Psalms 9:17

9:17 The wicked are turned back and sent to Sheol; ¹ 

this is the destiny of ²  all the nations that ignore ³  God,

Psalms 55:15

55:15 May death destroy them! ⁴ 

May they go down alive into Sheol! ⁵ 

For evil is in their dwelling place and in their midst.

Psalms 55:23

55:23 But you, O God, will bring them ⁶  down to the deep Pit. ⁷ 

Violent and deceitful people ⁸  will not live even half a normal lifespan. ⁹ 

But as for me, I trust in you.

Psalms 86:13

86:13 For you will extend your great loyal love to me, ¹⁰ 

and will deliver my life ¹¹  from the depths of Sheol. ¹² 

Numbers 16:30-33

16:30 But if the Lord does something entirely new, ¹³  and the earth opens its mouth and swallows them up ¹⁴  along with all that they have, and they ¹⁵  go down alive to the grave, ¹⁶  then you will know that these men have despised the Lord!”

16:31 When he had finished ¹⁷  speaking ¹⁸  all these words, the ground that was under them split open, 16:32 and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them, along with their households, and all Korah’s men, and all their goods. 16:33 They and all that they had went down alive into the pit, and the earth closed over them. So they perished from among the community.

Numbers 16:1

The Rebellion of Korah

16:1 ¹⁹ Now Korah son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, and Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On son of Peleth, who were Reubenites, ²⁰  took men ²¹ 

Numbers 28:19

28:19 “‘But you must offer to the Lord an offering made by fire, a burnt offering of two young bulls, one ram, and seven lambs one year old; they must all be unblemished. ²² 

Job 40:13

40:13 Hide them in the dust ²³  together,

imprison ²⁴  them ²⁵  in the grave. ²⁶ 

Isaiah 14:9

14:9 Sheol ²⁷  below is stirred up about you,

ready to meet you when you arrive.

It rouses ²⁸  the spirits of the dead for you,

all the former leaders of the earth; ²⁹ 

it makes all the former kings of the nations

rise from their thrones. ³⁰ 

Isaiah 14:15

14:15 But you were brought down ³¹  to Sheol,

to the remote slopes of the pit. ³² 

Isaiah 14:19

14:19 But you have been thrown out of your grave

like a shoot that is thrown away. ³³ 

You lie among ³⁴  the slain,

among those who have been slashed by the sword,

among those headed for ³⁵  the stones of the pit, ³⁶ 

as if you were a mangled corpse. ³⁷ 

Isaiah 14:19

14:19 But you have been thrown out of your grave

like a shoot that is thrown away. ³⁸ 

You lie among ³⁹  the slain,

among those who have been slashed by the sword,

among those headed for ⁴⁰  the stones of the pit, ⁴¹ 

as if you were a mangled corpse. ⁴² 

Ezekiel 32:18-32

32:18 “Son of man, wail ⁴³  over the horde of Egypt. Bring it down; ⁴⁴  bring ⁴⁵  her ⁴⁶  and the daughters of powerful nations down to the lower parts of the earth, along with those who descend to the pit. 32:19 Say to them, ⁴⁷  ‘Whom do you surpass in beauty? ⁴⁸  Go down and be laid to rest with the uncircumcised!’ 32:20 They will fall among those killed by the sword. The sword is drawn; they carry her and all her hordes away. 32:21 The bravest of the warriors will speak to him from the midst of Sheol along with his allies, saying: ‘The uncircumcised have come down; they lie still, killed by the sword.’

32:22 “Assyria is there with all her assembly around her grave, ⁴⁹  all of them struck down by the sword. ⁵⁰  32:23 Their ⁵¹  graves are located in the remote slopes of the pit. ⁵²  Her assembly is around her grave, all of them struck down by the sword, those who spread terror in the land of the living.

32:24 “Elam is there with all her hordes around her grave; all of them struck down by the sword. They went down uncircumcised to the lower parts of the earth, those who spread terror in the land of the living. Now they will bear their shame with those who descend to the pit. 32:25 Among the dead they have made a bed for her, along with all her hordes around her grave. ⁵³  All of them are uncircumcised, killed by the sword, for their terror had spread in the land of the living. They bear their shame along with those who descend to the pit; they are placed among the dead.

