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10 Do you accomplish amazing things for the dead?
Do the departed spirits[a] rise up and give you thanks? (Selah)
11 Is your loyal love proclaimed in the grave,
or your faithfulness in the place of the dead?[b]
12 Are your amazing deeds experienced[c] in the dark region,[d]
or your deliverance in the land of oblivion?[e]

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Footnotes

  1. Psalm 88:10 tn Heb “Rephaim,” a term that refers to those who occupy the land of the dead (see Isa 14:9; 26:14, 19).
  2. Psalm 88:11 tn Heb “in Abaddon,” a name for Sheol. The noun is derived from a verbal root meaning “to perish,” “to die.”
  3. Psalm 88:12 tn Heb “known.”
  4. Psalm 88:12 tn Heb “darkness,” here a title for Sheol.
  5. Psalm 88:12 tn Heb “forgetfulness.” The noun, which occurs only here in the OT, is derived from a verbal root meaning “to forget.”sn The rhetorical questions in vv. 10-12 expect the answer, “Of course not!”