Introduction: Man Has Nowhere to Flee from His Creator
Psalm 139 is one of the deepest chapters in Tehillim. David Hamelech describes Hashem's knowledge encircling man from all sides: his thoughts, his actions, his whereabouts, and his very formation. In the portion before us, we continue from the verse, "Such knowledge is beyond me," through the realization that man has nowhere to flee from the Holy One, blessed be He - neither above nor below, neither east nor west, neither in light nor in darkness - down to the very root of the matter: the Holy One, blessed be He, is the One Who fashioned man's faculties of thought, and therefore nothing is hidden from Him.
"Such Knowledge is Beyond Me" - The Wisdom of the Human Body
(ו) פְּלִיאָה דַעַת מִמֶּנִּי נִשְׂגְּבָה לֹא־אוּכַל לָהּ׃ - Such knowledge is too wondrous for me; it is exalted, I cannot attain it.
Rashi explains: Any place where I might flee from You is covered and concealed from me. This fits well with the subsequent verses: "Where can I go from Your spirit, and where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend to heaven, You are there; and if I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there."
Radak explains in a different direction: This knowledge astounds me and is too exalted for me; I cannot grasp it. And what is that thing David cannot grasp? The formation of the human body. Radak defines this in terms of the four fundamental elements: heat and cold, moisture and dryness. While this classification is no longer recognized in modern medicine - medicine has advanced tremendously since then - in their times, diseases and foods were categorized by it. There are hot foods and cold foods; cold foods were eaten in the summer, and hot ones in the winter. This does not mean heated foods, but the intrinsic nature of the food itself: spicy foods and spices were considered hot, whereas other foods were considered cold, meant to cool the body. A physician's examination likewise evaluated the degree of moisture, dryness, and humors - which humor was dominant in the body.
In any case, the core point remains: the Holy One, blessed be He, created man in a wondrous way, simultaneously balancing heat and cold, moisture and dryness within him to sustain his life. A person could die of heat - and we often hear of someone walking on a hot summer day who suffers heatstroke, or soldiers on an operation in the field who experience such things, Heaven spare us. What cools man down? The Holy One, blessed be He, fashioned a cooling system for him - sweat. When a person sweats, his body cools down. Thus, He created a reality in which heat and cold balance each other to achieve equilibrium.
The same applies to moisture and dryness: if a person becomes too dehydrated, he can die of thirst; conversely, excessive fluid is also harmful. Even when telling someone to hydrate, it is known that one should not drink excessively, as excessive water intake can lead to water intoxication - beyond a certain point, diluting the blood becomes dangerous. That is to say, the Holy One, blessed be He, created man in a state of delicate equilibrium, with the exact proportions and levels necessary for his existence. Regarding this, David Hamelech says: This wondrous thing is beyond my mind and understanding; "I cannot attain it" - I cannot grasp the depth of wisdom invested in the human body. And these words were uttered long before the discovery of DNA and all the immense wisdom we now know resides within the human body.
Two Types of Wonder
The Malbim notes that there are two distinct types of wonder here. One type is something that I do not know, yet others do; this is merely my personal limitation, and of this it is said, "Such knowledge is wondrous for me." But there is an absolute wonder, in the words of the Malbim: something entirely beyond human reach, which no person can ever grasp. This is not a personal deficiency of mine, but a fundamental limitation of human comprehension altogether, and of this it is said, "it is exalted, I cannot attain it."
Indeed, in many areas science still has no answers today: why things are this way, why they take this specific form, and how they are structured. Einstein was once offered a solution to a difficulty he faced, suggesting that perhaps things happen purely by chance, randomly. Einstein replied: "God does not play dice." In other words, observe creation and you will see that it is planned down to the finest detail from beginning to end; every part of the human body opens at the right time, closes at the right time, and performs its function in the proper manner - could it be that this occurred by mere coincidence? That is impossible. There are things where even the scientist throws up his hands, standing in awe with no explanation.