32:26 “Meshech-Tubal is there, along with all her hordes around her grave. ⁵⁴  All of them are uncircumcised, killed by the sword, for they spread their terror in the land of the living. 32:27 They do not lie with the fallen warriors of ancient times, ⁵⁵  who went down to Sheol with their weapons of war, having their swords placed under their heads and their shields on their bones, ⁵⁶  when the terror of these warriors was in the land of the living.

32:28 “But as for you, in the midst of the uncircumcised you will be broken, and you will lie with those killed by the sword.

32:29 “Edom is there with her kings and all her princes. Despite their might they are laid with those killed by the sword; they lie with the uncircumcised and those who descend to the pit.

32:30 “All the leaders of the north are there, along with all the Sidonians; despite their might they have gone down in shameful terror with the dead. They lie uncircumcised with those killed by the sword, and bear their shame with those who descend to the pit.

32:31 “Pharaoh will see them and be consoled over all his hordes who were killed by the sword, Pharaoh and all his army, declares the sovereign Lord. 32:32 Indeed, I terrified him in the land of the living, yet he will lie in the midst of the uncircumcised with those killed by the sword, Pharaoh and all his hordes, declares the sovereign Lord.”

Acts 1:25

1:25 to assume the task ⁵⁷  of this service ⁵⁸  and apostleship from which Judas turned aside ⁵⁹  to go to his own place.” ⁶⁰ 

[9:17]  ¹ tn Heb “the wicked turn back to Sheol.” The imperfect verbal form either emphasizes what typically happens or describes vividly the aftermath of the Lord’s victory over the psalmist’s enemies. See v. 3.

[9:17]  ² tn The words “this is the destiny of” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons. The verb “are turned back” is understood by ellipsis (see the preceding line).

[9:17]  ³ tn Heb “forget.” “Forgetting God” refers here to worshiping false gods and thereby refusing to recognize his sovereignty (see also Deut 8:19; Judg 3:7; 1 Sam 12:9; Isa 17:10; Jer 3:21; Ps 44:20). The nations’ refusal to acknowledge God’s sovereignty accounts for their brazen attempt to attack and destroy his people.

[55:15]  ⁴ tc The meaning of the MT is unclear. The Kethib (consonantal text) reads יַשִּׁימָוֶת עָלֵימוֹ (yashimavet ’alemo, “May devastation [be] upon them!”). The proposed noun יַשִּׁימָוֶת occurs only here and perhaps in the place name Beth-Jeshimoth in Num 33:49. The Qere (marginal text) has יַשִּׁי מָוֶת עָלֵימוֹ (yashi mavet ’alemo). The verbal form יַשִּׁי is apparently an alternate form of יַשִּׁיא (yashi’), a Hiphil imperfect from נָשַׁא (nasha’, “deceive”). In this case one might read “death will come deceptively upon them.” This reading has the advantage of reading מָוֶת (mavet, “death”) which forms a natural parallel with “Sheol” in the next line. The present translation is based on the following reconstruction of the text: יְשִׁמֵּם מָוֶת (yeshimmem mavet). The verb assumed in the reconstruction is a Hiphil jussive third masculine singular from שָׁמַם (shamam, “be desolate”) with a third masculine plural pronominal suffix attached. This reconstruction assumes that (1) haplography has occurred in the traditional text (the original sequence of three mems [מ] was lost with only one mem remaining), resulting in the fusion of originally distinct forms in the Kethib, and (2) that עָלֵימוֹ (’alemo, “upon them”) is a later scribal addition attempting to make sense of a garbled and corrupt text. The preposition עַל (’al) does occur with the verb שָׁמַם (shamam), but in such cases the expression means “be appalled at/because of” (see Jer 49:20; 50:45). If one were to retain the prepositional phrase here, one would have to read the text as follows: יַשִּׁים מָוֶת עָלֵימוֹ (yashim mavet ’alemo, “Death will be appalled at them”). The idea seems odd, to say the least. Death is not collocated with this verb elsewhere.

[55:15]  ⁵ sn Go down alive. This curse imagines a swift and sudden death for the psalmist’s enemies.

[55:23]  ⁶ tn The pronominal suffix refers to the psalmist’s enemies (see v. 19).

[55:23]  ⁷ 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]  ⁸ tn Heb “men of bloodshed and deceit.”

[55:23]  ⁹ tn Heb “will not divide in half their days.”

