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Text -- Psalms 18:5 (NET)

Strongs On/Off
Context
18:5 The ropes of Sheol tightened around me, the snares of death trapped me.
Parallel   Cross Reference (TSK)   ITL  

Names, People and Places, Dictionary Themes and Topics

Names, People and Places:
 · Sheol the place of the dead


Dictionary Themes and Topics: TEMPLE, B | SNARE | SHEOL | Readings, Select | Praise | PSALMS, BOOK OF | PREVENT | POETRY, HEBREW | Net | Hell | God | Gin | FORTIFICATION; FORT; FORTIFIED CITIES; FORTRESS | David | CHERUBIM (1) | BIBLE, THE, IV CANONICITY | Afflictions and Adversities | more
Table of Contents

Word/Phrase Notes
Wesley , JFB , Clarke , Calvin , TSK

Word/Phrase Notes
Barnes , Poole , Haydock , Gill

Verse Notes / Footnotes
NET Notes

Verse Range Notes
TSK Synopsis , MHCC , Matthew Henry , Keil-Delitzsch , Constable

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Commentary -- Word/Phrase Notes (per phrase)

Wesley: Psa 18:5 - -- Which brought me to the brink of the grave.

Which brought me to the brink of the grave.

Wesley: Psa 18:5 - -- Had almost taken hold of me, before I was aware.

Had almost taken hold of me, before I was aware.

JFB: Psa 18:5 - -- And hell (compare Psa 16:10) are personified as man's great enemies (compare Rev 20:13-14).

And hell (compare Psa 16:10) are personified as man's great enemies (compare Rev 20:13-14).

JFB: Psa 18:5 - -- Encountered me, crossed my path, and endangered my safety. He does not mean he was in their power.

Encountered me, crossed my path, and endangered my safety. He does not mean he was in their power.

Clarke: Psa 18:5 - -- The sorrows of hell - חבלי שאול chebley sheol , the cables or cords of the grave. Is not this a reference to the cords or ropes with which ...

The sorrows of hell - חבלי שאול 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

Clarke: Psa 18:5 - -- 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...

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 could have saved my life.

Calvin: Psa 18:5 - -- We shall now make a few observations with respect to the words. The Hebrew word חבלי , chebley, means cords or sorrows, or any deadly evil...

We shall now make a few observations with respect to the words. The Hebrew word חבלי , chebley, means cords or sorrows, or any deadly evil, 395 which consumes a man’s health and strength, and which tends to his destruction. That the psalm may correspond with the song recorded in 2nd Samuel, formerly referred to, I do not disapprove of this word being here taken for contrition, because the phrase there employed is משברי מות , mishberey maveth, 396 and the noun משברי , mishberey, is derived from a verb which signifies to break. But as the metaphor taken from cords or snares agrees better with the verb compass about, the import of which is, that David was on all sides involved and entangled in the perils of death, I am disposed rather to adopt this interpretation. What follows concerning torrents implies that he had been almost overwhelmed by the violence and impetuosity of his enemies against him, even as a man who is covered over the head with floods of water is almost lost. He calls them the torrents of Belial, because it was wicked and perverse men who had conspired against him. The Hebrew word Belial has a wide signification. With respect to its etymology there are different opinions among expositors. Why Jerome has rendered it without yoke, 397 I know not. The more generally received opinion is, that it is compounded of these two words, בלי , beli, not, and יעל , yaäl, 398 to denote that the wicked do not rise, in other words, ultimately gain nothing, and obtain no advantage by their infatuated course. The Jews certainly employed this word to designate every kind of detestable wickedness, and from this it is highly probable that David by it meant to describe his enemies, who basely and wickedly plotted his destruction. 399 If, however, any prefer translating the phrase, by deadly torrents, I am not disposed to oppose this rendering. In the following verse he again repeats, that the corruptions or cords of the grave had compassed him about As the Hebrew word is the same which he had employed in the preceding verse, I have thought it proper to translate it cords here, as I have done there, not only because he uses a verb which signifies to beset, to inclose, or to surround, but also because he adds immediately after, the snares of death, which, in my opinion, is to be understood in the same sense. This, then, is the description of the dangerous circumstances into which he was brought, and it enhances and magnifies so much the more the glory of his deliverance. As David had been reduced to a condition so desperate that no hope of relief or deliverance from it was apparent, it is certain that he was delivered by the hand of God, and that it was not a thing effected by the power of man.