"Where Can I Go from Your Spirit" - No Place is Devoid of Him
(ז) אָנָה אֵלֵךְ מֵרוּחֶךָ וְאָנָה מִפָּנֶיךָ אֶבְרָח׃ - Where can I go from Your spirit, and where can I flee from Your presence?
The Radak explains that anah means "where." Furthermore, I have no ability to go anywhere unless the spirit of Hashem leads me - "Where can I go from Your spirit" means from Your presence, for my entire movement comes from Your spirit, from Your strength. The Radak notes that this word anah is accented on the penultimate syllable (mile'eil), like "Where (anah) are we going up?" (Devarim 1:28), whereas the other occurrences of anah in Scripture are accented on the ultimate syllable (milra). The intent of the verse is: if I should desire to go and hide from Your spirit or flee from Your presence, I cannot, for You are present everywhere.
The Malbim explains this based on the principle established in the previous verse, "Behind and before You have hemmed me in" (tzartani), which we explained comes from the word matzor (siege): You encompass me all around, and I cannot move to the right or to the left, upward or downward. Is it conceivable to find any path or trail by which to escape? This is the meaning of "Where can I go from Your spirit" - to where could I emerge from this siege? And even if I were able to break through - "and where can I flee from Your presence" - where would I flee, to what place where You are not? Any place to which I might flee, You are there as well.
"If I ascend to heaven, You are there"
(ח) אִם־אֶסַּק שָׁמַיִם שָׁם אָתָּה וְאַצִּיעָה שְּׁאוֹל הִנֶּךָּ׃ - If I ascend to heaven, You are there; and if I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there.
The Malbim continues: "If I ascend to heaven" - behold, there is the dwelling of Your glory; "and if I make my bed in Sheol" - behold, You are there as well, there is Your domain and Your kingship rules over all. Thus, even if I decided that I could flee, where could I run, when everywhere I might arrive, You are there?
The Radak explains that essak denotes ascent: if I imagine I can ascend to heaven and not find You - "You are there." "And if I make my bed in Sheol" - if I descend into Sheol, which is the depths of the earth - "behold, You are there." And what is the meaning of the word atzi'ah (make a bed)? Since Sheol is at the very bottom, and bedding (matza) lies beneath a person, as in the phrase "the bed is too short to stretch out on" (Yeshayahu 28:20); therefore, atzi'ah She'ol means I will descend to the lowest depths of Sheol, and even there I will find You. The Radak adds another explanation: Sheol is the bed for a person at his death - for when a person passes away, where is he laid? In the grave.
"And if I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there" - even there, the Holy One, blessed be He, awaits you
By way of homiletical insight (remez), the Mei HaShiloach explains that David HaMelech came to teach us that even if a person sinned grievously and descended to the lowest rung, he must never despair. What does the yetzer hara do at such a moment? It comes and tells the person: You are worthless now, nothing good will ever come of you, and you no longer have any way to rectify yourself. And what does it hope to gain by this? It wants the person to say, "If I am lost, I am lost" (Esther 4:16), all restraints are cast off, and from now on I will do whatever I please. This is how it worked with Elisha ben Avuyah (Acher), and how it works with people throughout the generations: "I heard that in heaven they will not accept me." Rav Dessler asks what that bas kol (heavenly voice) was, and answers that it was an internal voice from within himself - because that was his subconscious desire, to cast off the yoke and do as he pleased. Therefore, an internal voice told him, "Return, wayward children, except for Acher" - and if so, do whatever you want! That is the way of the yetzer hara, to drive a person to completely cast off all restraint.
Concerning this, the verse says, "And if I make my bed in Sheol - behold, You are there": know that even if a person sinned greatly, and even if he reached the depths of Sheol through the multitude of his transgressions, who is there waiting for him? The Holy One, blessed be He. A person might think of fleeing from Hakadosh Baruch Hu, going down into the lowest depths of Sheol - yet He says to him, "Behold, You are there," even there I am waiting for you to repent, and if you return, you will be received immediately. Therefore, let no one say, "Where can I flee from Your presence? It is over, I have no chance of rectification" - for even if you reach Sheol, there too you will find the Master of the World.
