Monday, June 09, 2014

Psalm 18:4

Psalm 18:4

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

a. NLT: The ropes of death entangled me; floods of destruction swept over me.

b. NIV: The cords of death entangled me; the torrents of destruction overwhelmed me.

c. Amplified Bible:  The cords or bands of death surrounded me, and the streams of ungodliness and the torrents of ruin terrified me.

d. Septuagint: The pangs of death compassed me, and the torrents of ungodliness troubled me exceedingly.

e. Stone Edition Torah/Writings/Prophets: [In the Jewish translation Psalm 18:4 in our Bibles is Psalm 18:5 in the Jewish] The pains of death encircled me, and torrents of godless men would frighten me.

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

1. “The sorrows of death compassed me…”

a. sorrows [2256 * chebel][Strong: from 2254; a rope (as twisted), especially a measuring line; by implication, a district or inheritance (as measured); or a noose (as of cords); figuratively, a company (as if tied together); also a throe (especially of parturition); also ruin:--band, coast, company, cord, country, destruction, line, lot, pain, pang, portion, region, rope, snare, sorrow, tackling.]

b. death [4194 * maveth][Strong: from 4191; death (natural or violent); concretely, the dead, their place or state (hades); figuratively, pestilence, ruin:--(be) dead((-ly)), death, die(-d).]

c. compassed [661 * ‘aphaph][Strong: a primitive root; to surround:--compass.]

d. I believe this passage, Psalm 18:4-6 is a prophetic picture of Jesus in hell before his resurrection. In the book of Acts we have one of the verses that mentions Jesus going to hell and the similarity in the Hebrew words for “sorrows” “death” and “compassed” in Psalm 18:4 and the Greek words for “loosed”, “pains”, “death”, and “holden” is striking.

1). Acts 2:24 Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that he should be holden of it.

a). loosed [3089 * luo][Strong: primary verb; to "loosen" (literally or figuratively):--break (up), destroy, dissolve, (un-)loose, melt, put off.]

b). pains [5604 * odin][Strong: a pang or throe, especially of childbirth:--pain, sorrow, travail.]

c). death [2288 * thanatos][Strong: from 2348; (properly, an adjective used as a noun) death (literally or figuratively):--X deadly, (be...) death.]

d). holden [2902 * krateo][Strong: from 2904; to use strength, i.e. seize or retain (literally or figuratively):--hold (by, fast), keep, lay hand (hold) on, obtain, retain, take (by).][Thayer: to have power, be powerful, to be chief, be master of, to rule, to get possession of, to become master of, to obtain, to take hold of, to take hold of, take, seize, to lay hands on one in order to get him into one's power, to hold, to hold in the hand, to hold fast, i.e. not discard or let go, to keep carefully and faithfully, to continue to hold, to retain, of death continuing to hold one, to hold in check, restrain.]

2.  “…and the floods of ungodly men made me afraid.”

a. floods [5158 * nachal][Strong: from 5157 in its original sense; a stream, especially a winter torrent; (by implication) a (narrow) valley (in which a brook runs); also a shaft (of a mine):--brook, flood, river, stream, valley.][AMG Complete Old Testament Word Study Dictionary: A masculine noun indicating a wadi, a stream, a torrent; in Psalm 18:4 a torrent of asphalt, describing Topheth.]

b. ungodly [1100 * beliya’al][Strong:  without profit, worthlessness; by extension, destruction, wickedness (often in connection with 376, 802, 1121, etc.):--Belial, evil, naughty, ungodly (men), wicked.]

1). Unger’s Bible Dictionary: page 131, 132: worthlessness, wickedness. Belial is often used in the A.V. as if it were a proper name, but beyond question it should not be regarded in the Old Testament as such; its meaning being worthlessness, and hence recklessness, lawlessness. The expression “son” or “man of Belial” must be understood as meaning simply a worthless, lawless fellow. In the New Testament the term appears…in the form Belias, and not Belial, as given in the A.V.. The term, as used in 2 Corinthians 6:15, is generally understood as applied to Satan, as the personification of all that is bad.

2). AMG Complete Old Testament Word Study Dictionary: A masculine noun of unknown origin meaning worthlessness. Often a strong moral component in the context suggests the state of being good for nothing and therefore expresses the concept of wickedness…This word was not treated as a proper name by the Septuagint translators of the Old Testament, but it does appear in its Greek form as a name for the devil in the Dead Sea scrools and in the New Testament.

a). 2 Corinthians 6:15  And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?

c. afraid [1204 * ba’ath][Strong: a primitive root; to fear:--affright, be (make) afraid, terrify, trouble.

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