Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Psalms 139:4
For [there is] not a word in my tongue, [but], lo, O LORD, thou knowest it altogether.
4. God knows not merely the spoken word which men can hear, but its true meaning, and the secret thoughts which prompt its utterance. But the verse may also be rendered, For ( when) a word is not yet on my tongue, Lo, thou &c. Before thought has formed itself into words and found expression, the Searcher of hearts knows it.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
For there is not a word in my tongue – All that I say; all that I have power to say; all that I am disposed at any time to say.
But lo, O Lord, thou knowest it altogether – All that pertains to it. What is said, and what is meant. Merely to hear what is spoken does not imply necessarily a full knowledge of what is said – for it may be false, insincere, hypocritical. God knows exactly what is said and what is meant.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 4. There is not a word in my tongue] Although ( ki) there be not a word in my tongue, behold O Jehovah, thou knowest the whole of it, that is, thou knowest all my words before they are uttered, as thou knowest all my thoughts while as yet they are unformed.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Thou knowest what I speak, and with what design and disposition of mind. Or rather, as others render it, and which is more admirable, When there is not a word, &c. Thou knowest what I intend to speak, either in prayer to thee, or in conversation with men, when I have not yet uttered one word of it.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
For [there is] not a word in my tongue,…. Expressed by it or upon it, just ready to be spoken; or, as the Targum,
“when there is no word in my tongue:”
so Aben Ezra,
“before it was perfect in my tongue:”
before it is formed there; while it is in the mind, and not expressed, and even before that;
[but], lo, O Lord, thou knowest it altogether; the whole of it, from whence it springs; the reason of it, what is designed, or the ends to be answered by it. The Lord knows the good words of his people, which they speak to him in prayer, even before and while they are speaking them; and what they say to one another in private conversation,
Isa 65:24. See an instance of words known by Christ before spoken, in Lu 19:31.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
4. For there is not a word, etc. The words admit a double meaning. Accordingly some understand them to imply that God knows what, we are about to say before the words are formed on our tongue; others, that though we speak not a word, and try by silence to conceal our secret intentions, we cannot elude his notice. Either rendering amounts to the same thing, and it is of no consequence which we adopt. The idea meant to be conveyed is, that while the tongue is the index of thought to man, being the great medium of communication, God, who knows the heart, is independent of words. And use is made of the demonstrative particle lo! to indicate emphatically that the innermost recesses of our spirit stand present to his view.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(4) For there is not . . .This has been understood in two ways:
My tongue cannot utter a word which thou dost not altogether know.
or,
Before my tongue can utter a word thou knowest it altogether.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
4. For there is not a word in my tongue, etc. Rather, When there is not a word in my tongue, behold, O Jehovah, thou knowest all. Before the word is spoken God sees back in the heart the thought and desire, and knows all that is within, whence words proceed.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Psa 139:4. For there is not a word Or, When there is not a word in my tongue, O Lord, thou knowest all. But Mudge renders it, For, before the word is in my tongue, behold, O Lord, thou knowest the whole of it; i.e. “Thou knowest the whole matter of what I am going to say, before the word is formed upon my tongue.”
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Psa 139:4 For [there is] not a word in my tongue, [but], lo, O LORD, thou knowest it altogether.
Ver. 4. For there is not a word in my tongue ] Though not yet uttered, or but whispered only.
Thou knowest it altogether
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
altogether = on every side, or, the whole of it.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
there is not: Psa 19:14, Job 8:2, Job 38:2, Job 42:3, Job 42:6-8, Zep 1:12, Mal 3:13-16, Mat 12:35-37, Jam 1:26, Jam 3:2-10
thou knowest: Psa 50:19-21, Jer 29:23, Heb 4:12, Heb 4:13
Reciprocal: Exo 14:3 – Pharaoh Job 37:20 – Shall it Jer 23:25 – heard Mal 3:16 – and the Act 5:4 – thou hast
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Psa 139:4-5. There is not a word in my tongue, &c. Thou knowest what I speak, and with what design and disposition of mind. There is not a vain word, not a good word, but thou knowest it altogether What it means, what thought gives birth to it, and with what intention it is uttered. Or, as others render the clause, When there is not a word, &c.; thou knowest what I am about to speak, either in prayer to thee, or in conversation with men, when I have not yet uttered one word of it. Thou hast beset me behind and before With thine all-seeing and all-disposing providence; so that, go which way I will, I am under thine eyes, and cannot escape its penetrating view in any way possible; and laid thy hand upon me Thou keepest me, as it were, with a strong hand, in thy sight, and under thy power.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
139:4 For [there is] not a word in my {c} tongue, [but], lo, O LORD, thou knowest it altogether.
(c) You know my meaning before I speak.