In Ascent and in Descent - Everything Is from Him
Another explanation: "If I ascend to heaven" - when You elevate and raise me up with an abundance of goodness, "You are there" - it is clear to me that everything is from You. For what happens to a person when he succeeds? Immediately, "My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth" (Devarim 8:17); immediately he sees only himself. David says: with me, it is not so. When You elevate me to the heavens, I know that everything is from You, You are the One who bestows and You are the One who gives. "And if I make my bed in Sheol" - and even when I descend very low and my mind is diminished, even then my sole yearning is only toward You, "behold, You are there" - You are the One, and the power is in Your hands. Thus, I see the Master of the World both in good and in bad, and I recognize that He is with me in every situation.
Recognizing Sin - The Root of Teshuvah
In the name of Rabbi Bunim of Peshischa it is explained: "If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there" - when a person spreads a bed in Sheol for himself, meaning he recognizes how far his sin reaches, then "behold, You are there" - the Holy One, blessed be He, is there, and Gehinnom is no longer Gehinnom. A person must recognize his sin, and the inability to do so is his greatest tragedy. "Behold, I will enter into judgment with you because you say, 'I have not sinned'" - seemingly this is puzzling: Did she sin or not? She sinned! If so, judge her for her sins; why say "because you say, 'I have not sinned'"? Rather, the Holy One, blessed be He, says: Had you said "I have sinned," you would never have come to judgment at all, because you would have reached rectification.
And what causes sin in the first place? The attitude of "What did I do wrong?", "Everyone is like this today," "Nowadays this is accepted," "That was in the past." And today there are new expressions: "Don't be so holier-than-thou," "Suddenly you've become a tzaddik," "You've become so strict," "Why are you being such a frummer?" - and based on this, all restraint has been cast off. But if a person spreads a bed in Sheol for himself, recognizing that his sin has reached all the way to Sheol, then "behold, You are there" - he will find God, and he is no longer in Sheol. This is the path of teshuvah.
Here we touch upon one of the chronic ailments of our generation: for every wrongdoing and corruption, a person finds a matching crowd, and then says, "Everyone is doing it." And everyone has his own "everyone." They tell him: "Sir, the Gedolei Yisrael forbade this." He replies: "Today everyone has a smartphone." They tell him: "The Gedolei Yisrael said to install a filter." He replies: "You can't manage with that." In his world, "everyone" is involved in every kind of ill, "everyone" is constantly traveling abroad on vacations, "everyone" is chasing money. I do not know which "everyone" you belong to; my "everyone" is different. The question is which "everyone" you attach yourself to. If a person wants, he can always find a group of empty and reckless people to join; someone even opened a pub for religious people, and he will tell you, "Everyone is there." It is like the child who says, "Abba, buy it for me, everyone has it" - when only four children in a class of thirty actually have it. Connect with the other "everyone," and you will see that not everyone has it.
And as Rav Yosefi puts it: In Gehinnom there is room for everyone. You say, "Everyone is doing it" - true, do not worry, there is plenty of room for everyone there. What of it if this person and that person have no fear of God - does that mean you are in good shape? It means you belong to a crowd you will meet in far less pleasant places. But if a person acknowledges that he has sinned and corrupted his ways, he has a chance to do teshuvah.
Incidentally, the Kotzker Rebbe once remarked: People are careful on Rosh Hashanah not to eat walnuts (egoz), because the numerical value of egoz without the aleph equals that of chet (sin). He told them: Know that I checked, and chet itself also equals chet - so it is highly advisable on Rosh Hashanah to avoid actual sins as well! From walnuts he is careful, yet gossiping about this one and that one in the middle of prayer poses no problem for him. One must avoid that as well.
