What Does Psalms 23:4 Mean?

(4) **The valley of the shadow of death . . .**—This striking expression, to which the genius of Bunyan has given such reality, was probably on Hebrew lips nothing more than a forcible synonym for a dark, gloomy place. Indeed, the probability is that instead of *tsal-mâveth *(shadow of death), should be read, *tsalmûth *(shadow, darkness), the general signification being all that is required in any one of the fifteen places where it occurs. It is true it is used of the “grave” or “underworld” (Job 10:21-22). But it is also used of the “darkness of a dungeon” (Psalm 107:10), of “the pathless desert” (Jeremiah 2:6); or, possibly, since it is there parallel with *drought, *of “the blinding darkness of a sandstorm,” and metaphorically of “affliction” (Isaiah 9:2), and of the “dull heavy look” that grief wears (Job 16:16). By *valley *we must understand a deep ravine. Palestine abounds in wild and gloomy valleys, and shepherd life experiences the actual peril of them. Addison’s paraphrase catches the true feeling of the original— “Though in the path of death I tread, With gloomy horrors overhead.” **Thy rod and thy staff.**—Used both for *guiding *and *defending *the flock.