Psalms 18:5

Render with R.V.,

The cords of Sheol were round about me:

The snares of death came upon me.

The Heb. word rendered sorrowsin the A.V. may no doubt have the meaning pangs, and is so rendered by the LXX (ὠδῖνες θανάτου … ὠ. ᾁδου, cp. Acts 2:24). But the parallelism decides in favour of the rendering cords. Death and Sheol, the mysterious unseen world (see on Psalms 6:5), are like hunters lying in wait for their prey with nooses and nets.

prevented i.e. came before, confronted me (Psalms 17:13) with hostile intention. See note on Psalms 18:18.