Curiously wrought— Bishop Lowth, speaking of images in the Hebrew poetry, taken from things sacred, has the following observation: "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 ever 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 consider 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 this 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. Exodus 26:36; Exodus 27:16; Exodus 28:39 and compare Ezekiel 13:18; Ezekiel 16:10. 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 (Exodus 35:30-35.) was so exquisite, that the sacred writer seems to attribute it to a divine inspiration." See his 8th Prelection. The expression, in the lowest parts of the earth, means no more, says Mr. Mudge, than low down in the earth, as opposed to that height of heaven, where God sits, and inspects and orders every thing. Some render the words, In these lower regions of the earth.