Psalms 18:5 · Bible study
Psalms 18:5 Commentary: Study, Cords of Sheol, Snares of Death
Hebrew · 11 what the commentators say
Meaning in one sentence
Exegetical study of Psalm 18:5: the imagery of Sheol’s cords and death’s snares, David’s peril, and God’s deliverance when human strength fails.
Research Summary
- Meaning: David describes being completely bound and trapped by death, confessing total helplessness before God’s deliverance.
- Key words: “cords” (or “sorrows”, Hebrew chebley), “Sheol,” “snares,” “death.”
- Main debate: Whether the first word should be rendered “cords” or “sorrows,” and whether the verse refers solely to David or also typologically to Christ.
- Theological theme: God’s power to save when human strength is exhausted; the pattern of cry and deliverance.
- Best use: As part of a sermon or study on lament, desperation, and the hope of rescue that comes through prayer and divine intervention.
Translation Comparison
BSB Berean Standard Bible 2020
The cords of Sheol entangled me; the snares of death confronted me.
WEB World English Bible 2000
The cords of Sheol were around me. The snares of death came on me.
KJV King James Version 1769
The sorrows of hell compassed me about: the snares of death prevented me.
ASV American Standard Version 1901
The cords of Sheol were round about me; The snares of death came upon me.
YLT Young's Literal Translation 1898
Cords of Sheol have surrounded me, Before me have been snares of death.
Darby Darby Bible 1890
The bands of Sheol surrounded me, the cords of death encountered me.
Douay-Rheims Douay-Rheims Bible 1899
Their sound hath gone forth into all the earth: and their words unto the ends of the world.
Translations in other languages (10 available)
Dolores del sepulcro me rodearon, previniéronme lazos de muerte.
Cordas do mundo dos mortos me envolveram; laços de morte me confrontaram.
Les liens de la mort m’avaient environné,
Der Hölle Bande umfingen mich, und des Todes Stricke überwältigten mich.
Banden des doods hadden mij omvangen, en beken Belials verschrikten mij.
I legami del soggiorno de’ morti m’aveano attorniato, i lacci della morte m’aveano còlto.
Ogarnęły mię były boleści śmierci, a potoki niepobożnych zatrwożyły mię.
По всей земле проходит звук их, и до пределов вселенной слова их. Он поставил в них жилище солнцу,
陰間 的繩索 纏繞我，死亡 的網羅 臨到我。
The cords of hell were round me: the nets of death came on me.
Verse in Context
Scholars' Consensus
Commentators agree that Psalm 18:5 depicts David at the very edge of death. The imagery is drawn from hunting and burial: he is bound with cords and caught in snares. Adam Clarke calls him “all but a dead man.” The Hebrew word chebley is translated either “cords” or “sorrows”; the parallel with “snares” in the second line favors “cords,” as the Cambridge Bible and Keil and Delitzsch argue. Death and Sheol are personified as hunters (Barnes, Keil). David is passive: the ropes are around him, the snares have come upon him. Calvin reads this as David’s lifelong experience of danger, from Saul to foreign wars, while Gill applies it directly to Christ’s burial and resurrection. The verse thus functions as a confession of total helplessness and the necessity of divine intervention.
How settled is the interpretation?
Interpretive difficulty: Medium
Main views:
- Historical Davidic reference: The psalm superscription and context (David’s deliverance from Saul and enemies) support a literal reading of David’s life-threatening situations.
- Messianic typology: Calvin and Gill both see David’s experience as a type of Christ’s suffering and resurrection, supported by Acts 2:24's citation of the verse.
- Existential metaphor: Some modern readers interpret Sheol and death as metaphors for extreme despair or psychological bondage, drawing on the language of being trapped.
What is clear: David is describing a moment of mortal peril in which he is utterly helpless, and from which only God can rescue him.
