Psalms 116:3-4

116:3 The ropes of death tightened around me, ¹ 

the snares ²  of Sheol confronted me.

I was confronted ³  with trouble and sorrow.

116:4 I called on the name of the Lord,

“Please Lord, rescue my life!”

[116:3]  ¹ tn Heb “surrounded me.”

[116:3]  ² tn The Hebrew noun מצר (“straits; distress”) occurs only here, Ps 118:5 and Lam 1:3. If retained, it refers to Sheol as a place where one is confined or severely restricted (cf. BDB 865 s.v. מֵצַר, “the straits of Sheol”; NIV “the anguish of the grave”; NRSV “the pangs of Sheol”). However, HALOT 624 s.v. מֵצַר suggests an emendation to מְצָדֵי (mÿtsadey, “snares of”), a rare noun attested in Job 19:6 and Eccl 7:26. This proposal, which is reflected in the translation, produces better parallelism with “ropes” in the preceding line.

[116:3]  ³ tn The translation assumes the prefixed verbal form is a preterite. The psalmist recalls the crisis from which the Lord delivered him.