Mazmur 79:3

79:3 They have made their blood flow like water

all around Jerusalem, and there is no one to bury them. ¹ 

Mazmur 88:11

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

or your faithfulness in the place of the dead? ² 

Mazmur 103:4

103:4 who delivers ³  your life from the Pit, ⁴ 

who crowns you with his loyal love and compassion,

Mazmur 30:9

30:9 “What ⁵  profit is there in taking my life, ⁶ 

in my descending into the Pit? ⁷ 

Can the dust of the grave ⁸  praise you?

Can it declare your loyalty? ⁹ 

Mazmur 107:20

107:20 He sent them an assuring word ¹⁰  and healed them;

he rescued them from the pits where they were trapped. ¹¹ 

Mazmur 49:9

49:9 so that he might continue to live ¹²  forever

and not experience death. ¹³ 

Mazmur 5:9

5:9 For ¹⁴  they do not speak the truth; ¹⁵ 

their stomachs are like the place of destruction, ¹⁶ 

their throats like an open grave, ¹⁷ 

their tongues like a steep slope leading into it. ¹⁸ 

Mazmur 49:11

49:11 Their grave becomes their permanent residence,

their eternal dwelling place. ¹⁹ 

They name their lands after themselves, ²⁰ 

Mazmur 141:7

141:7 As when one plows and breaks up the soil, ²¹ 

so our bones are scattered at the mouth of Sheol.

Mazmur 30:3

30:3 O Lord, you pulled me ²²  up from Sheol;

you rescued me from among those descending into the grave. ²³ 

Mazmur 88:4-6

88:4 They treat me like ²⁴  those who descend into the grave. ²⁵ 

I am like a helpless man, ²⁶ 

88:5 adrift ²⁷  among the dead,

like corpses lying in the grave,

whom you remember no more,

and who are cut off from your power. ²⁸ 

88:6 You place me in the lowest regions of the pit, ²⁹ 

in the dark places, in the watery depths.

Mazmur 28:1

Psalm 28 ³⁰ 

By David.

28:1 To you, O Lord, I cry out!

My protector, ³¹  do not ignore me! ³² 

If you do not respond to me, ³³ 

I will join ³⁴  those who are descending into the grave. ³⁵ 

Mazmur 143:7

143:7 Answer me quickly, Lord!

My strength is fading. ³⁶ 

Do not reject me, ³⁷ 

or I will join ³⁸  those descending into the grave. ³⁹ 

Mazmur 49:17

49:17 For he will take nothing with him when he dies;

his wealth will not follow him down into the grave. ⁴⁰ 

Mazmur 89:48

89:48 No man can live on without experiencing death,

or deliver his life from the power of Sheol. ⁴¹  (Selah)

Mazmur 31:17

31:17 O Lord, do not let me be humiliated,

for I call out to you!

May evil men be humiliated!

May they go wailing to the grave! ⁴² 

Mazmur 49:14

49:14 They will travel to Sheol like sheep, ⁴³ 

with death as their shepherd. ⁴⁴ 

The godly will rule ⁴⁵  over them when the day of vindication dawns; ⁴⁶ 

Sheol will consume their bodies and they will no longer live in impressive houses. ⁴⁷ 

Mazmur 16:10

16:10 You will not abandon me ⁴⁸  to Sheol; ⁴⁹ 

you will not allow your faithful follower ⁵⁰  to see ⁵¹  the Pit. ⁵² 

Mazmur 49:15

49:15 But ⁵³  God will rescue ⁵⁴  my life ⁵⁵  from the power ⁵⁶  of Sheol;

certainly ⁵⁷  he will pull me to safety. ⁵⁸  (Selah)

Mazmur 69:15

69:15 Don’t let the current overpower me!

Don’t let the deep swallow me up!

Don’t let the pit ⁵⁹  devour me! ⁶⁰ 

Mazmur 71:20

71:20 Though you have allowed me to experience much trouble and distress, ⁶¹ 

revive me once again! ⁶² 

Bring me up once again ⁶³  from the depths of the earth!

