Charles Ellicott Commentary Psalms 23:4

"Yea, thou I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for thou art with me; Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me." — Psalms 23:4 (ASV)

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), tsalmûth (shadow, darkness) should be read, as the general meaning is all that is required in any 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” (Psalms 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 their actual peril. Addison’s paraphrase catches the true feeling of the original—

“Though in the path of death I tread,
With gloomy horrors overhead.”

Your rod and your staff. —Used both for guiding and defending the flock.