Psalm 23 verse 4 part 1

Even when I must walk through the darkest valley, I fear no danger, for you are with me; your rod and your staff reassure me.

Greek:

For if even I should go in the midst of the shadow of death, I shall not be afraid of evils, for you with me are.  Your rod and your staff they comfort me. 

I spent most of my study time on this verse, dissecting each word, searching out how it was used in the Scripture, and also if and how it was used in the Torah.  This passage seems the heart of the psalm.  The verses before speak of God, as do the verses that follow it.  This verse seems to speak more personally of the writer. 

Key words and terms in the verse are ‘valley of the shadow of death’, ‘fear no evil’, ‘your rod and your staff’ and ‘comfort me’. 

What seems peculiar to this verse is the traditional interpretation which gives the impression of David ‘fearing’ or reverencing something with awe, of being afraid of some vague ‘evil’, right after he’s been so very clear that God is His shepherd.  Shepherded sheep don’t fear things when they’re with their shepherd, they only fear when they’re away from their shepherd, when he’s not in their sight.  So why, if David has firmly established his trust in the provision of YHVH, does he speak of fear of something else?

The term ‘shadow of death’ isn’t one found in Torah.  It’s found most often in Job (9 times) and there, seems to refer to things that are unknown or unseen, primarily what happens after death.  The ‘land of darkness and the shadow of death’ (Job 10:21) speak of Hades, the place souls were considered to go after death. Remember that Job was facing severe calamity and quite possibly his death.

In Psalm 44, David speaks of the ‘shadow of death’, the pattern of this psalm is very much like the pattern of psalm 23.  He begins by expressing his sure trust in God.  Then suddenly the tone shifts to ‘now You have rejected and humbled us…my face is covered with shame’.  He seems to ask ‘Why?’ expressing a great unknown.  ‘We had not forgotten you, we had been faithful to your covenant’.  Yet ‘you have broken us, you have covered us with the shadow of death’. Here the 'shadow of death' seems to refer to being cut off from God's provision, presence, love and care.

In Psalm 107, David speaks of the shadow of death as imprisonment, bondage or slavery, another picture of being ‘cut off’ from the land and from God’s provision.  Isaiah 9:2 also has this kind of reference.  So does Jeremiah 13:15-17, ‘Give glory to God before He cause darkness, before your feet stumble…while you look for light, he turns it to the shadow of death, and makes it gross darkness…the Lord’s flock is carried away captive.’ Jeremiah 2:6 refers to the time of wandering in the desert, in ‘a land of deserts and pits,  a land of drought and the shadow of death, a land that no one crossed and where no one dwelt’.  Amos 5:8 speaks of God who ‘turns the shadow of death or deep darkness into the morning and darkens the day into night…who calls for the waters of the sea and pours them out onto the face of the earth…who causes sudden destruction’. 

None of these references are about a traditional concept of ‘evil’ being a satanic being or beings causing destruction or calamity.  So in its context, that’s probably not the ‘evil’ David refers to here either.