Psalms 88 · Verse 5

Psalms 88:5

Free among the dead, like the slain that lie in the grave, whom thou rememberest no more: and they are cut off from thy hand.

Psalms 88:5, King James Version

Psalms 88:5 in other translations

BSB	I am forsaken among the dead, like the slain who lie in the grave, whom You remember no more, who are cut off from Your care.
WEB	set apart among the dead, like the slain who lie in the grave, whom you remember no more. They are cut off from your hand.
ASV	Cast off among the dead, Like the slain that lie in the grave, Whom thou rememberest no more, And they are cut off from thy hand.
YLT	Among the dead--free, As pierced ones lying in the grave, Whom Thou hast not remembered any more, Yea, they by Thy hand have been cut off.
DARBY	Prostrate among the dead, like the slain that lie in the grave; whom thou rememberest no more, and who are cut off from thy hand.
BBE	My soul is among the dead, like those in the underworld, to whom you give no more thought; for they are cut off from your care.
Webster	Free among the dead, like the slain that lie in the grave, whom thou rememberest no more: and they are cut off from thy hand.

What does Psalms 88:5 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown

5. Free ... dead--Cut off from God's care, as are the slain, who, falling under His wrath, are left, no longer sustained by His hand.

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary

Verse 5 Free among the dead - במתים צפשי bammethim chophshi, I rather think, means stripped among the dead. Both the fourth and fifth verses seem to allude to a field of battle: the slain and the wounded, are found scattered over the plain; the spoilers come among them, and strip, not only the dead, but those also who appear to be mortally wounded, and cannot recover, and are so feeble as not to be able to resist. Hence the psalmist says, "I am counted with them that go down into the pit; I am as a man that hath no strength," Psa 88:4. And I am stripped among the dead, like the mortally wounded (חללים chalalim) that lie in the grave. "Free among the dead," inter mortuos liber, has been applied by the fathers to our Lord's voluntary death: all others were obliged to die, he alone gave up his life, and could take it again, Joh 10:18. He went into the grave, and came out when he chose. The dead are bound in the grave; he was free, and not obliged to continue in that state as they were. They are cut off from thy hand - An allusion to the roll in which the general has the names of all that compose his army under their respective officers. And when one is killed, he is erased from this register, and remembered no more, as belonging to the army; but his name is entered among those who are dead, in a separate book. This latter is termed the black book, or the book of death; the other is called the book of life, or the book where the living are enrolled. From this circumstance, expressed in different parts of the sacred writings, the doctrine of unconditional reprobation and election has been derived. How wonderful!

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Psalms 88:1-9

The first words of the psalmist are the only words of comfort and support in this psalm. Thus greatly may good men be afflicted, and such dismal thoughts may they have about their afflictions, and such dark conclusion may they make about their end, through the power of melancholy and the weakness of faith. He complained most of God's displeasure. Even the children of God's love may sometimes think themselves…

Read the full comment on Psalms 88:1-9 →

Psalms 88:5 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

בַּמֵּתִ֗יםba.me.Timamong the deadH4191

חָ֫פְשִׁ֥יcha.fe.Shia [person] set freeH2670

כְּמ֤וֹke.MolikeH3644

חֲלָלִ֨ים\׀cha.la.Lim[those] slainH2491

שֹׁ֥כְבֵיSho.khe.vei[who] lie ofH7901

קֶ֗בֶרKe.ver[the] graveH6913

אֲשֶׁ֤ר'a.SherwhomH834

לֹ֣אlo'notH3808

זְכַרְתָּ֣םze.khar.Tamyou remember themH2142

ע֑וֹדodagainH5750

וְ֝הֵ֗מָּהve.He.mahand theyH1992

מִיָּדְךָ֥mi.ya.de.Khafrom hand yourH3027

נִגְזָֽרוּ\׃nig.Za.ruthey are cut offH1504

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Psalms 88:5

Isaiah 53:8
He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken.
Psalms 31:22
For I said in my haste, I am cut off from before thine eyes: nevertheless thou heardest the voice of my supplications when I cried unto thee.
Isaiah 14:9-12
Hell from beneath is moved for thee to meet thee at thy coming: it stirreth up the dead for thee, even all the chief ones of the earth; it hath raised up from their thrones all the kings of the nations. All they shall speak and say unto thee, Art thou also become weak as we? art thou become like unto us? Thy pomp is brought down to the grave, and the noise of thy viols: the worm is spread under thee, and the worms cover thee. How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!
Psalms 136:23
Who remembered us in our low estate: for his mercy endureth for ever:
Job 6:9
Even that it would please God to destroy me; that he would let loose his hand, and cut me off!
Job 11:10
If he cut off, and shut up, or gather together, then who can hinder him?
Genesis 8:1
And God remembered Noah, and every living thing, and all the cattle that was with him in the ark: and God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters asswaged;
Psalms 88:16
Thy fierce wrath goeth over me; thy terrors have cut me off.
Psalms 31:12
I am forgotten as a dead man out of mind: I am like a broken vessel.
Isaiah 38:10-12
I said in the cutting off of my days, I shall go to the gates of the grave: I am deprived of the residue of my years. I said, I shall not see the Lord, even the Lord, in the land of the living: I shall behold man no more with the inhabitants of the world. Mine age is departed, and is removed from me as a shepherd’s tent: I have cut off like a weaver my life: he will cut me off with pining sickness: from day even to night wilt thou make an end of me.
Ezekiel 32:18-32
Son of man, wail for the multitude of Egypt, and cast them down, even her, and the daughters of the famous nations, unto the nether parts of the earth, with them that go down into the pit. Whom dost thou pass in beauty? go down, and be thou laid with the uncircumcised. They shall fall in the midst of them that are slain by the sword: she is delivered to the sword: draw her and all her multitudes. The strong among the mighty shall speak to him out of the midst of hell with them that help him: they are gone down, they lie uncircumcised, slain by the sword. …
Genesis 19:29
And it came to pass, when God destroyed the cities of the plain, that God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when he overthrew the cities in the which Lot dwelt.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

Free.
Isa 14:9-12; 38:10-12; Eze 32:18-32
whom.
136:23; Ge 8:1; 19:29
cut.
16; 31:22; Job 6:9; 11:10; Isa 53:8
from thy hand. or, by thy hand.

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

Psalms 88:4
I am counted with them that go down into the pit: I am as a man that hath no strength:
Psalms 88:5
Free among the dead, like the slain that lie in the grave, whom thou rememberest no more: and they are cut off from thy hand.
Psalms 88:6
Thou hast laid me in the lowest pit, in darkness, in the deeps.

Read all of Psalms 88

Psalms 88:5 in other languages

Spanish Reina-Valera 1909	Libre entre los muertos, como los matados que yacen en el sepulcro, que no te acuerdas más de ellos, y que son cortados de tu mano.
French Bible J.N. Darby 1885	Je suis compté parmi ceux qui descendent dans la fosse, je suis comme un homme qui n’a pas de force,
German Elberfelder 1871	Unter den Toten hingestreckt, gleich Erschlagenen, die im Grabe liegen, derer du nicht mehr gedenkst; denn sie sind von deiner Hand abgeschnitten.
Latin Clementine Vulgate	Usque in æternum præparabo semen tuum, et ædificabo in generationem et generationem sedem tuam.