Psalm 18:4
New International Version
The cords of death entangled me; the torrents of destruction overwhelmed me.

New Living Translation
The ropes of death entangled me; floods of destruction swept over me.

English Standard Version
The cords of death encompassed me; the torrents of destruction assailed me;

Berean Standard Bible
The cords of death encompassed me; the torrents of chaos overwhelmed me.

King James Bible
The sorrows of death compassed me, and the floods of ungodly men made me afraid.

New King James Version
The pangs of death surrounded me, And the floods of ungodliness made me afraid.

New American Standard Bible
The ropes of death encompassed me, And the torrents of destruction terrified me.

NASB 1995
The cords of death encompassed me, And the torrents of ungodliness terrified me.

NASB 1977
The cords of death encompassed me, And the torrents of ungodliness terrified me.

Legacy Standard Bible
The cords of death encompassed me, And the torrents of vileness terrified me.

Amplified Bible
The cords of death surrounded me, And the streams of ungodliness and torrents of destruction terrified me.

Christian Standard Bible
The ropes of death were wrapped around me; the torrents of destruction terrified me.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
The ropes of death were wrapped around me; the torrents of destruction terrified me.

American Standard Version
The cords of death compassed me, And the floods of ungodliness made me afraid.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
Because the destructions of death surrounded me and the torrents of evil ones troubled me.

Brenton Septuagint Translation
The pangs of death compassed me, and the torrents of ungodliness troubled me exceedingly.

Contemporary English Version
Death had wrapped its ropes around me, and I was almost swallowed by its flooding waters.

Douay-Rheims Bible
The sorrows of death surrounded me: and the torrents of iniquity troubled me.

English Revised Version
The cords of death compassed me, and the floods of ungodliness made me afraid.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
The ropes of death had become tangled around me. The torrents of destruction had overwhelmed me.

Good News Translation
The danger of death was all around me; the waves of destruction rolled over me.

International Standard Version
The cords of death entangled me; the rivers of Belial made me afraid.

JPS Tanakh 1917
The cords of Death compassed me, And the floods of Belial assailed me.

Literal Standard Version
Cords of death have surrounded me, | And streams of the worthless make me afraid.

Majority Standard Bible
The cords of death encompassed me; the torrents of chaos overwhelmed me.

New American Bible
The cords of death encompassed me; the torrents of destruction terrified me.

NET Bible
The waves of death engulfed me, the currents of chaos overwhelmed me.

New Revised Standard Version
The cords of death encompassed me; the torrents of perdition assailed me;

New Heart English Bible
The waves of death surrounded me, and the currents of ungodliness overwhelmed me.

Webster's Bible Translation
The sorrows of death compassed me, and the floods of ungodly men made me afraid.

World English Bible
The cords of death surrounded me. The floods of ungodliness made me afraid.

Young's Literal Translation
Compassed me have cords of death, And streams of the worthless make me afraid.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
The LORD is My Rock
3I will call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised; so shall I be saved from my enemies. 4The cords of death encompassed me; the torrents of chaos overwhelmed me. 5The cords of Sheol entangled me; the snares of death confronted me.…

Cross References
Luke 21:20
But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, you will know that her desolation is near.

Psalm 55:4
My heart murmurs within me, and the terrors of death assail me.

Psalm 69:2
I have sunk into the miry depths, where there is no footing; I have drifted into deep waters, where the flood engulfs me.

Psalm 116:3
The ropes of death entangled me; the anguish of Sheol overcame me; I was confronted by trouble and sorrow.

Psalm 124:3
when their anger flared against us, then they would have swallowed us alive,

Psalm 124:4
then the floods would have engulfed us, then the torrent would have overwhelmed us,

Isaiah 17:12
Alas, the tumult of many peoples; they rage like the roaring seas and clamoring nations; they rumble like the crashing of mighty waters.


Treasury of Scripture

The sorrows of death compassed me, and the floods of ungodly men made me afraid.

sorrows

Psalm 116:3
The sorrows of death compassed me, and the pains of hell gat hold upon me: I found trouble and sorrow.