Mazmur 86:13

86:13 For you will extend your great loyal love to me, ⁶⁴ 

and will deliver my life ⁶⁵  from the depths of Sheol. ⁶⁶ 

Mazmur 88:10

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

Do the departed spirits ⁶⁷  rise up and give you thanks? (Selah)

Mazmur 30:12

30:12 So now ⁶⁸  my heart ⁶⁹  will sing to you and not be silent;

O Lord my God, I will always ⁷⁰  give thanks to you.

[79:3]  ¹ tn Heb “they have poured out their blood like water, all around Jerusalem, and there is no one burying.”

[88:11]  ² tn Heb “in Abaddon,” a name for Sheol. The noun is derived from a verbal root meaning “to perish,” “to die.”

[103:4]  ³ tn Or “redeems.”

[103:4]  ⁴ tn The Hebrew term שַׁחַת (shakhat, “pit”) is often used as a title for Sheol (see Pss 16:10; 30:9; 49:9; 55:24.

[30:9]  ⁵ sn The following two verses (vv. 9-10) contain the prayer (or an excerpt of the prayer) that the psalmist offered to the Lord during his crisis.

[30:9]  ⁶ tn Heb “What profit [is there] in my blood?” “Blood” here represents his life.

[30:9]  ⁷ tn The Hebrew term שָׁחַת (shakhat, “pit”) is often used as a title for Sheol (see Pss 16:10; 49:9; 55:24; 103:4).

[30:9]  ⁸ tn Heb “dust.” The words “of the grave” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[30:9]  ⁹ tn The rhetorical questions anticipate the answer, “Of course not!”

[30:9]  sn 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 6:5; 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!

[107:20]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “he sent his word.” This probably refers to an oracle of assurance which announced his intention to intervene (see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 [WBC], 59).

[107:20]  ¹¹ tn Heb “he rescued from their traps.” The Hebrew word שְׁחִית (shekhit, “trap”) occurs only here and in Lam 4:20, where it refers to a trap or pit in which one is captured. Because of the rarity of the term and the absence of an object with the verb “rescued,” some prefer to emend the text of Ps 107:20, reading מִשַׁחַת חַיָּתָם (mishakhat khayyatam, “[he rescued] their lives from the pit”). Note also NIV “from the grave,” which interprets the “pit” as Sheol or the grave.

[49:9]  ¹² tn The jussive verbal form with vav (ו) conjunctive is taken as indicating purpose/result in relation to the statement made in v. 8. (On this use of the jussive after an imperfect, see GKC 322 §109.f.) In this case v. 8 is understood as a parenthetical comment.

[49:9]  ¹³ tn Heb “see the Pit.” The Hebrew term שַׁחַת (shakhat, “pit”) is often used as a title for Sheol (see Pss 16:10; 30:9; 55:24; 103:4).

[5:9]  ¹⁴ tn Or “certainly.”

[5:9]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “for there is not in his mouth truthfulness.” The singular pronoun (“his”) probably refers back to the “man of bloodshed and deceit” mentioned in v. 6. The singular is collective or representative, as the plural in the next line indicates, and so has been translated “they.”

[5:9]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “their inward part[s] [is] destruction.” For a discussion of the extended metaphor in v. 9b, see the note on the word “it” at the end of the verse.

[5:9]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “their throat is an open grave.” For a discussion of the extended metaphor in v. 9b, see the note on the word “it” at the end of the verse. The metaphor is suggested by the physical resemblance of the human throat to a deeply dug grave; both are dark chasms.

[5:9]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “they make smooth their tongue.” Flattering, deceitful words are in view. See Ps 12:2. The psalmist’s deceitful enemies are compared to the realm of death/Sheol in v. 9b. Sheol was envisioned as a dark region within the earth, the entrance to which was the grave with its steep slopes (cf. Ps 88:4-6). The enemies’ victims are pictured here as slipping down a steep slope (the enemies’ tongues) and falling into an open grave (their throat) that terminates in destruction in the inner recesses of Sheol (their stomach). The enemies’ קרב (“inward part”) refers here to their thoughts and motives, which are destructive in their intent. The throat is where these destructive thoughts are transformed into words, and their tongue is what they use to speak the deceitful words that lead their innocent victims to their demise.

[5:9]  sn As the psalmist walks down the path in which God leads him, he asks the Lord to guide his steps and remove danger from the path (v. 8), because he knows his enemies have “dug a grave” for him and are ready to use their deceitful words to “swallow him up” like the realm of death (i.e., Sheol) and bring him to ruin.

