17:11 They attack me, now they surround me; 1
they intend to throw me to the ground. 2
56:6 They stalk 3 and lurk; 4
they watch my every step, 5
as 6 they prepare to take my life. 7
59:15 They wander around looking for something to eat;
they refuse to sleep until they are full. 8
78:29 They ate until they were stuffed; 9
he gave them what they desired.
1 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”).
2 tn Heb “their eyes they set to bend down in the ground.”
3 tn The verb is from the root גּוּר (gur), which means “to challenge, attack” in Isa 54:15 and “to stalk” (with hostile intent) in Ps 59:3.
4 tn Or “hide.”
5 tn Heb “my heels.”
6 tn Heb “according to,” in the sense of “inasmuch as; since,” or “when; while.”
7 tn Heb “they wait [for] my life.”
8 tn Heb “if they are not full, they stay through the night.”
9 tn Heb “and they ate and were very satisfied.”