2 Samuel 22:5,6
When the waves of death compassed me, the floods of ungodly men made me afraid; …

Isaiah 13:8
And they shall be afraid: pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain as a woman that travaileth: they shall be amazed one at another; their faces shall be as flames.

floods

Psalm 22:12,13,16
Many bulls have compassed me: strong bulls of Bashan have beset me round…

Jonah 2:2-7
And said, I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the LORD, and he heard me; out of the belly of hell cried I, and thou heardest my voice…

Matthew 26:47,55
And while he yet spake, lo, Judas, one of the twelve, came, and with him a great multitude with swords and staves, from the chief priests and elders of the people…

ungodly men [Heb.

Jump to Previous
Afraid Assailed Bands Belial Compassed Cords Death Destruction Encompassed Entangled Evil Fear Floods Overwhelmed Perdition Round Seas Sorrows Streams Surrounded Terrified Torrents Ungodliness Ungodly Worthless
Jump to Next
Afraid Assailed Bands Belial Compassed Cords Death Destruction Encompassed Entangled Evil Fear Floods Overwhelmed Perdition Round Seas Sorrows Streams Surrounded Terrified Torrents Ungodliness Ungodly Worthless
Psalm 18
1. David praises God for his manifold and marvelous blessings














(4) The sorrows of death.--The Hebrew word may mean either birth pangs (LXX. and Acts 2:24, where see Note, New Testament Commentary), or cords. The figure of the hunter in the next verse, "the snares of death," determines its meaning there to be cords (see margin). It is best, therefore, to keep the same rendering here: but there can be little doubt that the version in Samuel, breakers, or waves, is the true one, from the parallelism--

"Waves of death compassed me,

And billows of Belial terrified me."

For Belial, see Deuteronomy 13:13. Here the parallelism fixes its meaning, "ruin." For the ideas of peril and destruction, connected by the Hebrews with waves and floods, comp. Psalm 18:16, also Psalm 32:6; Psalm 42:7; Psalm 69:1. Doubtless the tradition of the Flood and of the Red Sea helped to strengthen the apprehensions natural in a country where the river annually overflowed its banks. and where a dry ravine might at any moment become a dangerous flood. The hatred of the sea arose from quite another cause--viz., the dread of it as a highway for invasion. . . .

Verse 4. - The sorrows of death compassed me. Here begins the narrative of David's sufferings in the past. "'The sorrows' - or rather, 'the cords' - of death," he says, "encompassed me," or "coiled around me" (Kay). Death is represented as a hunter, who goes out with nets and cords, encompassing his victims and driving them into the toils. David's recollection is probably of the time when he was "hunted upon the mountains" by Saul (1 Samuel 26:20), and expected continually to be caught and put to death (1 Samuel 19:1; 1 Samuel 23:15; 1 Samuel 27:1). And the floods of ungodlymen made me afraid; literally, the torrents of Belial, or of ungodliness. The LXX. have χείμαῥῤοι, ἀνομίας. Streams of ungodly men, the myrmidons of Saul, cut him off from escape.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
The cords
חֶבְלֵי־ (ḥeḇ·lê-)
Noun - masculine plural construct
Strong's 2256: A rope, a measuring line, a district, inheritance, a noose, a company, a throe, ruin

of death
מָ֑וֶת (mā·weṯ)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 4194: Death, the dead, their place, state, pestilence, ruin

encompassed me;
אֲפָפ֥וּנִי (’ă·p̄ā·p̄ū·nî)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - third person common plural | first person common singular
Strong's 661: To surround, encompass

the torrents
וְֽנַחֲלֵ֖י (wə·na·ḥă·lê)
Conjunctive waw | Noun - masculine plural construct
Strong's 5158: A stream, a winter torrent, a, valley, a shaft

of chaos
בְלִיַּ֣עַל (ḇə·lî·ya·‘al)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 1100: Without profit, worthlessness, destruction, wickedness

overwhelmed me.
יְבַֽעֲתֽוּנִי׃ (yə·ḇa·‘ă·ṯū·nî)
Verb - Piel - Imperfect - third person masculine plural | first person common singular
Strong's 1204: To fall upon, startle, terrify


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OT Poetry: Psalm 18:4 The cords of death surrounded me (Psalm Ps Psa.)
Psalm 18:3
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