TSK: Psa 18:5 - -- The sorrows : or, cords, Psa 86:13, Psa 88:3-8, Psa 88:15-17; Act 2:24 snares : Ecc 9:12

The sorrows : or, cords, Psa 86:13, Psa 88:3-8, Psa 88:15-17; Act 2:24

snares : Ecc 9:12

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Commentary -- Word/Phrase Notes (per Verse)

Barnes: Psa 18:5 - -- The sorrows of hell - Margin, "cords."The word used here is the same which occurs in the previous verse, and which is there rendered "sorrows."...

The 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 down to the dead. If it means "cords, or bands,"then the idea is, that he was seized with pain as if with cords thrown around him, and that were dragging him down to the abodes of the dead. Luther, DeWette, Prof. Alexander, Hengstenberg, and others render the word, in each of these places, "bands."On the word here rendered "hell," שׁאול she 'ôl , see the notes at Isa 14:9. It means here the "under-world, the regions of the dead."It is a description of one who was overcome with the dread of death.

The snares of death - The word "snares"refers to the gins, toils, nets, which are used in taking wild beasts, by suddenly throwing cords around them, and binding them fast. The idea here is, that "Death"had thus thrown around him its toils or snares, and had bound him fast.

Prevented me - The word used here in Hebrew, as our word "prevent"did originally, means to "anticipate, to go before."The idea here is that those snares had, as it were, suddenly rushed upon him, or seized him. They came before him in his goings, and bound him fast.

Poole: Psa 18:5 - -- Of hell or, of the grave , which brought me to the brink of the grave. Prevented me had almost taken hold of me, ere I was aware of my danger.

Of hell or, of the grave , which brought me to the brink of the grave.

Prevented me had almost taken hold of me, ere I was aware of my danger.

Haydock: Psa 18:5 - -- Sound. So, St. Paul reads this text, though the Hebrew have, "line." Yet there is no reason why we should suppose that the Septuagint read differen...

Sound. So, St. Paul reads this text, though the Hebrew have, "line." Yet there is no reason why we should suppose that the Septuagint read differently, or that the Jews have corrupted their copies, as t hey could derive no advantage from so doing (Berthier) here, unless it were to discredit the apostle; as infidels assert the truth of the Old Testament, to vilify the new. Kum (Haydock) may signify a "line," (Berthier) or "writing." (Abenezra) ---

The greatest exactitude has been observed in forming the world, as if all had been measured by an architect. But the sense of the Vulgate is preferable, and is adopted by Symmachus, St. Jerome, and the Syriac. (Calmet) ---

Protestants, "their line." Marginal note, "their rule or direction." Kolam, "their voice," occurs in the preceding verse. The l might easily be lost, (Haydock) or omitted by a poetical licence. (Genebrard.) (Menochius) ---

Their, refers to the heavens representing the apostles, as St. Paul explains this text, to prove that all were inexcusable who would not believe the gospel. (Berthier)

Gill: Psa 18:5 - -- The sorrows of hell compassed me about,.... Or "the cords of the grave" s, under the power of which he was detained for awhile; the allusion may be to...

The sorrows of hell compassed me about,.... Or "the cords of the grave" s, under the power of which he was detained for awhile; the allusion may be to the manner of burying among the Jews, who wound up their dead bodies in linen clothes; so that they were as persons bound hand and foot; and thus were they laid in the grave; see Joh 11:44; and so was Christ, till he was raised from the dead, when he showed himself to have the keys of hell and death, and to be no more under their power, or be held by them;

the snares of death prevented me; or "met" or "got before me" t the sense is, he was taken in them: this phrase designs the insidious ways and methods which the enemies of Christ took to ensnare him, and take away his life, and in which they succeeded; see Mat 26:4.