[49:11]  ¹⁹ tc Heb “their inward part [is] their houses [are] permanent, their dwelling places for a generation and a generation.” If one follows the MT, then קֶרֶב (qerev, “inward part”) must refer to the seat of these people’s thoughts (for other examples of this use of the term, see BDB 899 s.v., though BDB prefers an emendation in this passage). In this case all three lines of v. 11 expose these people’s arrogant assumption that they will last forever, which then stands in sharp contrast to reality as summarized in v. 12. In this case one might translate the first two lines, “they think that their houses are permanent and that their dwelling places will last forever” (cf. NASB). Following the lead of several ancient versions, the present translation assumes an emendation of קִרְבָּם (qirbam, “their inward part”) to קְבָרִים (qÿvarim, “graves”). This assumes that the letters bet (ב) and resh (ר) were accidentally transposed in the MT. In this case the first two lines support the point made in v. 10, while the third line of v. 11 stands in contrast to v. 12. The phrase בֵּית עוֹלָם (bet ’olam, “permanent house”) is used of a tomb in Eccl 12:5 (as well as in Phoenician tomb inscriptions, see DNWSI 1:160 for a list of texts) and מִשְׁכָּן (mishkan, “dwelling place”) refers to a tomb in Isa 22:16. Cf. NEB, NIV, NRSV.

[49:11]  ²⁰ sn Naming their lands after themselves is a claim of possession.

[141:7]  ²¹ tn Heb “like splitting and breaking open in the earth.” The meaning of the statement and the point of the comparison are not entirely clear. Perhaps the psalmist is suggesting that he and other godly individuals are as good as dead; their bones are scattered about like dirt that is dug up and tossed aside.

[30:3]  ²² tn Or “my life.”

[30:3]  ²³ tn Heb “you kept me alive from those descending into the pit.” The Hebrew noun בוֹר (bor, “pit, cistern”) is sometimes used of the grave and/or the realm of the dead. The translation follows the consonantal Hebrew text (Kethib); the marginal reading (Qere) has, “you kept me alive so that I did not go down into the pit.”

[88:4]  ²⁴ tn Heb “I am considered with.”

[88:4]  ²⁵ tn Heb “the pit.” The noun בּוֹר (bor, “pit,” “cistern”) is sometimes used of the grave and/or the realm of the dead.

[88:4]  ²⁶ tn Heb “I am like a man [for whom] there is no help.”

[88:5]  ²⁷ tn Heb “set free.”

[88:5]  ²⁸ tn Heb “from your hand.”

[88:6]  ²⁹ tn The noun בּוֹר (bor, “pit,” “cistern”) is sometimes used of the grave and/or the realm of the dead. See v. 4.

[28:1]  ³⁰ sn Psalm 28. The author looks to the Lord for vindication, asks that the wicked be repaid in full for their evil deeds, and affirms his confidence that the Lord will protect his own.

[28:1]  ³¹ tn Heb “my rocky summit.” The Lord is compared to a rocky summit where one can find protection from enemies. See Ps 18:2.

[28:1]  ³² tn Heb “do not be deaf from me.”

[28:1]  ³³ tn Heb “lest [if] you are silent from me.”

[28:1]  ³⁴ tn Heb “I will be equal with.”

[28:1]  ³⁵ tn Heb “the pit.” The noun בּוֹר (bor, “pit, cistern”) is sometimes used of the grave and/or the realm of the dead.

[143:7]  ³⁶ tn Heb “my spirit is failing.”

[143:7]  ³⁷ tn Heb “do not hide your face from me.” The idiom “hide the face” (1) can mean “ignore” (see Pss 10:11; 13:1; 51:9) or (2) can carry the stronger idea of “reject” (see Pss 30:7; 88:14).

[143:7]  ³⁸ tn Heb “I will be equal with.”

[143:7]  ³⁹ tn Heb “the pit.” The Hebrew noun בּוֹר (bor, “pit; cistern”) is sometimes used of the grave and/or the realm of the dead. See Ps 28:1.

[49:17]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “his glory will not go down after him.”

