Psalm 18:5:1Ps.18.5.W1TABWLC Psalms 18:6
חֶ֤בְלֵי
khevlei
“cords of”
- Transliteration
- khev-LEI
- Extended
- khehv-LEI
- IPA
- /ħɛvˈlej/
Meaning by language
- English
- cords of
Hebrew · tap a syllable to hear it
Alphabet Analysis
| Chet | ch — deep guttural, as in Scottish loch | |
| Seghol | short 'eh' as in met | |
| Bet | b with dagesh; v without dagesh | |
| Sheva | silent sheva — no sound; closes the syllable | |
| Lamed | l as in law | |
| Tsere | long 'ey' as in they | |
| Yod | y as in yes; marks long ī |
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Now you try — trace the word:
The word
Word in context
- word
khev-LEI
- clause
khev-LEI she-OL se-va-VOO-ni
- sentence
khev-LEI she-OL se-va-VOO-ni kid-de-VOO-ni mok-SHEI MA-vet
Exegesis
The verse employs synonymous parallelism by pairing chevlei she'ol {חֶבְלֵי שְׁאוֹל | khev-lê shə-ʾōl} ‘cords of Sheol’ with sevavuni {סְבָבוּנִי | sə-ḇā-ḇū-nî} ‘surrounded me’, and moqshei mavet {מוֹקְשֵׁי מָוֶת | mōq-šê mā-weṯ} ‘snares of death’ with kidmuni {קִדְּמוּנִי | qiḏ-mū-nî} ‘confronted me’. The Piel perfect verbs linked to construct nouns create a compressed, staccato rhythm that heightens the threat. The absence of a conjunction between the two clauses intensifies the sense of imminent peril.
Root and etymology
ח־ב־ל
“cord, rope, binding”
In context — Psalm 18:5
The cords of Sheol surrounded me; the snares of death confronted me.
About this coordinate
Psalm 18:5:1 is a BCV:P reference — Book · Chapter · Verse · Word Position. It addresses word 1 of Psalm 18:5, so the Hebrew word חֶ֤בְלֵי (khevlei) can be cited, linked and studied at exactly this position rather than somewhere in the verse. In the Biblical Knowledge Coordinate System the same position is written Ps.18.5.W1, which extends further down to each syllable (Ps.18.5.W1.S1) and character.