Psalms 18:4

18:4 The waves ¹  of death engulfed me,

the currents ²  of chaos ³  overwhelmed me. ⁴ 

Isaiah 17:12-13

17:12 The many nations massing together are as good as dead, ⁵ 

those who make a commotion as loud as the roaring of the sea’s waves. ⁶ 

The people making such an uproar are as good as dead, ⁷ 

those who make an uproar as loud as the roaring of powerful waves. ⁸ 

17:13 Though these people make an uproar as loud as the roaring of powerful waves, ⁹ 

when he shouts at ¹⁰  them, they will flee to a distant land,

driven before the wind like dead weeds on the hills,

or like dead thistles ¹¹  before a strong gale.

Matthew 7:25-27

7:25 The rain fell, the flood ¹²  came, and the winds beat against that house, but it did not collapse because it had been founded on rock. 7:26 Everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 7:27 The rain fell, the flood came, and the winds beat against that house, and it collapsed; it was utterly destroyed!” ¹³ 

[18:4]  ¹ tc Ps 18:4 reads “ropes,” while 2 Sam 22:5 reads “waves.” The reading of the psalm has been influenced by the next verse (note “ropes of Sheol”) and perhaps also by Ps 116:3 (where “ropes of death” appears, as here, with the verb אָפַף, ’afaf). However, the parallelism of v. 4 (note “currents” in the next line) favors the reading “waves.” While the verb אָפַף is used with “ropes” as subject in Ps 116:3, it can also be used with engulfing “waters” as subject (see Jonah 2:5). Death is compared to surging waters in v. 4 and to a hunter in v. 5.

[18:4]  ² tn The Hebrew noun נַחַל (nakhal) usually refers to a river or stream, but in this context the plural form likely refers to the currents of the sea (see vv. 15-16).

[18:4]  ³ tn The noun בְלִיַּעַל (vÿliyya’al) is used here as an epithet for death. Elsewhere it is a common noun meaning “wickedness, uselessness.” It is often associated with rebellion against authority and other crimes that result in societal disorder and anarchy. The phrase “man/son of wickedness” refers to one who opposes God and the order he has established. The term becomes an appropriate title for death, which, through human forces, launches an attack against God’s chosen servant.

[18:4]  ⁴ tn In this poetic narrative context the prefixed verbal form is best understood as a preterite indicating past tense, not an imperfect. (Note the perfect verbal form in the parallel/preceding line.) The verb בָּעַת (ba’at) sometimes by metonymy carries the nuance “frighten,” but the parallelism (see “engulfed”) favors the meaning “overwhelm” here.

[17:12]  ⁵ tn Heb “Woe [to] the massing of the many nations.” The word הוֹי (hoy) could be translated as a simple interjection here (“ah!”), but since the following verses announce the demise of these nations, it is preferable to take הוֹי as a funeral cry. See the note on the first phrase of 1:4.

[17:12]  ⁶ tn Heb “like the loud noise of the seas, they make a loud noise.”

[17:12]  ⁷ tn Heb “the uproar of the peoples.” The term הוֹי (hoy, “woe, ah”) does double duty in the parallel structure of the verse; the words “are as good as dead” are supplied in the translation to reflect this.

[17:12]  ⁸ tn Heb “like the uproar of mighty waters they are in an uproar.”

[17:13]  ⁹ tn Heb “the peoples are in an uproar like the uproar of mighty waters.”

[17:13]  ¹⁰ tn Or “rebukes.” The verb and related noun are used in theophanies of God’s battle cry which terrifies his enemies. See, for example, Pss 18:15; 76:7; 106:9; Isa 50:2; Nah 1:4, and A. Caquot, TDOT 3:49-53.

[17:13]  ¹¹ tn Or perhaps “tumbleweed” (NAB, NIV, CEV); KJV “like a rolling thing.”

[7:25]  ¹² tn Grk “the rivers.”

[7:27]  ¹³ tn Grk “and great was its fall.”