"There You Are" Versus "Behold, You Are There" - Closeness in Times of Distress
The Holy One, blessed be He, says, "I am with him in distress." The time when Hashem is with a person to the highest degree is precisely when he is in hardship: then Hashem stays close to him, accompanying him at every step, far more than in good and successful times - He is hand in hand with him, carrying him in His arms. This is precisely reflected in the verse: "If I ascend to heaven, there You are" - when I am at the height of success, "there" implies distance. But "if I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there" - I have descended very low, down into Sheol itself, and then "behold, You are there" - right here before me, not "there" in the distance, but close. It is precisely in times of darkness that you have the closest accompaniment.
"If I Take Wing with the Dawn" - At the Speed of Light to the End of the World
(ט) אֶשָּׂא כַנְפֵי־שָׁחַר אֶשְׁכְּנָה בְּאַחֲרִית יָם׃ - "If I take wing with the dawn, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea."
(י) גַּם־שָׁם יָדְךָ תַנְחֵנִי וְתֹאחֲזֵנִי יְמִינֶךָ׃ - "Even there Your hand would guide me, and Your right hand would hold me."
Rashi explains: If I were to take wings like the dawn, which shines forth in an instant from one end of the world to the other. And how does the dawn have wings? When the dawn breaks, one sees how it spreads from horizon to horizon - look toward the east, and within two or three minutes the dawn suddenly stretches from end to end. This is "If I take wing with the dawn": just as the dawn shines in an instant from one end of the world to the other, so too if I were to fly swiftly to dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea in a single flight - even there, "Your hand would guide me, and Your right hand would hold me."
The Radak explains differently: The intention is not that dawn spreads its wings immediately at sunrise, but rather that dawn spreads its wings from morning until evening - within twelve hours it has already traversed the entire world. Dawn spreads its wings in the east, and where does it come to dwell? In the place where, as it were, the sun sets before our eyes - "in the furthest reaches of the sea," in the west. It turns out that dawn, with its tremendous speed, has crossed from east to west in a single day, traversing the entire world to its very end - and even so, there too I will find that "You are there." Even if I were to go from east to west in a single moment, I would find You there, and I could not exist without You; everywhere Your hand guides me and You direct me.
"Your Hand Will Guide Me, and Your Right Hand Will Hold Me" - The Left Hand of Nature and the Right Hand of Chesed
The Malbim follows the Radak's approach: If I had wings like the dawn, and were to traverse from east to west in a single day and wish to dwell there - this too would be of no avail. "Even there Your hand will guide me" - and who flew me from east to west in the first place? Your hand, Your power; it was the hand of Hashem that guided me. And what is "and Your right hand will hold me"? The Malbim consistently explains that whenever "hand" and "right hand" are mentioned together, "hand" refers to the left hand, while "right hand" is literal. The left hand symbolizes the natural order of providence, whereas the right hand represents chesed, as in "the right hand of Hashem performs valiantly," "the right hand of Hashem is exalted" - the right hand that acts beyond the bounds of nature.
If so, the Malbim explains: Even this flight is by Your power. As it were, You guide me with Your left hand, and hold me with Your right hand to restrain me at any moment You desire. I am like a guided missile directed by the hand of the Holy One, blessed be He - you do not fly on your own. And when I wish to arrive there, the right hand will come, take hold of me, and stop me from reaching where I wanted. Thus, even in such a scenario, I am not independent at all; everything comes from You, and there is no fleeing from You.
The term "will hold me" (tochazeni) is similar to the phrasing in Selichot: "Do not make a full end of us; let Your hand take hold of justice (to'chez yadcha bemishpat)." And it is asked: What does "let Your hand take hold of justice" mean, when we desire chesed and mercy rather than strict justice? One explanation is: "Let Your hand take hold" - do not let strict justice run its full course; rather, grasp it and restrain it. Others explain the reverse: "Take hold of justice" - because without justice, mercy cannot function, since a person does not approach a judge asking for mercy not to be judged at all; rather, a trial must take place, an advocate defends, and only then is mercy requested. This is the meaning of "do not make a full end of us" - that we should not be like one who "perishes without judgment," but rather let there be judgment, allowing room for mercy. Another explanation: "Do not make a full end of us" - do not treat us like the multitudes of the nations, as in the phrase "Who did not set our portion like theirs, nor our lot like all their multitudes," and the theme parallels both parts of the verse.
