Verse 13. Thou hast possessed my reins] As the Hebrews believed
that the reins were the first part of the human fetus that is
formed, it may here mean, thou hast laid the foundation of my
being.
Verse 14. I am fearfully and wonderfully made] The texture of
the human body is the most complicated and curious that can be
conceived. It is, indeed, wonderfully made; and it is withal so
exquisitely nice and delicate, that the slightest accident may
impair or destroy in a moment some of those parts essentially
necessary to the continuance of life; therefore, we are fearfully
made. And God has done so to show us our frailty, that we should
walk with death, keeping life in view; and feel the necessity of
depending on the all-wise and continual superintending care and
providence of God.
Verse 15. My substance was not hid from thee] atsmi, my
bones or skeleton.
Curiously wrought] rukkamti, embroidered, made of
needlework. These two words, says Bishop Horsley, describe the two
principal parts of which the human body is composed; the bony
skeleton, the foundation of the whole; and the external covering
of muscular flesh, tendons, veins, arteries, nerves, and skin; a
curious web of fibres. On this passage Bishop Lowth has some
excellent observations: "In that most perfect hymn, where the
immensity of the omnipresent Deity, and the admirable wisdom of
the Divine Artificer in framing the human body, are celebrated,
the poet uses a remarkable metaphor, drawn from the nicest
tapestry work:-
When I was formed in secret;
When I was wrought, as with a needle,
in the lowest parts of the earth.
"He who remarks this, (but the man who consults Versions only
will hardly remark it,) and at the same time reflects upon the
wonderful composition of the human body, the various implication
of veins, arteries, fibres, membranes, and the 'inexplicable
texture' of the whole frame; will immediately understand the
beauty and elegance of this most apt translation. But he will not
attain the whole force and dignity, unless he also considers that
the most artful embroidery with the needle was dedicated by the
Hebrews to the service of the sanctuary; and that the proper and
singular use of their work was, by the immediate prescript of the
Divine law, applied in a certain part of the high priest's dress,
and in the curtains of the tabernacle, Ex 28:39; 26:36; 27:16;
and compare Eze 16:10; 13:18. So that the psalmist may well be
supposed to have compared the wisdom of the Divine Artificer
particularly with that specimen of human art, whose dignity was
through religion the highest, and whose elegance (Ex 35:30-35)
was so exquisite, that the sacred writer seems to attribute it to
a Divine inspiration."
In the lowest parts of the earth.] The womb of the mother, thus
expressed by way of delicacy.
Verse 16. Thine eyes did see my substance] golmi, my
embryo state-my yet indistinct mass, when all was wrapped up
together, before it was gradually unfolded into the lineaments of
man. "Some think," says Dr. Dodd, "that the allusion to embroidery
is still carried on. As the embroiderer has still his work,
pattern, or carton, before him, to which he always recurs; so, by
a method as exact, revere all my members in continuance fashioned,
i.e., from the rude embryo or mass they daily received some degree
of figuration; as from the rude skeins of variously coloured silk
or worsted, under the artificer's hands, there at length arises an
unexpected beauty, and an accurate harmony of colours and
proportions."
And in thy book all my members were written] "All those members
lay open before God's eyes; they were discerned by him as clearly
as if the plan of them had been drawn in a book, even to the least
figuration of the body of the child in the womb." |