“Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.” Psalm 23:4 Woman’s Day Death – After that rant about Deuteronomy 31:8 you’re probably wondering why I would ever decide to pick another “out of…
But God will redeem my soul from the power of Sheol, for He will receive me. Selah Psalm 49:15 NASB Receive – If the Tanakh really doesn’t have a clear concept of Heaven, then what can this verse mean? Doesn’t it imply that there is redemption from Sheol? Doesn’t it suggest that God “saves” us from the eternity…
But those who seek my [f]life to destroy it, will go into the [g]depths of the earth. Psalm 63:9 NASB Life/depths – Did you notice the two footnotes in this verse from the NASB? The tiny (f) and (g) indicate that the translators want the reader to notice something about the Hebrew words. But if you looked at…
If I ascend to heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there. Psalm 139:8 NASB Behold– We’ve looked at this verse several times.[1]Our previous investigations concentrated on the use of She’ol and its distinction from the contemporary idea of Hell. But this time we’ll look at the tone of the verse,…
Will Your wonders be made known in the darkness? And Your righteousness in the land of forgetfulness? Psalm 88:12 NASB The darkness – “Little doubt surrounds the meaning of this denominative verb coming from the noun ḥōšek (darkness). It occurs eighteen times, seventeen times in poetical books. Exodus 10:15 is the only occurrence of ḥāšak…
All his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted and said, “No, I shall go down to Sheol to my son, mourning.” Thus his father wept. Genesis 37:35 ESV Sheol – Do you find it astounding and insightful that the word she’ol is derived from the…
If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there! Psalm 139:8 ESV Sheol – So where do you go when you die? Today we might think the answer is either “heaven” or “hell.” At least that’s the expected evangelical rhetoric when this question is posed as…
If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there! Psalm 139:8 ESV If – David’s famous poetic line expresses the impossibility of escaping God’s concern. David is the precursor to Paul’s similar passage in Romans 8. Nothing can separate us from the love of God. But…
The cords of Sheol surrounded me; the snares of death confronted me. Psalm 18:5 NASB Cords/surrounded – What are the cords of Sheol? How will we know what to do to avoid them unless we understand what they are? Perhaps we can begin by discovering what they are not. First, the cords of Sheol are…
If I ascend to heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there. Psalm 139:8 NASB In Sheol – This verse is often used as a proof text for the omnipresence of God, but I don’t think David had any theological doctrine in mind when he wrote it. It…
