Sense: death (personification)
n. — the personification of death.
Like sheep they are appointed for Sheol; death shall be their shepherd, and the upright shall rule over them in the morning. Their form shall be consumed in Sheol, with no place to dwell.
Psalm 49:14
The literary device of personification attributes humanlike characteristics to something that is not human. In this verse, death is being considered as a person—as a shepherd in fact. In this context, the personification helps to show the power that death has over these “sheep.” This is a much stronger way for the writer to express the demise of these foolish people than just saying, “They will die.” The writer uses this imagery to show how sure and complete their end will be. While the personification of death as a shepherd might seem natural in reading, the Bible Sense Lexicon alerts the reader to the literary device in this passage, helping us understand the gravity and seriousness of a foolish life.
What is the Bible Sense Lexicon?
Sense of the Day is based on content from Logos’ Bible Sense Lexicon, which organizes biblical Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek words by meaning based on a variety of semantic relationships. Sense of the Day provides examples of senses in context, along with insight into their application for theology and interpretation.
The Bible Sense Lexicon is a Logos dataset available in Logos 5 Gold and higher base packages. If you’re enrolled in the Logos Academic Discount Program, you can also find the Bible Sense Lexicon in the Biblical Languages base package. Take your studies even further by exploring semantic domains, engaging the biblical text like never before.
Learn more about the Bible Sense Lexicon.