Psalm 17:10-12

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. Psalm 17:10 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.
2. Psalm 17:10 tn Heb “[with] their mouth they speak with arrogance.”
3. Psalm 17:11 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 (ʾish^eruni, “they attack me”) from the verbal root אָשַׁר (ʾashar, “march, stride, track”).
4. Psalm 17:11 tn Heb “their eyes they set to bend down in the ground.”
5. Psalm 17:12 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.
6. Psalm 17:12 tn Heb “his likeness [is] like a lion.”
7. Psalm 17:12 tn Heb “[that] longs to tear.”
8. Psalm 17:12 tn Heb “sitting.”