Psalms 139:9

New King James Version

If I take the wings of the morning, And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
If I live at the eastern horizonor settle at the western limits,

Hebrew Names Version
If I take the wings of the dawn, And settle in the uttermost parts of the sea;

King James Version
If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea;

English Standard Version
If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,

New Century Version
If I rise with the sun in the east and settle in the west beyond the sea,

New English Translation
If I were to fly away on the wings of the dawn, and settle down on the other side of the sea,

Amplified Bible
If I take the wings of the dawn, If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea,

New American Standard Bible
If I take up the wings of the dawn, If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea,

World English Bible
If I take the wings of the dawn, And settle in the uttermost parts of the sea;

Geneva Bible (1587)
Let mee take the winges of the morning, and dwell in the vttermost parts of the sea:

Legacy Standard Bible
If I lift up the wings of the dawn,If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea,

Berean Standard Bible
If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle by the farthest sea,

Contemporary English Version
Suppose I had wings like the dawning day and flew across the ocean.

Complete Jewish Bible
If I fly away with the wings of the dawn and land beyond the sea,

Darby Translation
[If] I take the wings of the dawn [and] dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,

Easy-to-Read Version
If I go east where the sun rises or go to live in the west beyond the sea,

George Lamsa Translation
If I lift up my wings like those of an eagle, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,

Good News Translation
If I flew away beyond the east or lived in the farthest place in the west,

Lexham English Bible
If I lift up the wings of the dawn, and I alight on the far side of the sea,

Literal Translation
If I take the wings of the morning, dwelling in the uttermost part of the sea,

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Euen there also shal thy honde lede me, and thy right hande shal holde me.

American Standard Version
If I take the wings of the morning, And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea;

Bible in Basic English
If I take the wings of the morning, and go to the farthest parts of the sea;

JPS Old Testament (1917)
If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea;

King James Version (1611)
If I take the wings of the morning: and dwell in the vttermost parts of the Sea:

Bishop's Bible (1568)
If I take the wynges of the morning: and [go to] dwell in the vttermost part of the sea.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
If I should spread my wings to fly straight forward, and sojourn at the extremity of the sea, it would be vain,

English Revised Version
If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea;

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
If Y schal take my fetheris ful eerli; and schal dwelle in the last partis of the see.

Update Bible Version
If I take the wings of the morning, And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea;

Webster's Bible Translation
[If] I take the wings of the morning, [and] dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea;

New Living Translation
If I ride the wings of the morning, if I dwell by the farthest oceans,

New Life Bible
If I take the wings of the morning or live in the farthest part of the sea,

New Revised Standard
If I take the wings of the morning and settle at the farthest limits of the sea,

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
If I mount the wings of the dawn, settle down in the region beyond the sea,

Douay-Rheims Bible
(138-9) If I take my wings early in the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea:

Revised Standard Version
If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,

Young's Literal Translation
I take the wings of morning, I dwell in the uttermost part of the sea,

New American Standard Bible (1995)
If I take the wings of the dawn, If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea,

Contextual Overview

⁷ Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? ⁸ If I ascend into heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there. ⁹ If I take the wings of the morning, And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, ¹⁰ Even there Your hand shall lead me, And Your right hand shall hold me. ¹¹ If I say, "Surely the darkness shall fall [fn] on me,"Even the night shall be light about me; ¹² Indeed, the darkness shall not hide from You, But the night shines as the day; The darkness and the light are both alike to You. ¹³ For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother's womb. ¹⁴ I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; [fn] Marvelous are Your works,And that my soul knows very well. ¹⁵ My frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret, And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. ¹⁶ Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, The days fashioned for me, When as yet there were none of them.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

If I take: Light has been proved, by many experiments, to travel at the astonishing rate of 194,188 miles in one second of time; and comes from the sun to the earth, a distance of 95,513,794 miles in 8 minutes and nearly 12 seconds! But, could I even fly upon the wings or rays of the morning light, which diffuses itself with such velocity over the globe from east to west, instead of being beyond Thy reach, or by this sudden transition be able to escape Thy notice, Thy arm could still at pleasure prevent or arrest my progress, and I should still be encircled with the immensity of Thy essence. The sentiment in this noble passage is remarkably striking and the description truly sublime.

the wings: Psalms 18:10, Psalms 19:6, Malachi 4:2

dwell: Psalms 74:16, Psalms 74:17, Isaiah 24:14-16

Reciprocal: 2 Samuel 22:11 - upon the Job 11:9 - longer Job 38:13 - take Psalms 55:6 - General Psalms 61:2 - From Psalms 104:3 - walketh Amos 9:3 - hid

Gill's Notes on the Bible

[If] I take the wings of the morning,.... And fly as swift as the morning light to the east, to the extremity of it, as Ben Melech; as far as he could go that way, as swiftly as the wings of the morning could carry him thither; so the morning is represented by the Heathens as having wings f; or as the rays of the rising sun, called wings for the swiftness of them, Malachi 4:2;

[and] dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; in the most distant isles of it, in the farthest parts of the world, the sea being supposed the boundary of it: or "in the uttermost parts of the west" g, as opposed to the morning light and rising sun, which appear in the east; and the sea is often in Scripture put for the west, the Mediterranean sea being to the west of the land of Palestine; and could he go from east to west in a moment, as the above writer observes, there would God be. The Heathens represent Jupiter, their supreme god, as having three eyes, because he reigns in heaven, and in earth, and under the earth h.

f Vid. Cuperi Apotheos. Homeri, p. 177. g באחרית ים "in novissimo occidentis", Pagninus. h Pausan. Corinthiaca, sive l. 2. p. 129.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

If I take the wings of the morning - literally, “I will take the wings of the morning.” That is, I will take this as a supposable case; I will imagine what would occur, should I be able to take to myself the wings of the morning, and endeavor to escape “by flight” from the presence of God, or go where he could not pursue me, or where he would not be. The “wings of the morning” evidently mean that by which the light of the morning “seems to fly” - the most rapid object known to us. It is not to be supposed that the psalmist had an idea of the exact velocity of light, but to him that was the most rapid object known; and his language is not the “less” striking because the laws of its flight have become accurately known. The word rendered “morning” refers to the dawn - the daybreak - the Aurora - the “first” beams of the morning light. The beams of light are in fact no swifter then than at any other time of the day, but they seem to be swifter, as they so quickly penetrate the darkness.

And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea - The end of the sea; that is, the “west,” as the sea referred to undoubtedly is the Mediterranean, which was west of Palestine, and which became another name for the west. The idea is, that if he could fly with the rapidity of light, and could be in an instant over the sea, even beyond its remotest border, still God would be there before him. He could not escape from the divine presence.