[86:13]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “for your loyal love [is] great over me.”

[86:13]  ¹¹ tn Or “for he will have delivered my life.” The verb form indicates a future perfect here.

[86:13]  ¹² tn Or “lower Sheol.”

[16:30]  ¹³ tn The verb בָּרָא (bara’) is normally translated “create” in the Bible. More specifically it means to fashion or make or do something new and fresh. Here the verb is joined with its cognate accusative to underscore that this will be so different everyone will know it is of God.

[16:30]  ¹⁴ tn The figures are personifications. But they vividly describe the catastrophe to follow – which was very much like a mouth swallowing them.

[16:30]  ¹⁵ tn The word is “life” or “lifetime”; it certainly means their lives – they themselves. But the presence of this word suggest more. It is an accusative specifying the state of the subject – they will go down alive to Sheol.

[16:30]  ¹⁶ tn The word “Sheol” in the Bible can be used four different ways: the grave, the realm of the departed [wicked] spirits or Hell, death in general, or a place of extreme danger (one that will lead to the grave if God does not intervene). The usage here is certainly the first, and very likely the second as well. A translation of “pit” would not be inappropriate. Since they will go down there alive, it is likely that they will sense the deprivation and the separation from the land above. See H. W. Robinson, Inspiration and Revelation in the Old Testament; N. J. Tromp, Primitive Conceptions of Death and the Netherworld in the Old Testament (BibOr 21), 21-23; and A. Heidel, The Gilgamesh Epic, especially ch. 3.

[16:31]  ¹⁷ tn The initial temporal clause is standard: It begins with the temporal indicator “and it was,” followed here by the Piel infinitive construct with the preposition and the subjective genitive suffix. “And it happened when he finished.”

[16:31]  ¹⁸ tn The infinitive construct with the preposition lamed (ל) functions here as the direct object of the preceding infinitive. It tells what he finished.

[16:1]  ¹⁹ sn There are three main movements in the story of ch. 16. The first is the rebellion itself (vv. 1-19). The second is the judgment (vv. 20-35). Third is the atonement for the rebels (vv. 36-50). The whole chapter is a marvelous account of a massive rebellion against the leaders that concludes with reconciliation. For further study see G. Hort, “The Death of Qorah,” ABR 7 (1959): 2-26; and J. Liver, “Korah, Dathan and Abiram,” Studies in the Bible (ScrHier 8), 189-217.

[16:1]  ²⁰ tc The MT reading is plural (“the sons of Reuben”); the Smr and LXX have the singular (“the son of Reuben”).

[16:1]  ²¹ tn In the Hebrew text there is no object for the verb “took.” The translation presented above supplies the word “men.” However, it is possible that the MT has suffered damage here. The LXX has “and he spoke.” The Syriac and Targum have “and he was divided.” The editor of BHS suggests that perhaps the MT should be emended to “and he arose.”

[28:19]  ²² tn Heb “unblemished they will be to you.” So also in v. 31.

[40:13]  ²³ tn The word “dust” can mean “ground” here, or more likely, “grave.”

[40:13]  ²⁴ tn The verb חָבַשׁ (khavash) means “to bind.” In Arabic the word means “to bind” in the sense of “to imprison,” and that fits here.

[40:13]  ²⁵ tn Heb “their faces.”

[40:13]  ²⁶ tn The word is “secret place,” the place where he is to hide them, i.e., the grave. The text uses the word “secret place” as a metonymy for the grave.

[14:9]  ²⁷ sn Sheol is the proper name of the subterranean world which was regarded as the land of the dead.

[14:9]  ²⁸ tn Heb “arousing.” The form is probably a Polel infinitive absolute, rather than a third masculine singular perfect, for Sheol is grammatically feminine (note “stirred up”). See GKC 466 §145.t.

[14:9]  ²⁹ tn Heb “all the rams of the earth.” The animal epithet is used metaphorically here for leaders. See HALOT 903 s.v. *עַתּוּד.

[14:9]  ³⁰ tn Heb “lifting from their thrones all the kings of the nations.” הֵקִים (heqim, a Hiphil perfect third masculine singular) should be emended to an infinitive absolute (הָקֵים, haqem). See the note on “rouses” earlier in the verse.