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Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: Psa 18:5 Heb “confronted me.”

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Commentary -- Verse Range Notes

TSK Synopsis: Psa 18:1-50 - --1 David praises God for his manifold and marvellous blessings.

MHCC: Psa 18:1-19 - --The first words, " I will love thee, O Lord, my strength," are the scope and contents of the psalm. Those that truly love God, may triumph in him as ...

Matthew Henry: Psa 18:1-19 - -- The title gives us the occasion of penning this psalm; we had it before (2Sa 22:1), only here we are told that the psalm was delivered to the chief...

Keil-Delitzsch: Psa 18:4-6 - -- (Heb.: 18:5-7) In these verses David gathers into one collective figure all the fearful dangers to which he had been exposed during his persecution...

Constable: Psa 18:1-50 - --Psalm 18 As the title indicates, David wrote this psalm after he had subdued his political enemies and h...

Constable: Psa 18:3-28 - --2. God's deliverance 18:4-29 In this extended section David reviewed how God had saved him in times of danger. In verses 4-19 he described God's super...

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Introduction / Outline

JFB: Psalms (Book Introduction) The Hebrew title of this book is Tehilim ("praises" or "hymns"), for a leading feature in its contents is praise, though the word occurs in the title ...

JFB: Psalms (Outline) ALEPH. (Psa 119:1-8). This celebrated Psalm has several peculiarities. It is divided into twenty-two parts or stanzas, denoted by the twenty-two let...

TSK: Psalms (Book Introduction) The Psalms have been the general song of the universal Church; and in their praise, all the Fathers have been unanimously eloquent. Men of all nation...

TSK: Psalms 18 (Chapter Introduction) Overview Psa 18:1, David praises God for his manifold and marvellous blessings. Psa 36:1 *title Psa 116:16; 2Sam. 22:1-51; Act 13:36; Heb 3:5

Poole: Psalms (Book Introduction) OF PSALMS THE ARGUMENT The divine authority of this Book of PSALMS is so certain and evident, that it was never questioned in the church; which b...

Poole: Psalms 18 (Chapter Introduction) THE ARGUMENT This Psalm, with some few and small variations, is written 2Sa 22 . It was composed by David towards the end of his reign and life upo...

MHCC: Psalms (Book Introduction) David was the penman of most of the psalms, but some evidently were composed by other writers, and the writers of some are doubtful. But all were writ...

MHCC: Psalms 18 (Chapter Introduction) (v. 1-19) David rejoices in the deliverances God wrought for him. (Psa 18:20-28) He takes the comfort of his integrity, which God had cleared up. (v...

Matthew Henry: Psalms (Book Introduction) An Exposition, with Practical Observations, of The Book of Psalms We have now before us one of the choicest and most excellent parts of all the Old Te...

Matthew Henry: Psalms 18 (Chapter Introduction) This psalm we met with before, in the history of David's life, 2 Sa. 22. That was the first edition of it; here we have it revived, altered a littl...

Constable: Psalms (Book Introduction) Introduction Title The title of this book in the Hebrew Bible is Tehillim, which means...

Constable: Psalms (Outline) Outline I. Book 1: chs. 1-41 II. Book 2: chs. 42-72 III. Book 3: chs. 73...

Constable: Psalms Psalms Bibliography Allen, Ronald B. "Evidence from Psalm 89." In A Case for Premillennialism: A New Consensus,...

Haydock: Psalms (Book Introduction) THE BOOK OF PSALMS. INTRODUCTION. The Psalms are called by the Hebrew, Tehillim; that is, hymns of praise. The author, of a great part of ...

Gill: Psalms (Book Introduction) INTRODUCTION TO PSALMS The title of this book may be rendered "the Book of Praises", or "Hymns"; the psalm which our Lord sung at the passover is c...

Gill: Psalms 18 (Chapter Introduction) INTRODUCTION TO PSALM 18 To the chief Musician, a Psalm of David. This is the same with that in 2Sa 22:1, with some variations, omissions, and alte...

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