Psalms 88:3-6

88:3 For my life ¹  is filled with troubles

and I am ready to enter Sheol. ² 

88:4 They treat me like ³  those who descend into the grave. ⁴ 

I am like a helpless man, ⁵ 

88:5 adrift ⁶  among the dead,

like corpses lying in the grave,

whom you remember no more,

and who are cut off from your power. ⁷ 

88:6 You place me in the lowest regions of the pit, ⁸ 

in the dark places, in the watery depths.

Psalms 88:10-12

88:10 Do you accomplish amazing things for the dead?

Do the departed spirits ⁹  rise up and give you thanks? (Selah)

88:11 Is your loyal love proclaimed in the grave,

or your faithfulness in the place of the dead? ¹⁰ 

88:12 Are your amazing deeds experienced ¹¹  in the dark region, ¹² 

or your deliverance in the land of oblivion? ¹³ 

[88:3]  ¹ tn Or “my soul.”

[88:3]  ² tn Heb “and my life approaches Sheol.”

[88:4]  ³ tn Heb “I am considered with.”

[88:4]  ⁴ tn Heb “the pit.” The noun בּוֹר (bor, “pit,” “cistern”) is sometimes used of the grave and/or the realm of the dead.

[88:4]  ⁵ tn Heb “I am like a man [for whom] there is no help.”

[88:5]  ⁵ tn Heb “set free.”

[88:5]  ⁶ tn Heb “from your hand.”

[88:6]  ⁷ tn The noun בּוֹר (bor, “pit,” “cistern”) is sometimes used of the grave and/or the realm of the dead. See v. 4.

[88:10]  ⁹ tn Heb “Rephaim,” a term that refers to those who occupy the land of the dead (see Isa 14:9; 26:14, 19).

[88:11]  ¹¹ tn Heb “in Abaddon,” a name for Sheol. The noun is derived from a verbal root meaning “to perish,” “to die.”

[88:12]  ¹³ tn Heb “known.”

[88:12]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “darkness,” here a title for Sheol.

[88:12]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “forgetfulness.” The noun, which occurs only here in the OT, is derived from a verbal root meaning “to forget.”