Psalms 103:4

103:4 who delivers ¹  your life from the Pit, ² 

who crowns you with his loyal love and compassion,

Psalms 7:15

7:15 he digs a pit ³ 

and then falls into the hole he has made. ⁴ 

Psalms 49:9

49:9 so that he might continue to live ⁵  forever

and not experience death. ⁶ 

Psalms 94:13

94:13 in order to protect him from times of trouble, ⁷ 

until the wicked are destroyed. ⁸ 

Psalms 9:15

9:15 The nations fell ⁹  into the pit they had made;

their feet were caught in the net they had hidden. ¹⁰ 

Psalms 16:10

16:10 You will not abandon me ¹¹  to Sheol; ¹² 

you will not allow your faithful follower ¹³  to see ¹⁴  the Pit. ¹⁵ 

Psalms 30:9

30:9 “What ¹⁶  profit is there in taking my life, ¹⁷ 

in my descending into the Pit? ¹⁸ 

Can the dust of the grave ¹⁹  praise you?

Can it declare your loyalty? ²⁰ 

Psalms 35:7

35:7 I did not harm them, but they hid a net to catch me

and dug a pit to trap me. ²¹ 

Psalms 55:23

55:23 But you, O God, will bring them ²²  down to the deep Pit. ²³ 

Violent and deceitful people ²⁴  will not live even half a normal lifespan. ²⁵ 

But as for me, I trust in you.

[103:4]  ¹ tn Or “redeems.”

[103:4]  ² 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.

[7:15]  ³ tn Heb “a pit he digs and he excavates it.” Apparently the imagery of hunting is employed; the wicked sinner digs this pit to entrap and destroy his intended victim. The redundancy in the Hebrew text has been simplified in the translation.

[7:15]  ⁴ tn The verb forms in vv. 15-16 describe the typical behavior and destiny of those who attempt to destroy others. The image of the evildoer falling into the very trap he set for his intended victim emphasizes the appropriate nature of God’s judgment.

[49:9]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ 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).

[94:13]  ⁷ tn Heb “to give him rest from the days of trouble.”

[94:13]  ⁸ tn Heb “until a pit is dug for the wicked.”

[9:15]  ⁹ tn Heb “sank down.”

[9:15]  ¹⁰ sn The hostility of the nations against God’s people is their downfall, for it prompts God to intervene and destroy them. See also Ps 7:15-16.

[16:10]  ¹¹ tn Or “my life.” The suffixed form of נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh, “being”) is often equivalent to a pronoun in poetic texts.

[16:10]  ¹² 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]  ¹³ 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]  ¹⁴ 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]  ¹⁵ 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.

[30:9]  ¹³ 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]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “What profit [is there] in my blood?” “Blood” here represents his life.

[30:9]  ¹⁵ 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]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “dust.” The words “of the grave” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[30:9]  ¹⁷ tn The rhetorical questions anticipate the answer, “Of course not!”

[35:7]  ¹⁵ tc Heb “for without cause they hid for me a pit of their net, without cause they dug for my life.” It appears that the words “pit” and “net” have been transposed. “Net” goes with the verb “hid” in the first line (see v. 8, as well as Pss 9:15; 31:4), while “pit” goes with the verb “dug” in the second line (see Ps 7:15).

[55:23]  ¹⁷ tn The pronominal suffix refers to the psalmist’s enemies (see v. 19).

[55:23]  ¹⁸ 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]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “men of bloodshed and deceit.”

[55:23]  ²⁰ tn Heb “will not divide in half their days.”