Mazmur 17:6-12

17:6 I call to you for you will answer me, O God.

Listen to me! ¹ 

Hear what I say! ² 

17:7 Accomplish awesome, faithful deeds, ³ 

you who powerfully deliver those who look to you for protection from their enemies. ⁴ 

17:8 Protect me as you would protect the pupil of your eye! ⁵ 

Hide me in the shadow of your wings! ⁶ 

17:9 Protect me from ⁷  the wicked men who attack ⁸  me,

my enemies who crowd around me for the kill. ⁹ 

17:10 They are calloused; ¹⁰ 

they speak arrogantly. ¹¹ 

17:11 They attack me, now they surround me; ¹² 

they intend to throw me to the ground. ¹³ 

17:12 He ¹⁴  is like a lion ¹⁵  that wants to tear its prey to bits, ¹⁶ 

like a young lion crouching ¹⁷  in hidden places.

[17:6]  ¹ tn Heb “Turn your ear toward me.”

[17:6]  ² tn Heb “my word.”

[17:7]  ³ tn Heb “Set apart faithful acts.”

[17:7]  ⁴ tn Heb “[O] one who delivers those who seek shelter from the ones raising themselves up, by your right hand.” The Lord’s “right hand” here symbolizes his power to protect and deliver.

[17:7]  sn Those who look to you for protection from their enemies. “Seeking shelter” in the Lord is an idiom for seeking his protection. Seeking his protection presupposes and even demonstrates the subject’s loyalty to the Lord. In the psalms those who “take shelter” in the Lord are contrasted with the wicked and equated with those who love, fear and serve the Lord (Pss 5:11-12; 31:17-20; 34:21-22).

[17:8]  ⁵ tc Heb “Protect me like the pupil, a daughter of an eye.” The noun בַּת (bat, “daughter”) should probably be emended to בָּבַת (bavat, “pupil”). See Zech 2:12 HT (2:8 ET) and HALOT 107 s.v. *בָּבָה.

[17:8]  ⁶ sn Your wings. The metaphor compares God to a protective mother bird.

[17:9]  ⁷ tn Heb “from before”; or “because.” In the Hebrew text v. 9 is subordinated to v. 8. The words “protect me” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[17:9]  ⁸ tn Heb “destroy.” The psalmist uses the perfect verbal form to emphasize the degree of danger. He describes the wicked as being already in the process of destroying him.

[17:9]  ⁹ tn Heb “my enemies, at the risk of life they surround me.” The Hebrew phrase בְּנֶפֶשׁ (bÿnefesh) sometimes has the nuance “at the risk of [one’s] life” (see 1 Kgs 2:23; Prov 7:23; Lam 5:9).

[17:10]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “their fat they close.” The Hebrew term חֵלֶב (khelev, “fat”) appears to stand by metonymy for their calloused hearts. They attack the psalmist without feeling any pity or remorse. Some propose emending the text to חֵלֶב לִבָּמוֹ (khelev libbamo, “fat of their heart[s]; cf. Ps 119:70, “their heart is insensitive like fat”). This assumes haplography of the לב (lamed-bet) consonantal sequence.

[17:10]  ¹¹ tn Heb “[with] their mouth they speak with arrogance.”

[17:11]  ¹² tc Heb “our steps, now they surround me.” The Kethib (consonantal text) has “surround me,” while the Qere (marginal reading) has “surround us,” harmonizing the pronoun to the preceding “our steps.” The first person plural pronoun does not fit the context, where the psalmist speaks as an individual. In the preceding verses the psalmist uses a first person singular verbal or pronominal form twenty times. For this reason it is preferable to emend “our steps” to אִשְּׁרוּנִי (’ishÿruni, “they attack me”) from the verbal root אָשֻׁר (’ashur, “march, stride, track”).

[17:11]  ¹³ tn Heb “their eyes they set to bend down in the ground.”

[17:12]  ¹⁴ tn Here the psalmist switches to the singular pronoun; he views his enemies collectively, or singles out a representative of the group, perhaps its leader.

[17:12]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “his likeness [is] like a lion.”

[17:12]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “[that] longs to tear.”

[17:12]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “sitting.”