New Living Translation
Psalms 18:4
4The ropes of death entangled me; floods of destruction swept over me.
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 King James Version (NKJV)The pangs of death surrounded me, And the floods of ungodliness made me afraid.
Context of Psalms 18:4
2The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my savior; my God is my rock, in whom I find protection. He is my shield, the power that saves me, and my place of safety. 3I called on the Lord, who is worthy of praise, and he saved me from my enemies. The ropes of death entangled me; floods of destruction swept over me. 5The grave wrapped its ropes around me; death laid a trap in my path. 6But in my distress I cried out to the Lord; yes, I prayed to my God for help. He heard me from his sanctuary; my cry to him reached 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 116:3Death wrapped its ropes around me; the terrors of the grave overtook me. I saw only trouble and sorrow.
- 2 Samuel 22:5“The waves of death overwhelmed me; floods of destruction swept over me.
- Isaiah 13:8and people are terrified. Pangs of anguish grip them, like those of a woman in labor. They look helplessly at one another, their faces aflame with fear.
- Isaiah 53:3He was despised and rejected— a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief. We turned our backs on him and looked the other way. He was despised, and we did not care.
- Matthew 26:38He told them, “My soul is crushed with grief to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.”
- Mark 14:33He took Peter, James, and John with him, and he became deeply troubled and distressed.
- 2 Corinthians 1:9In fact, we expected to die. But as a result, we stopped relying on ourselves and learned to rely only on God, who raises the dead.
- Psalms 22:12My enemies surround me like a herd of bulls; fierce bulls of Bashan have hemmed me in!
- Jonah 2:2He said, “I cried out to the Lord in my great trouble, and he answered me. I called to you from the land of the dead, and Lord, you heard me!
- Matthew 26:47And even as Jesus said this, Judas, one of the twelve disciples, arrived with a crowd of men armed with swords and clubs. They had been sent by the leading priests and elders of the people.
- Matthew 27:24Pilate saw that he wasn’t getting anywhere and that a riot was developing. So he sent for a bowl of water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of this man’s blood. The responsibility is yours!”
- Acts 21:30The whole city was rocked by these accusations, and a great riot followed. Paul was grabbed and dragged out of the Temple, and immediately the gates were closed behind him.
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
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