Amplified Bible
Psalms 18:5
5The cords of Sheol (the nether world, the place of the dead) surrounded me; The snares of death confronted me.
Psalms 18:5 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)The sorrows of hell compassed me about: the snares of death prevented me.
- New International Version (NIV)The cords of the grave coiled around me; the snares of death confronted me.
- English Standard Version (ESV)the cords of Sheol entangled me; the snares of death confronted me.
- New King James Version (NKJV)The sorrows of Sheol surrounded me; The snares of death confronted me.
Context of Psalms 18:5
3I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised; And I am saved from my enemies. 4The cords of death surrounded me, And the streams of ungodliness and torrents of destruction terrified me. The cords of Sheol (the nether world, the place of the dead) surrounded me; The snares of death confronted me. 6In my distress [when I seemed surrounded] I called upon the Lord And cried to my God for help; He heard my voice from His temple, And my cry for help came before Him, into His very ears. 7Then the earth shook and quaked, The foundations of the mountains trembled; They were shaken because He was indignant and angry.
Read all of Psalms 18Psalms 18:5 word by word
חֶבְלֵ֣י שְׁא֣וֹל סְבָב֑וּנִי קִ֝דְּמ֗וּנִי מ֣וֹקְשֵׁי מָֽוֶת׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Psalms 18:5
- Psalms 86:13For great is Your lovingkindness and graciousness toward me; And You have rescued my life from the depths of Sheol [from death].
- Psalms 88:3For my soul is full of troubles, And my life draws near the grave (Sheol, the place of the dead).
- Acts 2:24But God raised Him up, releasing Him and bringing an end to the agony of death, since it was impossible for Him to be held in death’s power.
- Ecclesiastes 9:12For man also does not know his time [of death]; like fish caught in a treacherous net, and birds caught in the snare, so the sons of men are ensnared in an evil time when a dark cloud suddenly falls on them.
Commentaries on Psalms 18:5
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 5The sorrows of hell - שאול חבלי chebley sheol, the cables or cords of the grave. Is not this a reference to the cords or ropes with which they lowered the corpse into the grave? or the bandages by which the dead were swathed? He was as good as dead. The snares of death prevented me - I was just on the point of dropping into the pit which they had digged for me. In short, I was all but a dead man; and nothing less than the immediate interference of God…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 5The sorrows of hell - Margin, “cords.” The word used here is the same which occurs in the previous verse, and which is there rendered “sorrows.” It is correctly translated here, as in that verse, “sorrows,” though the parallelism would seem to favor the interpretation in the margin - cords. If it means “sorrows,” the idea is, that such sufferings encompassed him, or seized upon him, as we associate in idea with the descent to the under-world, or the going…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 1-50This psalm describes a royal story of God rescuing his king. A similar version of this psalm appears in 2 Samuel 22:1–51. The psalm encourages those who hear the earlier prayers for help in Psalms 16 and 17. The psalmist describes the dramatic nature of God’s rescue in three different ways (Psalm 18:7–15, 16–19, 30–36). The psalm also offers hope that a future Son of David will completely defeat evil (Psalm 18:43–50; compare Psalm 2).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 55. death--and hell (compare Psa 16:10) are personified as man's great enemies (compare Re 20:13, 14). prevented--encountered me, crossed my path, and endangered my safety. He does not mean he was in their power.Read the comment
Topics related to Psalms 18:5
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Psalms 18
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- The Treasury of David
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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