a.phaph describes being encircled or enclosed, especially amid death, danger, or confinement.

The attested use depicts persons as encircled or enclosed by threatening forces or conditions: waves and cords of death, cords of Sheol, and the earth's bars. The occurrence in Psalm 40:13 has the same supplied verbal morphology, though the APB wording does not isolate its contribution.

1. Encircling in danger or confinement · dominant

   All five occurrences are Qal perfect, third common plural forms. In 2 Samuel 22:5 and Psalm 116:3, the APB renders clauses in which waves or cords of death “encompassed me”; in Psalm 18:5 it renders the cords of Sheol as having “surrounded me.” Jonah 2:6 places the speaker within the earth's bars, rendered “about me forever,” while Psalm 40:13 supplies the same verbal morphology but its APB text presents a plea for deliverance without making the term's specific contribution clear.

   2 Samuel 22:5Jonah 2:6Psalm 116:3Psalm 18:5Psalm 40:13

In the Anselm Project Bible: The APB variously presents the surrounding situation with “encompassed,” “surrounded,” and “about me forever” in 2 Samuel 22:5, Psalm 116:3, Psalm 18:5, and Jonah 2:6. In Psalm 40:13 it gives a deliverance plea instead.