What Scholars Agree and Debate
| Topic | Agreed | Debated |
|---|---|---|
| Translation of חבלי (chebley) | The word can mean either 'cords/bands' or 'pains/sorrows.' | Most modern commentators favor 'cords' because of the parallel with 'snares' in the second line and the hunting imagery throughout the psalm. Older English translations (KJV) often rendered it 'sorrows,' influenced by the Septuagint (ωδῖνες, 'pangs'). |
| Historical referent | The verse describes a life-threatening crisis experienced by David. | Some see it strictly as David’s personal history (e.g., persecutions from Saul, as Calvin emphasizes). Others (e.g., Gill, and the typological reading in Calvin) read it as foreshadowing Christ’s death and resurrection, citing Acts 2:24 as fulfillment. |
| Sheol and Death: literal or personified? | Both are real spiritual powers that threaten human life. | Some interpret Sheol as the literal underworld or grave; others see it as a metaphor for extreme distress or the state of being as good as dead. Personification (Death as a hunter) is widely accepted, but the degree of literalness varies. |
| Meaning of 'prevented' | The Hebrew verb means 'to come before' or 'to confront.' | Older English (KJV) used 'prevented' in its archaic sense of 'to go before' or 'to anticipate.' Modern translations render it as 'came upon,' 'confronted,' or 'encountered.' The sense is hostile: the snares rushed at David. |
Historical & Cultural Context
Sheol in the Old Testament is the underworld, the realm of the dead, a shadowy place of silence and separation from God. David writes this song “in the day that Yahweh delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul” (Psalm 18, superscript). His life as a fugitive and king was marked by repeated brushes with death. The image of cords and snares reflects ancient practices: hunters used nets and ropes to trap animals (Ecclesiastes 9:12), and burials involved winding cloths or lowering ropes (as Clarke notes). David draws on this familiar world to describe a crisis that was not only physical but also spiritual, as though death itself had cast its net over him.
The literary context of Psalm 18 is a royal thanksgiving. Verses 4, 5 build a picture of gathering darkness: “The cords of death surrounded me; the floods of ungodliness made me afraid.” In verse 5, the cords of Sheol and snares of death press closer. This is the point of greatest danger before God’s intervention in verses 7ff. The language deliberately echoes other laments (Psalm 88, Psalm 116) and is later quoted in Acts 2:24 as fulfilled in Christ’s resurrection. For the original audience, the song testified that Israel’s king, and by extension Israel itself, could face what seemed like certain death and still be rescued by Yahweh alone.
Textual Notes
The consulted sources note no significant textual variants for Psalm 18:5. The Masoretic Text is stable. The Septuagint reads ωδῖνες ἅδου ('pangs of Hades') which is reflected in some English translations (e.g., KJV ‘sorrows of hell’) and in Acts 2:24. This variant in translation does not arise from a different Hebrew manuscript but from a possible reinterpretation by the Septuagint translators.
Reception History
In the early church, Psalm 18:5 was read as prophecy of Christ’s descent into death and his resurrection. Acts 2:24 explicitly quotes the Septuagint version (“pains of death”) and applies it to Jesus, whom God raised up. The Reformers, including Calvin and Luther, saw the verse as describing David’s historical deliverance while also typifying Christ’s victory. Puritan commentators like Matthew Henry used the imagery to teach that the believer’s extremity is God’s opportunity. In modern times, the verse is often used in funeral liturgies and in personal lament, emphasizing God’s presence even at the edge of death.
Preaching This Verse
Three-point outline
- The cords that bind. David describes being tied by the cords of Sheol, bound as a corpse is bound. There is no escape by his own strength. This is the language of utter helplessness.
- The snares that trap. Death springs its trap suddenly. “Prevented” in the KJV means “confronted” or “rushed upon.” Danger came from all sides, unforeseen and overwhelming.
- The God who delivers. The turning point comes in verse 6: “In my distress I called on Yahweh.” The same God who hears from heaven is the one who breaks the cords and shatters the snares.
Five-point outline
- The threat: death as hunter (v.4, 5).
- The cry: from the depths to the heights (v.6).
- The response: theophany of deliverance (v.7, 15).
- The rescue: drawn out of many waters (v.16, 19).
- The song: praise for God’s faithful love (v.20, 50).
Illustration hooks
- A person trapped in a car after a crash, with no way to free themselves, waiting for rescue.
- A climber whose rope gets tangled and pinned, unable to move, only able to call for help.
- A patient receiving a terminal diagnosis, facing the “cords” of death, yet finding unexpected hope through medical intervention or faith.
Questions your congregation is asking
- Does God hear me when I feel completely trapped by circumstances?
- Is it okay to describe my suffering in such raw, desperate language?
