiously pried into. With the difficulties thence arising he refuses to deal, saying that whatsoever terms, taken from our knowledge of body, are used in speaking of this Divine Generation, must be understood with a spiritual meaning
64. Dost thou ask me how He is a Son, if He have not a Father existing before Him? I ask of thee, in turn, when, or how, thinkest thou that the Son was begotten. For me the knowledge of the mystery of His generation is more than I can attain to, the mind fails, the voice is dumb, ay, and not mine alone, but the angels’ also. It is above Powers, above Angels, above Cherubim, Seraphim, and all that has feeling and thought, for it is written: “The peace of Christ, which passeth all understanding.” If the peace of Christ passes all understanding, how can so wondrous a generation but be above all understanding?