Psalms 139:12
in Psalms 139even the darkness is not dark to You, but the night shines like the day, for darkness is as light to You.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Even the darkness hideth not from thee, But the night shineth as the day: The darkness and the light are both alike to thee.
KJV
Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee.
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This verse in Psalms 139
Commentary
10 notes on this verseYea, of a surety, beyond all denial. The darkness hideth not from thee; it veils nothing, it is not the medium of concealment in any degree what ever. It hides from men, but not from God. But the night shineth as the day: it is but another form of day: it shines, revealing all; it "shineth as the day, "—quite as clearly and distinctly manifesting all that is done. The darkness and the light are both alike to thee.
This site's exposition
Surely the darkness will hide me
on Psalms 139:11-12
The final hiding place is the night. The psalm answers that darkness is as light to God, and that the night shines for Him like the day. Turning out the light hides nothing from Him.
This site's exposition
even the darkness is not dark
Job 34:22 says there is no darkness where evildoers can hide, and this verse carries that truth from judgment to care. The Creator who separated light from darkness in Genesis 1:4 sees through both alike. Night is a thing He made.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
"For darkness shall not be darkened by Thee" (ver. 12). Do not thou then darken thy darkness; God darkeneth it not, but enlighteneth it yet more; for to Him is said in another Psalm, "Thou, Lord, shalt light my candle: my God shall enlighten my darkness." But who are they who "darken their darkness," which God darkeneth not? Evil men, perverse men; when they sin, verily they are darkness; when they confess not their sins which they have committed but go on to defend them, they "darken their darkness." Wherefore now if thou hast sinned thou art in darkness, but by confessing thy darkness thou shall obtain to have thy darkness lightened; by defending thy darkness, thou shall "darken thy darkness." And where wilt thou escape from double darkness, who wast in difficulty in single darkness? ...Let us not "darken our darkness" by defending our sins, and "the night shall be light in our delight."
The Medieval Church1 voice
Likewise we Christians who are Christ's servants should truly stand valiantly in wakefulness like "good and faithful servants" who are eager to do honor to their master. Let us gird ourselves in asceticism, inwardly strengthened by austerity, having the lamps of our hearts filled with …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
"The darkness darkeneth not from thee, for there is no darkness nor shadow of death where the workers of iniquity may hide themselves." No hypocritical mask or disguise, how specious soever, can save any person or action from appearing in a true light before God. Secret haunts of sin are as open before God as the most open and barefaced villanies.
Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee,.... Any thing that is done by men in it; or "darkeneth not from thee" (i), or causeth such darkness as to hinder the sight of any action committed.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
Yea, of a surety, beyond all denial. The darkness hideth not from thee; it veils nothing, it is not the medium of concealment in any degree what ever. It hides from men, but not from God. But the night shineth as the day: it is but another form of day: it shines, revealing all; it "shineth as the day, "—quite as clearly and distinctly manifesting all that is done. The darkness and the light are both alike to thee. This sentence seems to sum up all that went before, and most emphatically puts the negative upon the faintest idea of hiding under the cover of night. Men cling to this notion, because it is easier and less expensive to hide under darkness than to journey to remote places; and therefore the foolish thought is here beaten to pieces by statements which in their varied forms effectually batter it. Yet the ungodly are still duped by their grovelling notions of God, and enquire, "How doth God know?" They must fancy that he is as limited in his powers of observation as they are, and yet if they would but consider for a moment they would conclude that he who could not see in the dark could not be God, and he who is not present everywhere could not be the Almighty Creator. Assuredly God is in all places, at all times, and nothing can by any possibility be kept away from his all observing, all comprehending mind. The Great Spirit comprehends within himself all time and space, and yet he is infinitely greater than these, or aught else that he has made.
