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“What[a] profit is there in taking my life,[b]
in my descending into the Pit?[c]
Can the dust of the grave[d] praise you?
Can it declare your loyalty?[e]

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Footnotes

  1. Psalm 30:9 sn The following two verses (vv. 9-10) contain the prayer (or an excerpt of the prayer) that the psalmist offered to the Lord during his crisis.
  2. Psalm 30:9 tn Heb “What profit [is there] in my blood?” “Blood” here represents his life.
  3. Psalm 30:9 tn The Hebrew term שָׁחַת (shakhat, “pit”) is often used as a title for Sheol (see Pss 16:10; 49:9; 55:24 HT [55:23 ET]; 103:4).
  4. Psalm 30:9 tn Heb “dust.” The words “of the grave” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
  5. Psalm 30:9 tn The rhetorical questions anticipate the answer, “Of course not!”sn According to the OT, those who descend into the realm of death/Sheol are cut off from God’s mighty deeds and from the worshiping covenant community that experiences divine intervention (Pss 6:5; 88:10-12; Isa 38:18). In his effort to elicit a positive divine response, the psalmist reminds God that he will receive no praise or glory if he allows the psalmist to die. Dead men do not praise God!

“What is gained if I am silenced,
    if I go down to the pit?(A)
Will the dust praise you?
    Will it proclaim your faithfulness?(B)

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