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Read the Bible

Revised Standard Version

Psalms 6:5

For in death there is no remembrance of thee; in Sheol who can give thee praise?

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Afflictions and Adversities;   Dead (People);   Death;   Hades;   Hell;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Neginoth;   Psalms, the Book of;   Sheminith;   Bridgeway Bible Dictionary - Sheol;   Soul;   Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology - Resurrection;   Sheol;   Spirituality;   Charles Buck Theological Dictionary - Heart;   Materialists;   Fausset Bible Dictionary - Hezekiah;   Psalms;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Sheol;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - English Versions;   Psalms;   Sin;   Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament - Descent into Hades;   Judgment Damnation;   Resurrection of the Dead;   Salvation;   Morrish Bible Dictionary - Grave;   The Hawker's Poor Man's Concordance And Dictionary - Musician;   Sheminith;   People's Dictionary of the Bible - Hell;   Psalms the book of;  

Encyclopedias:

- International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Death;   Decease, in the Old Testament and Apocyphra;   Eschatology of the Old Testament (with Apocryphal and Apocalyptic Writings);   Music;   Psalms, Book of;   Sheol;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
For there is no remembrance of you in death;who can thank you in Sheol?
Hebrew Names Version
For in death there is no memory of you. In She'ol, who shall give you thanks?
King James Version
For in death there is no remembrance of thee: in the grave who shall give thee thanks?
English Standard Version
For in death there is no remembrance of you; in Sheol who will give you praise?
New Century Version
Dead people don't remember you; those in the grave don't praise you.
New English Translation
For no one remembers you in the realm of death, In Sheol who gives you thanks?
Amplified Bible
For in death there is no mention of You; In Sheol (the nether world, the place of the dead) who will praise You and give You thanks?
New American Standard Bible
For there is no mention of You in death; In Sheol, who will praise You?
World English Bible
For in death there is no memory of you. In Sheol, who shall give you thanks?
Geneva Bible (1587)
For in death there is no remembrance of thee: in the graue who shall prayse thee?
Legacy Standard Bible
For there is no remembrance of You in death;In Sheol who will give You thanks?
Berean Standard Bible
For there is no mention of You in death; who can praise You from Sheol?
Contemporary English Version
If I die, I cannot praise you or even remember you.
Complete Jewish Bible
Come back, Adonai , and rescue me! Save me for the sake of your grace;
Darby Translation
For in death there is no remembrance of thee; in Sheol who shall give thanks unto thee?
Easy-to-Read Version
If I am dead, I cannot sing about you. Those in the grave don't praise you.
George Lamsa Translation
For in death there is no remembrance of thee; in Sheol who shall give thee thanks?
Good News Translation
In the world of the dead you are not remembered; no one can praise you there.
Lexham English Bible
For there is no remembrance of you in death. In Sheol, who will give thanks to you?
Literal Translation
For there is no memory of You in death; who shall give thanks to You in Sheol?
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
For in death no man remebreth the: Oh who wil geue the thankes in the hell?
American Standard Version
For in death there is no remembrance of thee: In Sheol who shall give thee thanks?
Bible in Basic English
For in death there is no memory of you; in the underworld who will give you praise?
JPS Old Testament (1917)
Return, O LORD, deliver my soul; save me for Thy mercy's sake.
King James Version (1611)
For in death there is no remembrance of thee: in the graue who shall giue thee thankes?
Bishop's Bible (1568)
For in death no man remembreth thee: and in the graue who can acknowledge thee?
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
For in death no man remembers thee: and who will give thee thanks in Hades?
English Revised Version
For in death there is no remembrance of thee: in Sheol who shall give thee thanks?
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
For noon is in deeth, which is myndful of thee; but in helle who schal knouleche to thee?
Update Bible Version
For in death there is no remembrance of you: In Sheol who shall give you thanks?
Webster's Bible Translation
For in death [there is] no remembrance of thee: in the grave who will give thee thanks?
New King James Version
For in death there is no remembrance of You; In the grave who will give You thanks?
New Living Translation
For the dead do not remember you. Who can praise you from the grave?
New Life Bible
No one remembers You when he is dead. Who gives You praise from the grave?
New Revised Standard
For in death there is no remembrance of you; in Sheol who can give you praise?
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
For, in death, is no remembrance of thee, - In hades, who shall give thanks unto thee?
Douay-Rheims Bible
(6-6) For there is no one in death, that is mindful of thee: and who shall confess to thee in hell?
Young's Literal Translation
For there is not in death Thy memorial, In Sheol, who doth give thanks to Thee?
New American Standard Bible (1995)
For there is no mention of You in death; In Sheol who will give You thanks?

