Psalm 16/Notes/Lexical.v. 10.555399

• Most modern translations and lexicons claim that the word שָׁחַת in this verse is a reference to "the grave" or "the pit" (NRSVue, NJPS, NET, NEB, NAB; cf. LUT, ELB, EÜ, ZÜR; Targum: בשחיותא; so HALOT, DCH, BDB, Gesenius 2013, 1344–1345). The word שַׁחַת often means "pit" (e.g., Pss 7:6; 35:7; 55:24; 94:13). That it means "pit" in this case is supported by the parallel term "Sheol," which is often juxtaposed with another word for "pit" (בּוֹר; see Isa 14:15; 38:18; Ps 30:4; Prov 1:12). On the other hand, the Septuagint translates this word with the abstract noun decay or "corruption" (διαφθορά): "the condition or state of rotting or decaying" (BDAG). This interpretation then becomes part of apostolic arguments regarding the resurrection of Jesus (see esp. Acts 2:25–32; cf. Acts 13:34–36). Some modern translations reflect this interpretation: "decay" (NIV, NASB, CSB), "corruption" (KJV, ESV; cf. Peshitta: ܚܒܠܐ; Jerome [Hebr.]: corruptionem). It could be that this meaning of the word שַׁחַת ("pit") is a metaphorical extension of its concrete sense: "pit >> corruption." It could also be that the word שַׁחַת in this verse is not the word "pit" that occurs elsewhere, but an identical-sounding word (a homonym) related to the root שׁחת ("be ruined, become corrupt"). By contrast, the word שַׁחַת in the sense of "pit" is probably related to the root שׁוּחַ—"to sink low." An analogy would be the form נַחַת, which is both a word for "rest" (from the root נוּחַ) and a word for "descent" (from the root נחת) (so Waltke 1997, 1113). The word שַׁחַת as "corruption" (from שׁחת) probably occurs in Job 17:14—"if I say to corruption, ‘You are my father,’ and to the worm, ‘My mother’ or ‘My sister’" (Job 17:14, NIV; so Waltke 1997, 1113; cf. LXX: θάνατος; Aquila and Theodotion: διαφθορά). The identification of שַׁחַת as "father" in Job 17:14 makes it clear that שַׁחַת is not the word for "pit," which is a feminine word, but the word for "corruption," which is masculine. Similarly, in Psalm 16:10, שָׁחַת is more likely the word for "corruption" (from שׁחת) than the word for "pit" (from שׁוּחַ). This meaning fits better with the verb "see" or experience (לִרְאֹות). As Waltke argues, "'To see' expresses the ideas of 'experiencing,' 'enduring,' 'proving,' and the like, and takes for its object a nom. indicative of state of the soul or of the body: e.g., to see death (Ps 88:48 [49]), to see trouble/evil (90:15; Jer 44:17), to see sorrow (Jer 20:18), to see famine (5:12), to see affliction (Lam 3:1). On the contrary, when indicating the idea of place (e.g., pit, grave, Sheol, gates of death, etc.), the Hebrew authors use a vb. of motion; e.g., to come (Job 5:26), to go (Isa 38:10; Eccl 9:10), to draw near (Ps 88:3 [4]; 107:18), to descend (Job 21:13), to fall (Ps 7:15 [16]; 57:7). The expression 'to go down to the pit' occurs 4× in the Psalter; 9× in Ezek; cf. Prov 1:12; Isa 38:18. In this case, the ancient versions, not modern lexicographers, have the better of the argument, and so does the NT" (Waltke 1997, 1113). "Decay" (שַׁחַת), then, appears to be a poetic synonym (albeit more specific, or intensified) for "death" (מָּוֶת).