Psalms 116:3-9

Context

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

the snares² of Sheol confronted me.

I was confronted³ with trouble and sorrow.

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

“Please Lord, rescue my life!”

116:5 The Lord is merciful and fair;

our God is compassionate.

116:6 The Lord protects⁴ the untrained;⁵

I was in serious trouble⁶ and he delivered me.

116:7 Rest once more, my soul,⁷

for the Lord has vindicated you.⁸

116:8 Yes,⁹ Lord,¹⁰ you rescued my life from death,

and kept my feet from stumbling.

116:9 I will serve¹¹ the Lord

in the land¹² of the living.

[116:3] ¹tn Heb “surrounded me.”

[116:3] ²tn 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] ³tn The translation assumes the prefixed verbal form is a preterite. The psalmist recalls the crisis from which the Lord delivered him.

[116:6] ⁴tn Heb “guards.” The active participle indicates this is a characteristic of the Lord.

[116:6] ⁵tn Or “the [morally] naive,” that is, the one who is young and still in the process of learning right from wrong and distinguishing wisdom from folly. See Ps 19:7.

[116:6] ⁶tn Heb “I was low.”

[116:7] ⁷tn Heb “return, my soul, to your place of rest.”

[116:7] ⁸tn The Hebrew idiom גָּמַל עַל (gamal ’al) means “to repay,” here in a positive sense (cf. Ps 13:5).

[116:8] ⁹tn Or “for.”

[116:8] ¹⁰tn “Lord” is supplied here in the translation for clarification.

[116:9] ¹¹tn Heb “walk before” (see Ps 56:13). On the meaning of the Hebrew idiom, see the notes at 2 Kgs 20:3/Isa 38:3.

[116:9] ¹²tn Heb “lands, regions.”