Bible Strands
Psalms 139:13
For You formed my inmost being; You knit me together in my mother’s womb.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The psalmist addresses God directly, describing divine activity during prenatal development immediately after noting God’s unobstructed perception of darkness in the preceding verse.
The words — The Hebrew term כִלְיֹתָי (khil.yo.tai) literally means “kidneys,” functioning as a poetic synonym for the innermost being, while תְּסֻכֵּנִי (te.su.kēni) denotes the act of weaving or knitting together.
The thread — This motif of divine prenatal formation appears in Jeremiah 1:5, where God states He knew and set apart the prophet before birth, and in Isaiah 44:2, which identifies Yahweh as the Maker who formed Jacob from the womb.
Why it lands — The text asserts that God actively formed and structured the speaker’s innermost being in the womb, requiring the reader to acknowledge divine authorship of human life without adding external commentary.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb.
Cross-references
- Jeremiah 1:5 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I set you apart and appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”
- Psalms 119:73 Your hands have made me and fashioned me; give me understanding to learn Your commandments.
- Isaiah 44:2 This is the word of the LORD, your Maker, who formed you from the womb and who will help you: “Do not be afraid, O Jacob My servant, Jeshurun, whom I have chosen.
- Job 31:15 Did not He who made me in the womb also make them? Did not the same One form us in the womb?
- Job 10:9 Please remember that You molded me like clay. Would You now return me to dust?
- Psalms 22:9 Yet You brought me forth from the womb; You made me secure at my mother’s breast.
- Psalms 71:6 I have leaned on You since birth; You pulled me from my mother’s womb. My praise is always for You.
- Isaiah 46:3 “Listen to Me, O house of Jacob, all the remnant of the house of Israel, who have been sustained from the womb, carried along since birth.