2 Samuel 22:6 (LSB)

Passage

The cords of Sheol surrounded me; The snares of death confronted me.

Nearby Context

2 Samuel 22:4 I call upon Yahweh, who is worthy to be praised, And I am saved from my enemies.

2 Samuel 22:5 For the waves of death encompassed me; The torrents of vileness terrorized me;

2 Samuel 22:6 The cords of Sheol surrounded me; The snares of death confronted me.

2 Samuel 22:7 In my distress I called upon Yahweh, And I called to my God; And out of His temple He heard my voice, And my cry for help came into His ears.

2 Samuel 22:8 Then the earth shook and quaked; The foundations of heaven were trembling And were shaken, because He was angry.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "cords", "sheol", "surrounded", "snares", "death", and "confronted". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "cords" and "sheol", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 5's "For the waves of death encompassed me..." into verse 7's "In my distress I called upon Yahweh...", so "cords" and "sheol" belong inside that flow. In 2 Samuel context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "cords" and "sheol" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.