[14:15]  ³¹ tn The prefixed verb form is taken as a preterite. Note the use of perfects in v. 12 to describe the king’s downfall.

[14:15]  ³² tn The Hebrew term בּוּר (bor, “cistern”) is sometimes used metaphorically to refer to the place of the dead or the entrance to the underworld.

[14:19]  ³³ tn Heb “like a shoot that is abhorred.” The simile seems a bit odd; apparently it refers to a small shoot that is trimmed from a plant and tossed away. Some prefer to emend נֵצֶר (netser, “shoot”); some propose נֵפֶל (nefel, “miscarriage”). In this case one might paraphrase: “like a horrible-looking fetus that is delivered when a woman miscarries.”

[14:19]  ³⁴ tn Heb “are clothed with.”

[14:19]  ³⁵ tn Heb “those going down to.”

[14:19]  ³⁶ tn בּוֹר (bor) literally means “cistern”; cisterns were constructed from stones. On the metaphorical use of “cistern” for the underworld, see the note at v. 15.

[14:19]  ³⁷ tn Heb “like a trampled corpse.” Some take this line with what follows.

[14:19]  ³⁸ tn Heb “like a shoot that is abhorred.” The simile seems a bit odd; apparently it refers to a small shoot that is trimmed from a plant and tossed away. Some prefer to emend נֵצֶר (netser, “shoot”); some propose נֵפֶל (nefel, “miscarriage”). In this case one might paraphrase: “like a horrible-looking fetus that is delivered when a woman miscarries.”

[14:19]  ³⁹ tn Heb “are clothed with.”

[14:19]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “those going down to.”

[14:19]  ⁴¹ tn בּוֹר (bor) literally means “cistern”; cisterns were constructed from stones. On the metaphorical use of “cistern” for the underworld, see the note at v. 15.

[14:19]  ⁴² tn Heb “like a trampled corpse.” Some take this line with what follows.

[32:18]  ⁴³ tn The Hebrew verb is used as a response to death (Jer 9:17-19; Amos 5:16).

[32:18]  ⁴⁴ sn Through this prophetic lament given by God himself, the prophet activates the judgment described therein. See D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 2:217, and L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 2:136-37.

[32:18]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “Bring him down, her and the daughters of the powerful nations, to the earth below.” The verb “bring down” appears in the Hebrew text only once. Because the verb takes several objects here, the repetition of the verb in the translation improves the English style.

[32:18]  ⁴⁶ tn This apparently refers to personified Egypt.

[32:19]  ⁴⁷ tc The LXX places this verse after v. 21.

[32:19]  ⁴⁸ tn Heb “pleasantness.”

[32:22]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “around him his graves.” The masculine pronominal suffixes are problematic; the expression is best emended to correspond to the phrase “around her grave” in v. 23. See D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 2:219.

[32:22]  ⁵⁰ tn Heb “all of them slain, the ones felled by the sword.” See as well vv. 23-24.

[32:23]  ⁵¹ tn Heb “whose.”

[32:23]  ⁵² tn The only other occurrence of the phrase “remote slopes of the pit” is in Isa 14:15.

[32:25]  ⁵³ tn Heb “around him her graves,” but the expression is best emended to read “around her grave” (see vv. 23-24).

[32:26]  ⁵⁴ tn Heb “around him her graves,” but the expression is best emended to read “around her grave” (see vv. 23-24).

[32:27]  ⁵⁵ tc Heb “of the uncircumcised.” The LXX reads, probably correctly, “from of old” rather than “of the uncircumcised.” The phrases are very similar in spelling. The warriors of Meshech-Tubal are described as uncircumcised, so it would be odd for them to not be buried with the uncircumcised. Verse 28 specifically says that they would lie with the uncircumcised.

[32:27]  ⁵⁶ tn Heb “and their iniquities were over their bones.” The meaning of this statement is unclear; in light of the parallelism (see “swords”) it is preferable to emend “their iniquities” to “their swords.” See L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 2:135.

[1:25]  ⁵⁷ tn Grk “to take the place.”

[1:25]  ⁵⁸ tn Or “of this ministry.”

[1:25]  ⁵⁹ tn Or “the task of this service and apostleship which Judas ceased to perform.”

[1:25]  ⁶⁰ sn To go to his own place. This may well be a euphemism for Judas’ judged fate. He separated himself from them, and thus separated he would remain.