Job 33:18

33:18 He spares a person’s life from corruption, ¹ 

his very life from crossing over ²  the river.

Job 33:24

33:24 and if ³  God ⁴  is gracious to him and says,

‘Spare ⁵  him from going down

to the place of corruption,

I have found a ransom for him,’ ⁶ 

Job 17:16

17:16 Will ⁷  it ⁸  go down to the barred gates ⁹  of death?

Will ¹⁰  we descend ¹¹  together into the dust?”

Psalms 55:23

55:23 But you, O God, will bring them ¹²  down to the deep Pit. ¹³ 

Violent and deceitful people ¹⁴  will not live even half a normal lifespan. ¹⁵ 

But as for me, I trust in you.

Psalms 69:15

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

Don’t let the deep swallow me up!

Don’t let the pit ¹⁶  devour me! ¹⁷ 

Isaiah 38:17-18

38:17 “Look, the grief I experienced was for my benefit. ¹⁸ 

You delivered me ¹⁹  from the pit of oblivion. ²⁰ 

For you removed all my sins from your sight. ²¹ 

38:18 Indeed ²²  Sheol does not give you thanks;

death does not ²³  praise you.

Those who descend into the pit do not anticipate your faithfulness.

Revelation 20:1-3

The Thousand Year Reign

20:1 Then ²⁴  I saw an angel descending from heaven, holding ²⁵  in his hand the key to the abyss and a huge chain. 20:2 He ²⁶  seized the dragon – the ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan – and tied him up for a thousand years. 20:3 The angel ²⁷  then ²⁸  threw him into the abyss and locked ²⁹  and sealed it so that he could not deceive the nations until the one thousand years were finished. (After these things he must be released for a brief period of time.)

[33:18]  ¹ tn A number of interpreters and translations take this as “the pit” (see Job 17:14; cf. NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV).

[33:18]  ² tc Here is another difficult line. The verb normally means “to pass through; to pass over,” and so this word would normally mean “from passing through [or over].” The word שֶׁלַח (shelakh) does at times refer to a weapon, but most commentators look for a parallel with “the pit [or corruption].” One suggestion is שְׁאוֹלָה (shÿ’olah, “to Sheol”), proposed by Duhm. Dhorme thought it was שַׁלַח (shalakh) and referred to the passageway to the underworld (see M. Tsevat, VT 4 [1954]: 43; and Svi Rin, BZ 7 [1963]: 25). See discussion of options in HALOT 1517-18 s.v. IV שֶׁלַח. The idea of crossing the river of death fits the idea of the passage well, although the reading “to perish by the sword” makes sense and was followed by the NIV.

[33:24]  ³ tn This verse seems to continue the protasis begun in the last verse, with the apodosis coming in the next verse.

[33:24]  ⁴ tn Heb “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[33:24]  ⁵ tc The verb is either taken as an anomalous form of פָּדַע (pada’, “to rescue; to redeem,” or “to exempt him”), or it is emended to some similar word, like פָּרַע (para’, “to let loose,” so Wright).

[33:24]  ⁶ sn This verse and v. 28 should be compared with Ps 49:7-9, 15 (8-10, 16 HT) where the same basic vocabulary and concepts are employed.

[17:16]  ⁷ sn It is natural to assume that this verse continues the interrogative clause of the preceding verse.

[17:16]  ⁸ tn The plural form of the verb probably refers to the two words, or the two senses of the word in the preceding verse. Hope and what it produces will perish with Job.

[17:16]  ⁹ tn The Hebrew word בַּדִּים (baddim) describes the “bars” or “bolts” of Sheol, referring (by synecdoche) to the “gates of Sheol.” The LXX has “with me to Sheol,” and many adopt that as “by my side.”

[17:16]  ¹⁰ tn The conjunction אִם (’im) confirms the interrogative interpretation.

[17:16]  ¹¹ tn The translation follows the LXX and the Syriac versions with the change of vocalization in the MT. The MT has the noun “rest,” yielding, “will our rest be together in the dust?” The verb נָחַת (nakhat) in Aramaic means “to go down; to descend.” If that is the preferred reading – and it almost is universally accepted here – then it would be spelled נֵחַת (nekhat). In either case the point of the verse is clearly describing death and going to the grave.

[55:23]  ¹² tn The pronominal suffix refers to the psalmist’s enemies (see v. 19).

[55:23]  ¹³ tn Heb “well of the pit.” The Hebrew term שַׁחַת (shakhat, “pit”) is often used as a title for Sheol (see Pss 16:10; 30:9; 49:9; 103:4).

[55:23]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “men of bloodshed and deceit.”

[55:23]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “will not divide in half their days.”

[69:15]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “well,” which here symbolizes the place of the dead (cf. Ps 55:23).

[69:15]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “do not let the well close its mouth upon me.”

[38:17]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “Look, for peace bitterness was to me bitter”; NAB “thus is my bitterness transformed into peace.”

[38:17]  ¹⁹ tc The Hebrew text reads, “you loved my soul,” but this does not fit syntactically with the following prepositional phrase. חָשַׁקְתָּ (khashaqta, “you loved”), may reflect an aural error; most emend the form to חָשַׂכְת, (khasakht, “you held back”).

[38:17]  ²⁰ tn בְּלִי (bÿli) most often appears as a negation, meaning “without,” suggesting the meaning “nothingness, oblivion,” here. Some translate “decay” or “destruction.”

[38:17]  ²¹ tn Heb “for you threw behind your back all my sins.”

[38:18]  ²² tn Or “For” (KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).

[38:18]  ²³ tn The negative particle is understood by ellipsis in this line. See GKC 483 §152.z.

[20:1]  ²⁴ tn Grk “And.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence within the narrative.

[20:1]  ²⁵ tn The word “holding” is implied. The two clauses “having the key of the abyss” and “a huge chain in his hand” can be construed in two ways: (1) both are controlled by the participle ἔχοντα (econta) and both are modified by the phrase “in his hand” – “having in his hand the key to the abyss and a huge chain.” (2) The participle ἔχοντα refers only to the key, and the phrase “in his hand” refers only to the chain – “having the key of the abyss and holding a huge chain in his hand.” Because of the stylistic tendency in Rev to use the verb ἔχω (ecw) to mean “hold (something)” and the phrase “in his hand” forming a “bracket” along with the verb ἔχω around both the phrases in question, the first option is preferred.

[20:2]  ²⁶ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[20:3]  ²⁷ tn Grk “he”; the referent (the angel introduced in v. 1) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[20:3]  ²⁸ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.

[20:3]  ²⁹ tn Or “and shut.” While the lexical force of the term is closer to “shut,” it is acceptable to render the verb ἔκλεισεν (ekleisen) as “locked” here in view of the mention of the key in the previous verse.