Contextual Overview

1 To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments; according to The Sheminith. A Psalm of David. O LORD, rebuke me not in thy anger, nor chasten me in thy wrath. 2 Be gracious to me, O LORD, for I am languishing; O LORD, heal me, for my bones are troubled. 3 My soul also is sorely troubled. But thou, O LORD--how long? 4 Turn, O LORD, save my life; deliver me for the sake of thy steadfast love. 5 For in death there is no remembrance of thee; in Sheol who can give thee praise? 6 I am weary with my moaning; every night I flood my bed with tears; I drench my couch with my weeping. 7 My eye wastes away because of grief, it grows weak because of all my foes.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

For: Psalms 30:9, Psalms 88:10-12, Psalms 115:17, Psalms 118:17, Isaiah 38:18, Isaiah 38:19

in the: Ecclesiastes 9:10, John 9:4

Reciprocal: Genesis 47:29 - must die Ecclesiastes 9:5 - the dead Isaiah 38:11 - General

Cross-References

Genesis 6:1
When men began to multiply on the face of the ground, and daughters were born to them,
Genesis 6:3
Then the LORD said, "My spirit shall not abide in man for ever, for he is flesh, but his days shall be a hundred and twenty years."
Genesis 6:4
The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men, and they bore children to them. These were the mighty men that were of old, the men of renown.
Genesis 6:9
These are the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation; Noah walked with God.
Genesis 6:19
And of every living thing of all flesh, you shall bring two of every sort into the ark, to keep them alive with you; they shall be male and female.
Genesis 6:20
Of the birds according to their kinds, and of the animals according to their kinds, of every creeping thing of the ground according to its kind, two of every sort shall come in to you, to keep them alive.
Genesis 6:21
Also take with you every sort of food that is eaten, and store it up; and it shall serve as food for you and for them."
Genesis 8:21
And when the LORD smelled the pleasing odor, the LORD said in his heart, "I will never again curse the ground because of man, for the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth; neither will I ever again destroy every living creature as I have done.
Genesis 13:13
Now the men of Sodom were wicked, great sinners against the LORD.
Deuteronomy 29:19
one who, when he hears the words of this sworn covenant, blesses himself in his heart, saying, 'I shall be safe, though I walk in the stubbornness of my heart.' This would lead to the sweeping away of moist and dry alike.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

For in death [there is] no remembrance of thee,.... Of the goodness, truth, power, and faithfulness of God; no notice can be taken nor mention, made either of the perfections or works of God, whether of nature or of grace, by a dead man to others; he is wholly useless to men on earth with respect to these things;

in the grave who shall give thee thanks? for mercies temporal or spiritual; the dead cannot praise the Lord among men, only the living; see Psalms 30:9; wherefore the psalmist desires that he might live and praise the Lord: this argument is taken from the glory of God, which end cannot be answered among men by death, as by life. It does not follow from hence that the soul either dies or sleeps with the body, and is inactive until the resurrection morn, neither of which are true; or that the souls of departed saints are unemployed in heaven; they are always before the throne, and serve the Lord day and night; they remember, with the utmost gratitude and thankfulness, all the goodness and grace of God unto them, and praise him for all his wondrous works: but the sense is, that when a saint is dead, he can no more serve and glorify God on earth among men.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

For in death - In the state of the dead; in the grave.

There is no remembrance of thee - They who are dead do not remember thee or think of thee. The “ground” of this appeal is, that it was regarded by the psalmist as a “desirable” thing to remember God and to praise him, and that this could not be done by one who was dead. He prayed, therefore, that God would spare his life, and restore him to health, that he might praise him in the land of the living. A sentiment similar to this occurs in Psalms 30:9, “What profit is there in my blood, when I go down to the pit? Shall the dust praise thee? shall it declare thy truth?” So also Psalms 88:11, “Shall thy loving-kindness be declared in the grave? or thy faithfulness in destruction?” So also in Isaiah 38:18, in the language of Hezekiah, “The grave cannot praise thee; death cannot celebrate thee; they that go down into the pit cannot hope for thy truth.” See the notes at that passage. A similar sentiment also is found in Job 10:21-22. See the notes at that passage. In regard to the meaning of this it may be remarked

(a) that it is to be admitted that there was among the ancient saints much less light on the subject of the future state than there is with us, and that they often, in giving utterance to their feelings, seemed to speak as if all were dark beyond the grave.

(b) But, though they thus spoke in their sorrow and in their despondency, they also did, on other occasions, express their belief in a future state, and their expectation of happiness in a coming world (compare, for example, Psalms 16:10-11; Psalms 17:15).

(c) Does not their language in times of despondency and sickness express the feelings which “we” often have now, even with all the light which we possess, and all the hopes which we cherish? Are there not times in the lives of the pious, even though they have a strong prevailing hope of heaven, when the thoughts are fixed on the grave as a dark, gloomy, repulsive prison, and “so” fixed on it as to lose sight of the world beyond? And in such moments does not “life” seem as precious to us, and as desirable, as it did to David, to Hezekiah, or to Job?

In the grave - Hebrew, בשׁאול bishe'ôl, “in Sheol.” For the meaning of the word, see Isaiah 5:14, note; Isaiah 14:9, note; Job 7:9, note. Its meaning here does not differ materially from the word “grave.”

Who shall give thee thanks? - Who shall “praise” thee? The idea is that “none” would then praise God. It was the land of “silence.” See Isaiah 38:18-19. This language implies that David “desired” to praise God, but that he could not hope to do it in the grave.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Psalms 6:5. In death there is no remembrance of thee — Man is to glorify thee on earth. The end for which he was born cannot be accomplished in the grave; heal my body, and heal my soul, that I may be rendered capable of loving and serving thee here below. A dead body in the grave can do no good to men, nor bring any glory to thy name!


 
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