"Surely Darkness Will Envelop Me" - Concealment in the Dark
(יא) וָאֹמַר אַךְ־חֹשֶׁךְ יְשׁוּפֵנִי וְלַיְלָה אוֹר בַּעֲדֵנִי׃ - And I said, "Surely darkness will envelop me, and night will be light around me."
Rashi explains: If I said, "I will hide in the darkness, and the darkness will obscure me so You do not see me" - yeshufeni is from the language of neshef, night. And note how Rashi interprets the word or (light): here, or carries the meaning of darkness; "and night will be light around me" means that the night will darken before me. For or can also mean darkness, as in "the cloud scatters its light" - does a cloud scatter light? On the contrary, a cloud brings darkness, but "light" here is used in the sense of darkness. So too with "all the stars of light" - stars of the night, stars of darkness; and likewise "and it illumined (vaye'er) the night" - meaning it darkened the night. Thus, according to Rashi: I wish to hide from You in the darkness and the night, wanting that night to darken around me.
The Radak explains the opposite: If I were to think that the darkness would conceal me, so that I could hide from You in the dark, where You would see neither me nor my thoughts - behold, "night will be light around me," meaning the night, though dark, shines before me. That is, for You, Master of the Universe, night is as light. For us, darkness is a reality that prevents sight, but You see me even at night; for You, it is a dimension of light and a dimension of day. According to the Radak, therefore, "light" here is literal and not in the sense of darkness. Nor should we be surprised that a single word can serve two opposite meanings - this is like contronyms in Hebrew: lekales, which means both to mock and ridicule, and to praise and extol; lesharesh (to uproot) and lehashrish (to take root); and other words bearing antonymic meanings.
The Malbim explains: Even if I wished to say that darkness would obscure me so You would not see me, and "night will be light around me" - meaning that the place of darkness would become dark even during the day, and all the more so at night, so that You would not see me in my hiding place - it would be of no avail. He too interprets yeshufeni as deriving from neshef, night.
"Even Darkness Does Not Obscure from You" - Three and Four Times the Same Principle
(יב) גַּם־חֹשֶׁךְ לֹא־יַחְשִׁיךְ מִמֶּךָּ וְלַיְלָה כַּיּוֹם יָאִיר כַּחֲשֵׁיכָה כָּאוֹרָה׃ - Even darkness does not obscure from You, and night shines like day; darkness is as light.
Rashi comments: "The darkness is as the light" - both are equal before You; darkness and light are one and the same. And the Radak notes that Scripture repeats and emphasizes this theme three and fourfold: "Darkness will crush me," "Night shall be light about me," "Even darkness does not obscure from You," "And night shines like day," "The darkness is as the light" - reiterating the very same principle three and four times, for there is no darkness and shadow of death where one can hide from Him. He explains that "does not obscure" (לא יחשיך) is a transitive verb: darkness does not darken others and does not conceal them from You; it does not prevent You from seeing anything. And the night shines before You just like the day.
And the letter kaf in kachasheicha ka'orah ("as darkness so is light") is the kaf of comparison. Do not wonder why there are two kafs here - where seemingly it might have been more appropriate to write chasheicha ka'orah with just a single kaf - for this is the standard style of Scripture: "As you are, so is Pharaoh" (כמוך כפרעה), "As with the servant, so with his master" (כעבד כאדוניו), "As with the lender, so with the borrower" (כמלווה כלווה). Thus, the comparative kaf appears on both elements that Scripture is comparing to one another.
The Malbim adds: You do not see through sensory physical eyes as a human being does, who requires light in order to see properly. Before You, "night shines like day" - the time of darkness is no hindrance to You, nor is a place where light cannot penetrate any hindrance to You, for "the darkness is as the light": a place of darkness and a place of light are one and the same.
