Bible Strands
Psalms 107:10
Some sat in darkness and in the shadow of death, prisoners in affliction and chains,
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The psalmist addresses the community, recounting the past condition of those who suffered under oppression before describing their deliverance.
The words — חֹשֶׁךְ (Cho.shekh) means darkness, and צַלְמָוֶת (tzal.Mavet) denotes deep darkness or a shadow of death.
The thread — This imagery appears in Luke 1:79 and Micah 7:8 to describe spiritual despair, and in Isaiah 42:7 to outline a mission of liberation.
Why it lands — The text records that rebels who despised God’s counsel found themselves imprisoned in affliction and chains. It requires the reader to acknowledge that human rebellion produces bondage and to recognize the historical reality of that condition before any theological inference is applied.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Such as sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, being bound in affliction and iron;
Cross-references
- Luke 1:79 to shine on those who live in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the path of peace.”
- Micah 7:8 Do not gloat over me, my enemy! Though I have fallen, I will arise; though I sit in darkness, the LORD will be my light.
- Isaiah 42:7 to open the eyes of the blind, to bring prisoners out of the dungeon and those sitting in darkness out from the prison house.
- Matthew 4:16 the people living in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death, a light has dawned.”
- Romans 6:20 For when you were slaves to sin, you were free of obligation to righteousness.
- Exodus 2:23 After a long time, the king of Egypt died. The Israelites groaned and cried out under their burden of slavery, and their cry for deliverance from bondage ascended to God.
- Job 36:8 And if men are bound with chains, caught in cords of affliction,
- Psalms 105:18 They bruised his feet with shackles and placed his neck in irons,
- Matthew 22:13 Then the king told the servants, ‘Tie him hand and foot, and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
- Job 3:5 May darkness and gloom reclaim it, and a cloud settle over it; may the blackness of the day overwhelm it.