English Standard Version
Psalms 18:5
5the cords of Sheol entangled 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.
- New King James Version (NKJV)The sorrows of Sheol surrounded me; The snares of death confronted me.
- New Living Translation (NLT)The grave wrapped its ropes around me; death laid a trap in my path.
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 encompassed me; the torrents of destruction assailed me; the cords of Sheol entangled me; the snares of death confronted me. 6In my distress I called upon the Lord; to my God I cried for help. From his temple he heard my voice, and my cry to him reached his ears. 7Then the earth reeled and rocked; the foundations also of the mountains trembled and quaked, because he was 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 steadfast love toward me; you have delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol.
- Psalms 88:3For my soul is full of troubles, and my life draws near to Sheol.
- Acts 2:24God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it.
- Ecclesiastes 9:12For man does not know his time. Like fish that are taken in an evil net, and like birds that are caught in a snare, so the children of man are snared at an evil time, when it suddenly falls upon 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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Commentaries