"For You Fashioned My Kidneys" - Creator of the Vessels of Thought
(יג) כִּי־אַתָּה קָנִיתָ כִלְיֹתָי תְּסֻכֵּנִי בְּבֶטֶן אִמִּי׃ - (13) For You fashioned my kidneys; You sheltered me in my mother's womb.
Rashi explains: "Fashioned my kidneys" - the kidneys that deliberate all my thoughts; "sheltered me" (tesukeini) - You sheltered me in my mother's womb, as though my mother's womb were a protective shelter over me while I was developing inside.
The Radak adds: Chazal say that the kidneys give counsel, which is why they serve as an expression for thought. And how do the kidneys counsel, and what is the connection between counsel and the kidneys? Because the kidneys perform the function of separation in the body - between fluids needed by the body and those that must be expelled - so they filter and discern. And that is precisely the essence of counsel: there are several options and various paths, and one sifts and selects one thing from another to decide which is the correct course. Therefore, the kidneys represent the concept of counsel. "You fashioned my kidneys" - for the kidneys counsel and the heart resolves, and You formed them. This is not in the sense of a purchase, but in the sense of Koneh hakol ("Possessor/Maker of all"): when we say Hashem possesses everything, it does not mean He bought it from someone, but that everything is His creation and possession. If so, my kidneys are also Your possession - so how could whatever the kidneys counsel ever be concealed from You?
"You sheltered me in my mother's womb" - that is a place of darkness where there is no light, and if You formed me there and sheltered me with bones and sinews, as in the language of Iyov, how could You not know all my secrets? Some explain that Scripture specifically mentions the kidneys because they are the very beginning of the formation of the human body, serving as the two pivots of the wheel. And the word kanita ("You fashioned/possessed") is akin to Koneh shamayim va'aretz ("Creator of heaven and earth").
The Malbim explains: You know all my secrets because You fashioned my kidneys, to the extent that You even know my thoughts - and for You, this is knowledge that exists even without any tangible physical manifestation. "Did You not shelter me in my mother's womb?" - You sheltered me already in my mother's womb, so Your knowledge is not like human knowledge, which requires seeing and observing something to know it; Your knowledge is an intrinsic, inner knowledge, for You created my very kidneys, and therefore my thoughts are certainly known to You.
The Parable of the Microchip
To illustrate the matter with a parable: in the United States, there was a time when warnings were issued against buying smartphones made in China. The Chinese, masters of espionage and duplication - a story was once told of a major shoe brand that set up a factory in China, where they produced shoes for the company by day, and by night produced the exact same shoes for a black-market parallel export, so that the owner's own factory was competing against him. Those same Chinese manufacturers produced smartphones and embedded a microchip inside that recorded everything and transmitted everything, so that anyone using them was being monitored by China - without any need for Pegasus spyware, they already knew everything about you. And this is entirely understandable: could the one who manufactured the device, installed all the chips, and built everything inside not know what you are speaking into it?
It is precisely the same here: the Holy One, Blessed be He, manufactured the kidneys - could He possibly not know what you think through them? The Almighty says: This is My creation; I made this, and therefore I know what is inside your kidneys, what lies within, and what thoughts encompass you.
In summary:
In these verses, Dovid HaMelech teaches us that man has no escape from the Master of the World: neither in the heights of the heavens nor in the depths of Sheol, neither in taking swift flight like the dawn to the farthest west, nor in the concealment of darkness and night - for "darkness is as light." And not only does physical space offer no hiding place, but even thought is not concealed, for the Holy One, Blessed is He, is the One Who formed the counseling kidneys and knit man together in his mother's womb. From this realization, two insights emerge: the first - awe at the wonder of human creation, which is "too wondrous for me; I cannot attain it"; and the second - the profound comfort that this very "there is no fleeing from You" is also "You are there." Even one who has descended to Sheol, provided he acknowledges his sin and does not excuse himself by saying "everyone does it," will find the Master of the World waiting for him there - and specifically in the hour of darkness, the Divine companionship is at its closest.