Discovery BoxPsalms 17:8-14 
Context17:8 Protect me as you would protect the pupil of your eye! 1
Hide me in the shadow of your wings! 2
17:9 Protect me from 3 the wicked men who attack 4 me,
my enemies who crowd around me for the kill. 5
they speak arrogantly. 7
17:11 They attack me, now they surround me; 8
they intend to throw me to the ground. 9
17:12 He 10 is like a lion 11 that wants to tear its prey to bits, 12
like a young lion crouching 13 in hidden places.
17:13 Rise up, Lord!
Confront him! 14 Knock him down! 15
Use your sword to rescue me from the wicked man! 16
17:14 Lord, use your power to deliver me from these murderers, 17
from the murderers of this world! 18
They enjoy prosperity; 19
you overwhelm them with the riches they desire. 20
They have many children,
and leave their wealth to their offspring. 21
1 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.
2 sn Your wings. The metaphor compares God to a protective mother bird.
3 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.
4 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.
5 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).
6 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.
7 tn Heb “[with] their mouth they speak with arrogance.”
8 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”).
9 tn Heb “their eyes they set to bend down in the ground.”
10 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.
11 tn Heb “his likeness [is] like a lion.”
12 tn Heb “[that] longs to tear.”
13 tn Heb “sitting.”
14 tn Heb “Be in front of his face.”
15 tn Or “bring him to his knees.”
16 tn Heb “rescue my life from the wicked [one] [by] your sword.”
17 tc Heb “from men [by] your hand,
18 tn Heb “from men, from [the] world.” On the emendation of “men” to “murderers,” see the preceding note on the word “murderers.”
19 tn Heb “their portion, in life.”
20 tn Heb “and [with] your treasures you fill their belly.”
sn You overwhelm them with the riches they desire. The psalmist is not accusing God of being unjust; he is simply observing that the wicked often prosper and that God is the ultimate source of all blessings that human beings enjoy (see Matt 5:45). When the wicked are ungrateful for God’s blessings, they become even more culpable and deserving of judgment. So this description of the wicked actually supports the psalmist’s appeal for deliverance. God should rescue him because he is innocent (see vv. 3-5) and because the wicked, though blessed abundantly by God, still have the audacity to attack God’s people.
21 tn Heb “they are satisfied [with] sons and leave their abundance to their children.”
