What man can live and never see death? Can he deliver his soul from the power of Sheol? Selah
Parallel translations
- WEB What man is he who shall live and not see death, who shall deliver his soul from the power of Sheol? Selah.
- KJV What man is he that liveth, and shall not see death? shall he deliver his soul from the hand of the grave? Selah.
- NKJV What man can live and not see death? Can he deliver his life from the power of the grave? Selah
- NASB What man can live and not see death? Can he save his soul from the power of Sheol? Selah
- NLT No one can live forever; all will die. No one can escape the power of the grave. Interlude
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
No one can escape death or save himself from the power of the grave.
Overview
The universal reality of death confronts every person; none can deliver his own soul from Sheol. This sober truth underlines humanity's helplessness apart from God. It sets the stage for the one exception, Christ, who alone conquered death and holds its keys (Rev. 1:18; 1 Cor. 15:55-57).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- Eccl 9:5For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing. They have no further reward, because the memory of them is forgotten.
- Ps 49:15But God will redeem my life from Sheol, for He will surely take me to Himself. Selah
- Heb 11:5By faith Enoch was taken up so that he did not see death: “He could not be found, because God had taken him away.” For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God.
- Eccl 8:8As no man has power over the wind to contain it, so no one has authority over his day of death. As no one can be discharged in wartime, so wickedness will not release those who practice it.
- Ps 49:7–9No man can possibly redeem his brother or pay his ransom to God.
- Eccl 12:7before the dust returns to the ground from which it came and the spirit returns to God who gave it.
- John 8:51Truly, truly, I tell you, if anyone keeps My word, he will never see death.”
- Job 30:23Yes, I know that You will bring me down to death, to the place appointed for all the living.
- Ps 22:29All the rich of the earth will feast and worship; all who go down to the dust will kneel before Him—even those unable to preserve their lives.
- Acts 2:27because You will not abandon my soul to Hades, nor will You let Your Holy One see decay.
- Eccl 3:19–20For the fates of both men and beasts are the same: As one dies, so dies the other—they all have the same breath. Man has no advantage over the animals, since everything is futile.
- 2 Cor 4:14knowing that the One who raised the Lord Jesus will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you in His presence.
- Heb 9:27Just as man is appointed to die once, and after that to face judgment,
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 89:48 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.