Psalms 139:9
Translations
King James Version (KJV)
If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea;
American King James Version (AKJV)
If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea;
American Standard Version (ASV)
If I take the wings of the morning, And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea;
Basic English Translation (BBE)
If I take the wings of the morning, and go to the farthest parts of the sea;
Webster's Revision
If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea;
World English Bible
If I take the wings of the dawn, and settle in the uttermost parts of the sea;
English Revised Version (ERV)
If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea;
Definitions for Psalms 139:9
Barnes's Psalms 139:9 Bible Commentary
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.
Wesley's Psalms 139:9 Bible Commentary
139:9 The wings - If I should flee from east to west: for the sea being the western border of Canaan, is often put for the west in scripture. And wings are poetically ascribed to the morning here, as they are elsewhere to the sun, and to the winds.