Compared with the classical stories about the creation of humanity in Gen 1-2, Ps 139:13-16 is a remarkable text exposing some interesting details about variant Israelite concepts regarding human origins. One of those is the idea that divine creation transcends the repetitive processes of birth. It is argued that the Hebrew term, קנה has strong mythological connotations here as well as in other places in the Old Testament. סכך should most likely be correlated with נסך, which is clarified in closely related contexts such as Prov 8:23 and Ps 2:6. These texts, as well as the somewhat more remote Job 10:9-11, suggest that Ps 139:13 speaks about the pouring of the human creature into the mother’s womb. This imagery has a double significance. On the one hand, it has clear sexual connotations (cf. Job 10:9-11). On the other hand, this motif also alludes to the work of craftsmen casting the idols and thus – in a mythological sense – giving birth to the Near Eastern gods. While the same idea is used by Ps 2:6 in relation to the Judaean king (as it is indeed in most extra-biblical texts), ancient Near Eastern evidence shows that the motif of divine conception and birth is not limited to royal figures. It can be taken up in prayers of various individuals when emphasising the close connections with their personal gods.