The meaning and origin of the expression: Out of the jaws of death

Out of the jaws of death

What's the origin of the phrase 'Out of the jaws of death'?

The figurative phrases 'the gates of death' and 'the jaws of death' refer to the approach to danger or death. The earliest citation I can find to 'the jaws of death' is in Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, 1602.

ANTONIO:
Let me speak a little. This youth that you see here
I snatch'd one half out of the jaws of death,
Relieved him with such sanctity of love,
And to his image, which methought did promise
Most venerable worth, did I devotion.

See other phrases and sayings from Shakespeare.