Discovery BoxPsalms 116:3-6 
Context116:3 The ropes of death tightened around me, 1
the snares 2 of Sheol confronted me.
I was confronted 3 with trouble and sorrow.
116:4 I called on the name of the Lord,
“Please Lord, rescue my life!”
116:5 The Lord is merciful and fair;
our God is compassionate.
116:6 The Lord protects 4 the untrained; 5
I was in serious trouble 6 and he delivered me.
1 tn Heb “surrounded me.”
2 tn The Hebrew noun מצר (“straits; distress”) occurs only here, Ps 118:5 and Lam 1:3. If retained, it refers to Sheol as a place where one is confined or severely restricted (cf. BDB 865 s.v. מֵצַר, “the straits of Sheol”; NIV “the anguish of the grave”; NRSV “the pangs of Sheol”). However, HALOT 624 s.v. מֵצַר suggests an emendation to מְצָדֵי (mÿtsadey, “snares of”), a rare noun attested in Job 19:6 and Eccl 7:26. This proposal, which is reflected in the translation, produces better parallelism with “ropes” in the preceding line.
3 tn The translation assumes the prefixed verbal form is a preterite. The psalmist recalls the crisis from which the Lord delivered him.
4 tn Heb “guards.” The active participle indicates this is a characteristic of the
5 tn Or “the [morally] naive,” that is, the one who is young and still in the process of learning right from wrong and distinguishing wisdom from folly. See Ps 19:7.
6 tn Heb “I was low.”