- How do I call out to God when I have no words left?
Leading a Discussion
This verse sits at the heart of a song of thanksgiving. David recounts the worst moment before the rescue. In your group, let the imagery of cords and snares press on you. Then trace how David moves from that place to praise.
Discussion questions
- What images in verse 5 stand out to you? What feelings do they create?
- Why do you think David uses the words “cords” and “snares” rather than more general terms for danger?
- The Hebrew word translated “cords” can also mean “pangs” or “sorrows.” How does each translation shape your understanding of David’s experience?
- Read Psalm 116:3 and Acts 2:24. How do these passages echo or reinterpret Psalm 18:5?
- What does David’s passivity in this verse (things “were around me,” “came on me”) say about human ability to save oneself?
- How does knowing God’s deliverance (v.6ff) change the way we read the description of danger?
- When have you felt “surrounded” by a situation with no way out? How did you cry out to God, and what happened?
Cross-References
Source: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (TSK, public domain)
| Psalms 86:13 | For your loving kindness is great toward me. You have delivered my soul from the lowest Sheol. |
| Psalms 88:3 | For my soul is full of troubles. My life draws near to Sheol. |
| Psalms 88:8 | You have taken my friends from me. You have made me an abomination to them. I am confined, and I can’t escape. |
| Psalms 88:15 | I am afflicted and ready to die from my youth up. While I suffer your terrors, I am distracted. |
| Psalms 88:17 | They came around me like water all day long. They completely engulfed me. |
| Psalms 116:3 | The cords of death surrounded me, the pains of Sheol got a hold of me. I found trouble and sorrow. |
| Ecclesiastes 9:12 | For man also doesn’t know his time. As the fish that are taken in an evil net, and as the birds that are caught in the snare, even so are the sons of men snared in an evil time, when it falls suddenly on them. |
| Acts 2:24 | whom God raised up, having freed him from the agony of death, because it was not possible that he should be held by it. |
Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0). Commentaries are public domain.
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What the Commentators Say
9 public-domain commentaries, condensed into plain language.
Adam Clarke's Commentary Methodist/Wesleyan 1826
Adam Clarke highlights the Hebrew phrase for "sorrows of hell," which literally means "cords or cables of the grave." He interprets these as the ropes lowering a corpse or the bandages wrapping the dead, emphasizing the psalmist felt as good as dead, moments from dropping into the pit, and only God's immediate intervention saved him.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible Protestant 1832
Barnes focuses on the Hebrew word that can mean either "sorrows" or "cords." If sorrows, it pictures the sufferings of the underworld; if cords, it describes pain seizing the psalmist like ropes dragging him toward death. Either way, he sees the psalmist describing being suddenly overtaken and bound fast by the dread of death.
Calvin's Commentaries Reformed 1564
Calvin stresses that David wrote this psalm not to celebrate his own victories but to magnify God as the true source of them. He also sees David's reign as a deliberate image and type of Christ's kingdom, assuring believers that Christ will triumph over every enemy through the Father's power.
Geneva Bible Notes Reformed 1599
The sorowes of the graue haue compassed me about: the snares of death ouertooke me.
Gill's Exposition of the Bible Baptist 1748
Gill applies this imagery directly to Christ's burial, describing how His body was wound in linen like a corpse bound hand and foot. He sees Christ held under death's power until the resurrection, when He broke free and showed Himself to hold the keys of death and the grave.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Commentary Protestant 1871
JFB treats death and hell as personified enemies that actively cross the psalmist's path to endanger him. He stresses that the psalmist means these forces confronted him, not that he was already in their power. The point hinges on a defensive encounter, not captivity.
Lange's Commentary Reformed 1857
Lange highlights the title's use of "servant of the Lord" as an official and honorific designation, placing David alongside
Matthew Henry's Commentary Reformed/Presbyterian 1710
Henry draws attention to the many titles David piles on God in one breath—rock, fortress, deliverer, buckler, horn—each one a distinct facet of the same saving power. He also notes that the violent, cosmic imagery that follows is not exaggeration but God’s personal intervention against every threat to His beloved.
Wesley's Explanatory Notes Methodist/Wesleyan 1754
Wesley notes that the sorrows described were so intense they brought the speaker to death's door. His distinctive observation is that death nearly seized him before he even realized how close he was.