The sorrows of death compassed me, and the pains of hell gat hold upon me: I found trouble and sorrow.
Parallel translations
- WEB The cords of death surrounded me, the pains of Sheol got a hold of me. I found trouble and sorrow.
- BSB The ropes of death entangled me; the anguish of Sheol overcame me; I was confronted by trouble and sorrow.
- NKJV The pains of death surrounded me, And the pangs of Sheol laid hold of me; I found trouble and sorrow.
- NASB The snares of death encompassed me And the terrors of Sheol came upon me; I found distress and sorrow.
- NLT Death wrapped its ropes around me; the terrors of the grave overtook me. I saw only trouble and sorrow.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Death's cords and Sheol's pains had gripped the psalmist in trouble and sorrow. It matters because it honestly portrays the depths from which God rescues.
Overview
Vivid imagery describes a brush with death, entangled and overwhelmed by anguish. The psalm does not minimize suffering but names it plainly before recounting deliverance. Such language anticipates Christ, who truly entered death's grip and emerged victorious, securing rescue for all who trust him.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Ps 38:6I am troubled; I am bowed down greatly; I go mourning all the day long.
- Ps 18:4–6The sorrows of death compassed me, and the floods of ungodly men made me afraid.
- Ps 88:6–7Thou hast laid me in the lowest pit, in darkness, in the deeps.
- Ps 32:3–4When I kept silence, my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long.
- Luke 22:44And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground.
- Jonah 2:2–3And 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.
- Heb 5:7Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared;
- Isa 53:3–4He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
- Mark 14:33–36And he taketh with him Peter and James and John, and began to be sore amazed, and to be very heavy;
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
The Psalms are Christ's own prayer book and a gallery of his portraits — the suffering one of Psalm 22, the risen Lord of Psalm 16, the priest-king of Psalm 110, the Son to whom the nations are given.
How Psalms 116:3 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.