Mazmur 6:5

6:5 For no one remembers you in the realm of death, ¹ 

In Sheol who gives you thanks? ² 

Mazmur 88:10-12

88:10 Do you accomplish amazing things for the dead?

Do the departed spirits ³  rise up and give you thanks? (Selah)

88:11 Is your loyal love proclaimed in the grave,

or your faithfulness in the place of the dead? ⁴ 

88:12 Are your amazing deeds experienced ⁵  in the dark region, ⁶ 

or your deliverance in the land of oblivion? ⁷ 

Mazmur 115:17-18

115:17 The dead do not praise the Lord,

nor do any of those who descend into the silence of death. ⁸ 

115:18 But we will praise the Lord

now and forevermore.

Praise the Lord!

Mazmur 118:17

118:17 I will not die, but live,

and I will proclaim what the Lord has done. ⁹ 

[6:5]  ¹ tn Heb “for there is not in death your remembrance.” The Hebrew noun זֵכֶר (zekher, “remembrance”) here refers to the name of the Lord as invoked in liturgy and praise. Cf. Pss 30:4; 97:12. “Death” here refers to the realm of death where the dead reside. See the reference to Sheol in the next line.

[6:5]  ² tn The rhetorical question anticipates the answer, “no one.”

[6:5]  sn In Sheol who gives you thanks? According to the OT, those who descend into the realm of death/Sheol are cut off from God’s mighty deeds and from the worshiping covenant community that experiences divine intervention (Pss 30:9; 88:10-12; Isa 38:18). In his effort to elicit a positive divine response, the psalmist reminds God that he will receive no praise or glory if he allows the psalmist to die. Dead men do not praise God!

[88:10]  ³ tn Heb “Rephaim,” a term that refers to those who occupy the land of the dead (see Isa 14:9; 26:14, 19).

[88:11]  ⁴ tn Heb “in Abaddon,” a name for Sheol. The noun is derived from a verbal root meaning “to perish,” “to die.”

[88:12]  ⁵ tn Heb “known.”

[88:12]  ⁶ tn Heb “darkness,” here a title for Sheol.

[88:12]  ⁷ tn Heb “forgetfulness.” The noun, which occurs only here in the OT, is derived from a verbal root meaning “to forget.”

[88:12]  sn The rhetorical questions in vv. 10-12 expect the answer, “Of course not!”

[115:17]  ⁸ tn Heb “silence,” a metonymy here for death (see Ps 94:17).

[118:17]  ⁹ tn Heb “the works of the Lord.”