Verse Lens · Expanded explanation
Psalms 16:10 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 10. 10For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
Psalm 16:10: The reason or consequence in “For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell” supports the surrounding claim in “The LORD as chosen portion beyond death.”
A chosen portion, not a second god
This verse is one part of that explanation in Psalms 16:1–11. The complete section carries the connected meaning and how it should shape life.
Read It With
- Psalms 16:1–11
Read Psalms 16:10 with 16:1–11. Read alone, “For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell” could lose the individual voice, the parallel line or movement it develops, and the psalm's outcome. The complete movement establishes: Within Psalms 16:1–11, the individual voice carries the movement “The LORD as chosen portion beyond death” as part of “The LORD as chosen portion beyond death.” Its confidence form and poetic parallelism hold the petitions, images, memories, or praise together before any single line is applied.
Why This Verse Appears Here
Psalms 16:1–11 opens Psalm 16 with “Preserve me, O God: for in thee do I put my trust” and establishes the individual voice and “The LORD as chosen portion beyond death” movement before later lines develop or answer it. Within that relationship, Psalm 16:10 supplies a reason or consequence through “For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell” and must be read with the claim it supports.
Follow the Context
- Identify the individual voice, address, and parallel lines in Psalms 16:1–11; do not make every “I”, “we,” king, enemy, or worshiper interchangeable.
- Within Psalms 16:1–11, the individual voice carries the movement “The LORD as chosen portion beyond death” as part of “The LORD as chosen portion beyond death.” Its confidence form and poetic parallelism hold the petitions, images, memories, or praise together before any single line is applied.
- This reading does not authorize the following misuse: Later resurrection and Christian readings are significant reception, but the psalm's first horizon speaks from Israelite trust and contested language about Sheol.
Phrase-by-Phrase Explanation
“leave my soul in hell”
In plain language: In this psalm the KJV's ‘hell’ renders Sheol, the realm of the dead; the line expresses hope that the faithful speaker will not be abandoned there, while later New Testament reuse has its own argument.
In Psalms 16:10, “leave my soul in hell” belongs to the complete movement Psalms 16:1–11 and the whole of Psalm 16.
Why it matters: This wording materially affects the verse's meaning, translation, later reception, or responsible application.
How certain? probableWhat This Verse Is Not Saying
Psalms 16:10 does not allow “For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell” to become an independent promise, command, accusation, doctrine, or authorization. This verse supplies a reason or consequence through “For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell” and must be read with the claim it supports. The complete movement is “The LORD as chosen portion beyond death.” This reading does not authorize the following misuse: Later resurrection and Christian readings are significant reception, but the psalm's first horizon speaks from Israelite trust and contested language about Sheol.
What Remains True
Because this verse serves “The LORD as chosen portion beyond death,” its enduring claim is proportionate: Biblical faith can speak unresolved pain directly, remain in relationship, seek safe help, and refuse the claim that anguish proves guilt or failed faith. Psalm 16:10 supplies a reason or consequence through “For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell” and must be read with the claim it supports. The local movement is “The LORD as chosen portion beyond death.” The unit's reviewed limit is: Later resurrection and Christian readings are significant reception, but the psalm's first horizon speaks from Israelite trust and contested language about Sheol.
Teach It Back
Build a short teaching of Psalm 16:10: quote “For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell,” summarize “The LORD as chosen portion beyond death,” show the line's role, cite the checked context, preserve one alternative, derive a safe practice, and make this negation explicit: This reading does not authorize the following misuse: Later resurrection and Christian readings are significant reception, but the psalm's first horizon speaks from Israelite trust and contested language about Sheol.
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Continue in Context
Read the complete section for the connected explanation and how it should shape life. This verse is a doorway into that passage, not a saying that stands alone.
Read Psalms 16:1–11 — The LORD as chosen portion beyond deathSources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? strong
Where care is needed
Later resurrection and Christian readings are significant reception, but the psalm's first horizon speaks from Israelite trust and contested language about Sheol.
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact displayed KJV wording, verse order, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete thought-unit coverage.
Exact location: Psalms 16:1–11, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM-derived repository corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Psalms
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording and morphology checked at the exact unit without treating morphology as a complete apparatus or interpretation.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Ps.xml, OSIS 16:1–11
Open the fixed Hebrew Psalms file ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible Notes: Psalms 1-150
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, current official online edition
Supports: Verse-level controls for poetic syntax, imagery, older KJV language, textual issues, headings, and alternatives in Psalms 16:1–11.
Exact location: Official NET Bible Psalm 16 HTML, translator, textual, and study notes attached to Psalms 16:1–11
Open the official NET Psalms notes ↗modern scholarly book course
Psalms course: summary, outline, background, introductory issues, theological themes, and Bible in the world
Fred Gaiser; revised by Nicholas Schaser
Enter the Bible, Luther Seminary, revised May 2024
Supports: Five-book, genre, poetic, historical, theological, liturgical, communal, and reception synthesis with visible limits.
Exact location: Enter the Bible Psalms course, Summary, Outline, Introductory Issues, and Theological Themes; applied to Psalms 16:1–11
Open the Enter the Bible Psalms course ↗ancient greek text translation and introduction
A New English Translation of the Septuagint: Psalms
Albert Pietersma
International Organization for Septuagint and Cognate Studies; Oxford University Press, 2009
Supports: Ancient Greek wording, numbering, division, and superscription evidence where it materially clarifies translation or reception.
Exact location: NETS Psalms, Pietersma introduction pp. 542–543 and exact Greek translation headed Ps 16 for Psalms 16:1–11
Open NETS Psalms ↗