6:5 For no one remembers you in the realm of death, 1
In Sheol who gives you thanks? 2
30:9 “What 3 profit is there in taking my life, 4
in my descending into the Pit? 5
Can the dust of the grave 6 praise you?
Can it declare your loyalty? 7
88:10 Do you accomplish amazing things for the dead?
Do the departed spirits 8 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? 9
88:12 Are your amazing deeds experienced 10 in the dark region, 11
or your deliverance in the land of oblivion? 12
38:18 Indeed 13 Sheol does not give you thanks;
death does not 14 praise you.
Those who descend into the pit do not anticipate your faithfulness.
38:19 The living person, the living person, he gives you thanks,
as I do today.
A father tells his sons about your faithfulness.
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.
2 tn The rhetorical question anticipates the answer, “no one.”
3 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.
4 tn Heb “What profit [is there] in my blood?” “Blood” here represents his life.
5 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).
6 tn Heb “dust.” The words “of the grave” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
7 tn The rhetorical questions anticipate the answer, “Of course not!”
8 tn Heb “Rephaim,” a term that refers to those who occupy the land of the dead (see Isa 14:9; 26:14, 19).
9 tn Heb “in Abaddon,” a name for Sheol. The noun is derived from a verbal root meaning “to perish,” “to die.”
10 tn Heb “known.”
11 tn Heb “darkness,” here a title for Sheol.
12 tn Heb “forgetfulness.” The noun, which occurs only here in the OT, is derived from a verbal root meaning “to forget.”
13 tn Or “For” (KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).
14 tn The negative particle is understood by ellipsis in this line. See GKC 483 §152.z.