[89:48]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “Who [is] the man [who] can live and not see death, [who] can deliver his life from the hand of Sheol?” The rhetorical question anticipates the answer, “No one!”

[31:17]  ⁴² tn The verb יִדְּמוּ (yiddÿmu) is understood as a form of דָּמַם (damam, “wail, lament”). Another option is to take the verb from דָּמַם (“be quiet”; see BDB 198-99 s.v. I דָּמַם), in which case one might translate, “May they lie silent in the grave.”

[49:14]  ⁴³ tn Heb “like sheep to Sheol they are appointed.” The verb form שַׁתּוּ (shatu) is apparently derived from שָׁתַת (shatat), which appears to be a variant of the more common שִׁית (shiyt, “to place; to set”; BDB 1060 s.v. שָׁתַת and GKC 183 §67.ee). Some scholars emend the text to שָׁחוּ (shakhu; from the verbal root שׁוּח [shukh, “sink down”]) and read “they descend.” The present translation assumes an emendation to שָׁטוּ (shatu; from the verbal root שׁוּט [shut, “go; wander”]), “they travel, wander.” (The letter tet [ט] and tav [ת] sound similar; a scribe transcribing from dictation could easily confuse them.) The perfect verbal form is used in a rhetorical manner to speak of their destiny as if it were already realized (the so-called perfect of certitude or prophetic perfect).

[49:14]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “death will shepherd them,” that is, death itself (personified here as a shepherd) will lead them like a flock of helpless, unsuspecting sheep to Sheol, the underworld, the land of the dead.

[49:14]  ⁴⁵ tn The prefixed verbal form with vav (ו) consecutive carries the same force as the perfect verbal form in v. 14a. The psalmist speaks of this coming event as if it were already accomplished.

[49:14]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “will rule over them in the morning.” “Morning” here is a metaphor for a time of deliverance and vindication after the dark “night” of trouble (see Pss 30:5; 46:5; 59:16; 90:14; 143:8; Isa 17:14). In this context the psalmist confidently anticipates a day of vindication when the Lord will deliver the oppressed from the rich (see v. 15) and send the oppressors to Sheol.

[49:14]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “their form [will become an object] for the consuming of Sheol, from a lofty residence, to him.” The meaning of this syntactically difficult text is uncertain. The translation assumes that צוּר (tsur, “form”; this is the Qere [marginal] reading; the Kethib has צִירָם [tsiram, “their image”]) refers to their physical form or bodies. “Sheol” is taken as the subject of “consume” (on the implied “become” before the infinitive “to consume” see GKC 349 §114.k). The preposition מִן (min) prefixed to “lofty residence” is understood as privative, “away from; so as not.” The preposition -ל (lamed) is possessive, while the third person pronominal suffix is understood as a representative singular.

[16:10]  ⁴⁸ tn Or “my life.” The suffixed form of נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh, “being”) is often equivalent to a pronoun in poetic texts.

[16:10]  ⁴⁹ sn In ancient Israelite cosmology Sheol is the realm of the dead, viewed as being under the earth’s surface. See L. I. J. Stadelmann, The Hebrew Conception of the World, 165-76.

[16:10]  ⁵⁰ tn A “faithful follower” (חָסִיד [khasid], traditionally rendered “holy one”) is one who does what is right in God’s eyes and remains faithful to God (see Pss 4:3; 12:1; 18:25; 31:23; 37:28; 86:2; 97:10). The psalmist here refers to himself, as the parallel line (“You will not abandon me to Sheol”) indicates.

[16:10]  ⁵¹ tn That is, “experience.” The psalmist is confident that the Lord will protect him in his present crisis (see v. 1) and prevent him from dying.

[16:10]  sn According to Peter, the words of Ps 16:8-11 are applicable to Jesus (Acts 2:25-29). Peter goes on to argue that David, being a prophet, foresaw future events and spoke of Jesus’ resurrection from the dead (Acts 2:30-33). Paul seems to concur with Peter in this understanding (see Acts 13:35-37). For a discussion of the NT application of these verses to Jesus’ resurrection, see R. B. Chisholm, Jr., “A Theology of the Psalms,” A Biblical Theology of the Old Testament, 292-95.

