Psalm 18:5:2Ps.18.5.W2TABWLC Psalms 18:6
שְׁא֣וֹל
sheol
“Sheol”
- Transliteration
- she-OL
- Extended
- sheh-OOL
- IPA
- /ʃəˈʔoːl/
Meaning by language
- English
- Sheol
Hebrew · tap a syllable to hear it
Alphabet Analysis
| Shin | shin with right dot; sin with left dot | |
| Sheva | vocal sheva — a short 'e' (ə), begins a syllable | |
| Aleph | silent — a glottal stop; holds vowel points | |
| Vav | v as in vine; marks long ō / ū | |
| Holem | long 'oh' as in go | |
| Lamed | l as in law |
Tap any letter to hear its name and sound
Now you try — trace the word:
The word
Word in context
- word
she-OL
- 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
ש־א־ל
“the underworld”
In context — Psalm 18:5
The cords of Sheol surrounded me; the snares of death confronted me.
About this coordinate
Psalm 18:5:2 is a BCV:P reference — Book · Chapter · Verse · Word Position. It addresses word 2 of Psalm 18:5, so the Hebrew word שְׁא֣וֹל (sheol) 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.W2, which extends further down to each syllable (Ps.18.5.W2.S1) and character.