New King James Version
Psalms 18:4
4The pangs of death surrounded me, And the floods of ungodliness made me afraid.
Psalms 18:4 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)The sorrows of death compassed me, and the floods of ungodly men made me afraid.
- New International Version (NIV)The cords of death entangled me; the torrents of destruction overwhelmed me.
- English Standard Version (ESV)The cords of death encompassed me; the torrents of destruction assailed me;
- New Living Translation (NLT)The ropes of death entangled me; floods of destruction swept over me.
Context of Psalms 18:4
2The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; My God, my strength, in whom I will trust; My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. 3I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised; So shall I be saved from my enemies. The pangs of death surrounded me, And the floods of ungodliness made me afraid. 5The sorrows of Sheol surrounded me; The snares of death confronted me. 6In my distress I called upon the Lord, And cried out to my God; He heard my voice from His temple, And my cry came before Him, even to His ears.
Read all of Psalms 18Psalms 18:4 word by word
אֲפָפ֥וּנִי חֶבְלֵי־מָ֑וֶת וְֽנַחֲלֵ֖י בְלִיַּ֣עַל יְבַֽעֲתֽוּנִי׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Psalms 18:4
- Psalms 116:3The pains of death surrounded me, And the pangs of Sheol laid hold of me; I found trouble and sorrow.
- 2 Samuel 22:5“When the waves of death surrounded me, The floods of ungodliness made me afraid.
- Isaiah 13:8And they will be afraid. Pangs and sorrows will take hold of them; They will be in pain as a woman in childbirth; They will be amazed at one another; Their faces will be like flames.
- Isaiah 53:3He is despised and rejected by men, A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.
- Matthew 26:38Then He said to them, “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch with Me.”
- Mark 14:33And He took Peter, James, and John with Him, and He began to be troubled and deeply distressed.
- 2 Corinthians 1:9Yes, we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves but in God who raises the dead,
- Psalms 22:12Many bulls have surrounded Me; Strong bulls of Bashan have encircled Me.
- Jonah 2:2And he said: “I cried out to the Lord because of my affliction, And He answered me. “Out of the belly of Sheol I cried, And You heard my voice.
- Matthew 26:47And while He was still speaking, behold, Judas, one of the twelve, with a great multitude with swords and clubs, came from the chief priests and elders of the people.
- Matthew 27:24When Pilate saw that he could not prevail at all, but rather that a tumult was rising, he took water and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, “I am innocent of the blood of this just Person. You see to it.”
- Acts 21:30And all the city was disturbed; and the people ran together, seized Paul, and dragged him out of the temple; and immediately the doors were shut.
Commentaries on Psalms 18:4
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 4The sorrows of death compassed me - מות חבלי chebley maveth, the cables or cords of death. He was almost taken in those nets or stratagems by which, if he had been entangled, he would have lost his life. The stratagems to which he refers were those that were intended for his destruction; hence called the cables or cords of death. The floods of ungodly men - Troops of wicked men were rushing upon him like an irresistible torrent; or like the waves of the…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 4The sorrows of death compassed me - Surrounded me. That is, he was in imminent danger of death, or in the midst of such pangs and sorrows as are supposed commonly to attend on death. He refers probably to some period in his past life - perhaps in the persecutions of Saul - when he was so beset with troubles and difficulties that it seemed to him that he must die. The word rendered “sorrows” - חבל chebel - means, according to Gesenius, “a cord, a rope,”…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. 44. sorrows--literally, "bands as of a net" (Psa 116:3). floods--denotes "multitude."Read the comment
Topics related to Psalms 18:4
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
New King James Version — © 1982 Thomas Nelson, Inc
Commentaries