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee - Darkness and light, ignorance and knowledge, are things that stand in relation to us; God sees equally in darkness as in light; and knows as perfectly, however man is enveloped in ignorance, as if all were intellectual brightness. What is to us hidden by darkness, or unknown through ignorance, is perfectly seen and known by God; because he is all sight, all hearing, all feeling, all soul, all spirit - all in All, and infinite in himself. He lends to every thing; receives nothing from any thing. Though his essence be unimpartible, yet his influence is diffusible through time and through eternity. Thus God makes himself known, seen, heard, felt; yet, in the infinity of his essence, neither angel, nor spirit, nor man can see him; nor can any creature comprehend him, or form any idea of the mode of his existence. And yet vain man would be wise, and ascertain his foreknowledge, eternal purposes, infinite decrees, with all operations of infinite love and infinite hatred, and their objects specifically and nominally, from all eternity, as if himself had possessed a being and powers co-extensive with the Deity! O ye wise fools! Jehovah, the fountain of eternal perfection and love, is as unlike your creeds as he is unlike yourselves, forgers of doctrines to prove that Ithe source of infinite benevolence is a streamlet of capricious love to thousands, while he is an overflowing, eternal, and irresistible tide of hatred to millions of millions both of angels and men! The antiproof of such doctrines is this: he bears with such blasphemies, and does not consume their abettors. “But nobody holds these doctrines.” Then I have written against nobody; and have only to add the prayer, May no such doctrines ever disgrace the page of history; or farther dishonor, as they have done, the annals of the Church!
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee - Margin, as in Hebrew, “darkeneth not.” Darkness does not make darkness to thee. It makes things dark to us; not to him. So it is in natural darkness; so in moral darkness ness. It seems dark to us; it is not so to him. Things appear dark to us - disappointment, bereavement, trouble, care, losses; but all is light to God. The existence of sin and suffering on the earth seems dark to us; not to him, for he sees the reasons and the end of all. But the night shineth as the day - One is as bright and clear to him as the other. The darkness and the light are both alike to thee - Margin, as in Hebrew, “As is the darkness so is the light.” To thee there is no difference. All is light.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
Even there I have no asylum, for no darkness will obscure [anything] from You.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 7 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
10 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| גַּם־ | gam- | also | H1571 → | 769 times |
| חֹשֶׁךְ֮ | choshekh | darkness | H2822 → | 80 times |
| לֹֽא־ | lo'- | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יַחְשִׁ֪יךְ | yachshikh | it is [too] dark | H2821 → | 17 times |
| מִ֫מֶּ֥ךָ | mimekha | for you | H4480 → | 1188 times |
| וְ֭לַיְלָה | velaylah | and night | H3915 → | 233 times |
| כַּיּ֣וֹם | kaiyom | like the day | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| יָאִ֑יר | yair | it shines | H215 → | 43 times |
| כַּ֝חֲשֵׁיכָ֗ה | kachasheikhah | as <the> darkness | H2825 → | |
| כָּאוֹרָֽה׃ | kaorah | as the light | H219 → |
גַּם־also
gam-H1571 →769 times
חֹשֶׁךְ֮darkness
choshekhH2822 →80 times
לֹֽא־not
lo'-H3808 →5168 times
יַחְשִׁ֪יךְit is [too] dark
yachshikhH2821 →17 times
מִ֫מֶּ֥ךָfor you
mimekhaH4480 →1188 times
וְ֭לַיְלָהand night
velaylahH3915 →233 times
כַּיּ֣וֹםlike the day
kaiyomH3117 →2304 times
יָאִ֑ירit shines
yairH215 →43 times
כַּ֝חֲשֵׁיכָ֗הas <the> darkness
kachasheikhahH2825 →
כָּאוֹרָֽה׃as the light
kaorahH219 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Hebrews 4:13Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight; everything is uncovered and exposed before the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.
it leads to
- 1 Corinthians 4:5
Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait until the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men’s hearts. At that time each…
- Psalms 33:13–15
The LORD looks down from heaven; He sees all the sons of men.
- Proverbs 15:3
The eyes of the LORD are in every place, observing the evil and the good.
- Ecclesiastes 12:14
For God will bring every deed into judgment, along with every hidden thing, whether good or evil.
- Jeremiah 17:10
I, the LORD, search the heart; I examine the mind to reward a man according to his way, by what his deeds deserve.
- 1 Corinthians 4:5
Through
Daniel 2:22He reveals the deep and hidden things; He knows what lies in darkness, and light dwells with Him.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 23:24
“Can a man hide in secret places where I cannot see him?” declares the LORD. “Do I not fill the heavens and the earth?” declares the LORD.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Job 12:22
He reveals the deep things of darkness and brings deep shadows into light.
- Psalms 139:11–12
If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me, and the light become night around me”—
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Jeremiah 23:24
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Psalms
This page draws on 11 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Augustine of Hippo, Exposition on Psalm 139; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 7; Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Psalms; John Calvin, Commentary on the Book of Psalms; John Calvin, Commentary on the Psalms; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Sahdona the Syrian, BOOK OF PERFECTION 69.