New Living Translation
Psalms 18:5
5The grave wrapped its ropes around me; death laid a trap in my path.
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 called on the Lord, who is worthy of praise, and he saved me from my enemies. 4The ropes of death entangled me; floods of destruction swept over me. The 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. 7Then the earth quaked and trembled. The foundations of the mountains shook; they quaked because of his anger.
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 your love for me is very great. You have rescued me from the depths of death.
- Psalms 88:3For my life is full of troubles, and death draws near.
- Acts 2:24But God released him from the horrors of death and raised him back to life, for death could not keep him in its grip.
- Ecclesiastes 9:12People can never predict when hard times might come. Like fish in a net or birds in a trap, people are caught by sudden tragedy.
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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