[16:10]  ⁵² tn The Hebrew word שָׁחַת (shakhat, “pit”) is often used as a title for Sheol (see Pss 30:9; 49:9; 55:24; 103:4). Note the parallelism with the previous line.

[49:15]  ⁵³ tn Or “certainly.”

[49:15]  ⁵⁴ tn Or “redeem.”

[49:15]  ⁵⁵ tn Or “me.” The Hebrew term נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) with a pronominal suffix is often equivalent to a pronoun, especially in poetry (see BDB 660 s.v. נֶפֶשׁ 4.a).

[49:15]  ⁵⁶ tn Heb “hand.”

[49:15]  ⁵⁷ tn Or “for.”

[49:15]  ⁵⁸ tn Heb “he will take me.” To improve the poetic balance of the verse, some move the words “from the power of Sheol” to the following line. The verse would then read: “But God will rescue my life; / from the power of Sheol he will certainly deliver me” (cf. NEB).

[49:15]  sn According to some, the psalmist here anticipates the resurrection (or at least an afterlife in God’s presence). But it is more likely that the psalmist here expresses his hope that God will rescue him from premature death at the hands of the rich oppressors denounced in the psalm. The psalmist is well aware that all (the wise and foolish) die (see vv. 7-12), but he is confident God will lead him safely through the present “times of trouble” (v. 5) and sweep the wicked away to their final destiny. The theme is a common one in the so-called wisdom psalms (see Pss 1, 34, 37, 112). For a fuller discussion of the psalmists’ view of the afterlife, see R. B. Chisholm, Jr., “A Theology of the Psalms,” A Biblical Theology of the Old Testament, 284-88.

[69:15]  ⁵⁹ tn Heb “well,” which here symbolizes the place of the dead (cf. Ps 55:23).

[69:15]  ⁶⁰ tn Heb “do not let the well close its mouth upon me.”

[71:20]  ⁶¹ tn Heb “you who have caused me to see many harmful distresses.”

[71:20]  ⁶² tn Heb “you return, you give me life.” The Hebrew term שׁוּב (shuv, “return”) is used here in an adverbial sense, indicating repetition of the action described by the following verb. The imperfects are understood here as expressing the psalmist’s prayer or wish. (Note the use of a distinctly jussive form at the beginning of v. 21.) Another option is to understand this as a statement of confidence, “you will revive me once again” (cf. NIV, NRSV).

[71:20]  ⁶³ tn Heb “you return, you bring me up.” The Hebrew term שׁוּב (shuv, “return”) is used here in an adverbial sense, indicating repetition of the action described by the following verb. The imperfects are understood here as expressing the psalmist’s prayer or wish. (Note the use of a distinctly jussive form at the beginning of v. 21.) Another option is to understand this as a statement of confidence, “you will bring me up once again” (cf. NIV, NRSV).

[86:13]  ⁶⁴ tn Heb “for your loyal love [is] great over me.”

[86:13]  ⁶⁵ tn Or “for he will have delivered my life.” The verb form indicates a future perfect here.

[86:13]  ⁶⁶ tn Or “lower Sheol.”

[88:10]  ⁶⁷ tn Heb “Rephaim,” a term that refers to those who occupy the land of the dead (see Isa 14:9; 26:14, 19).

[30:12]  ⁶⁸ tn Heb “so that”; or “in order that.”

[30:12]  ⁶⁹ tn Heb “glory.” Some view כָבוֹד (khavod, “glory”) here as a metonymy for man’s inner being (see BDB 459 s.v. II כָּבוֹד 5), but it is preferable to emend the form to כְּבֵדִי (kÿvediy, “my liver”). Like the heart, the liver is viewed as the seat of one’s emotions. See also Pss 16:9; 57:9; 108:1, as well as H. W. Wolff, Anthropology of the Old Testament, 64, and M. Dahood, Psalms (AB), 1:90. For an Ugaritic example of the heart/liver as the source of joy, see G. R. Driver, Canaanite Myths and Legends, 47-48: “her [Anat’s] liver swelled with laughter, her heart was filled with joy, the liver of Anat with triumph.” “Heart” is used in the translation above for the sake of English idiom; the expression “my liver sings” would seem odd indeed to the modern reader.

[30:12]  ⁷⁰ tn Or “forever.”