Psalms 16:9-11

16:9 So my heart rejoices

and I am happy; ¹ 

My life is safe. ² 

16:10 You will not abandon me ³  to Sheol; ⁴ 

you will not allow your faithful follower ⁵  to see ⁶  the Pit. ⁷ 

16:11 You lead me in ⁸  the path of life; ⁹ 

I experience absolute joy in your presence; ¹⁰ 

you always give me sheer delight. ¹¹ 

Acts 2:24-28

2:24 But God raised him up, ¹²  having released ¹³  him from the pains ¹⁴  of death, because it was not possible for him to be held in its power. ¹⁵  2:25 For David says about him,

‘I saw the Lord always in front of me, ¹⁶ 

for he is at my right hand so that I will not be shaken.

2:26 Therefore my heart was glad and my tongue rejoiced;

my body ¹⁷  also will live in hope,

2:27 because you will not leave my soul in Hades, ¹⁸ 

nor permit your Holy One to experience ¹⁹  decay.

2:28 You have made known to me the paths of life;

you will make me full of joy with your presence.’ ²⁰ 

Hebrews 7:16

7:16 who has become a priest not by a legal regulation about physical descent ²¹  but by the power of an indestructible life.

Hebrews 7:25

7:25 So he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.

Hebrews 10:12-13

10:12 But when this priest ²²  had offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, he sat down at the right hand ²³  of God, 10:13 where he is now waiting ²⁴  until his enemies are made a footstool for his feet. ²⁵ 

Revelation 1:18

1:18 and the one who lives! I ²⁶  was dead, but look, now I am alive – forever and ever – and I hold the keys of death and of Hades! ²⁷ 

[16:9]  ¹ tn Heb “my glory is happy.” Some view the Hebrew term כְּבוֹדִי (kÿvodiy, “my glory”) 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 30:12; 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.”

[16:9]  ² tn Heb “yes, my flesh dwells securely.” The psalmist’s “flesh” stands by metonymy for his body and, by extension, his physical life.

[16:10]  ³ tn Or “my life.” The suffixed form of נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh, “being”) is often equivalent to a pronoun in poetic texts.

[16:10]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ 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.

[16:11]  ⁸ tn Heb “cause me to know”; or “cause me to experience.”

[16:11]  ⁹ tn This is a metaphorical way of saying, “you preserve my life.” The phrase “path of life” stands in contrast to death/Sheol in Prov 2:18-19; 5:5-6; 15:24.

[16:11]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “abundance of joy [is] with your face.” The plural form of the noun שִׂמְחָה (simkhah, “joy”) occurs only here and in Ps 45:15. It may emphasize the degree of joy experienced.

[16:11]  ¹¹ tn Heb “delight [is] in your right hand forever.” The plural form of the adjective נָעִים (na’im, “pleasant, delightful”) may here emphasize the degree of delight experienced (see Job 36:11).

[2:24]  ¹² tn Grk “Whom God raised up.”

[2:24]  ¹³ tn Or “having freed.”

[2:24]  ¹⁴ sn The term translated pains is frequently used to describe pains associated with giving birth (see Rev 12:2). So there is irony here in the mixed metaphor.

[2:24]  ¹⁵ tn Or “for him to be held by it” (in either case, “it” refers to death’s power).

[2:25]  ¹⁶ tn Or “always before me.”

[2:26]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “my flesh.”

[2:27]  ¹⁸ tn Or “will not abandon my soul to Hades.” Often “Hades” is the equivalent of the Hebrew term Sheol, the place of the dead.

[2:27]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “to see,” but the literal translation of the phrase “to see decay” could be misunderstood to mean simply “to look at decay,” while here “see decay” is really figurative for “experience decay.”

[2:28]  ²⁰ sn A quotation from Ps 16:8-11.

[7:16]  ²¹ tn Grk “a law of a fleshly command.”

[10:12]  ²² tn Grk “this one.” This pronoun refers to Jesus, but “this priest” was used in the translation to make the contrast between the Jewish priests in v. 11 and Jesus as a priest clearer in English.

[10:12]  ²³ sn An allusion to Ps 110:1.

[10:13]  ²⁴ tn Grk “from then on waiting.”

[10:13]  ²⁵ sn An allusion to Ps 110:1.

[1:18]  ²⁶ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[1:18]  ²⁷ tn Concerning “Hades” BDAG 19 s.v. ᾅδης 1 and 2 states: “Orig. proper noun, god of the nether world, ‘Hades’, then the nether world, Hades as place of the dead, Ac 2:27, 31 (Ps 15:10; Eccl 9:10; PGM 1, 179; 16, 8; Philo, Mos. 1, 195; Jos., Bell. 1, 596, Ant. 6, 332). Of Jonah’s fish ἐκ τοῦ κατωτάτου ᾅδου. In the depths, contrasted w. heaven ἕως (τοῦ) ᾅδου Mt 11:23; Lk 10:15 (PsSol 15:10; cp.; Is 14:11, 15); ἐν τῷ ᾅδῃ 16:23; ἐν ῝Αιδου ApcPt Rainer. Accessible by gates (but the pl. is also used [e.g. Hom., X., Ael. Aristid. 47, 20 K.=23 p. 450 D.] when only one gate is meant), hence πύλαι ᾅδου (Il. 5, 646; Is 38:10; Wsd 16:13; 3 Macc 5:51; Pss. Sol. 16:2. – Lucian, Menipp. 6 the magicians can open τοῦ ῝Αιδου τὰς πύλας and conduct people in and out safely) Mt 16:18…locked ἔχω τὰς κλεῖς τοῦ θανάτου καὶ τοῦ ᾅδου Rv 1:18 (the genitives are either obj. [Ps.-Apollod. 3, 12, 6, 10 Aeacus, the son of Zeus holds the κλεῖς τοῦ ῝Αιδου; SEG VIII, 574, 3 (III ad) τῷ τὰς κλεῖδας ἔχοντι τῶν καθ᾿ ῝Αιδου (restored)] or possess.; in the latter case death and Hades are personif.; s. 2)…Hades personif.…w. θάνατος (cp. Is 28:15; Job 38:17…) Rv 6:8; 20:13f.”