Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Psalms 17:8
Keep me as the apple of the eye, hide me under the shadow of thy wings,
8. Keep me &c.] Or, Preserve me (the same word as in Psa 16:1) as the apple or pupil of the eye, an emblem of that which is tenderest and dearest, and therefore guarded with the most jealous care. Cp. Deu 32:10; Pro 7:2; Zec 2:8.
Hide me &c.] A favourite figure, taken from the care of the mother-bird for her young, not however specially from the hen (Mat 23:37), for there is no trace in the O.T. of the practice of keeping domestic fowls. Cp. Psa 36:7; Psa 57:1; Psa 61:4; Psa 63:7; Psa 91:4. As the first half of the verse may refer to Deu 32:10, the figure may have been suggested by the reference to the eagle in Psa 17:11; but the figure there is quite different. God’s leading of His people is compared with the eagle teaching its young to fly.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Keep me as the apple of the eye – Preserve me; guard me; defend me, as one defends that which is to him most precious and valuable. In the original there is a remarkable strength of expression, and at the same time a remarkable confusion of gender in the language. The literal translation would be, Keep me as the little man – the daughter of the eye. The word apple applied to the eye means the pupil, the little aperture in the middle of the eye, through which the rays of light pass to form an image on the retina (Johnson, Webster); though why it is called the apple of the eye the lexicographers fail to tell us. The Hebrew word – ‘yshon – means properly, a little man, and is given to the apple or pupil of the eye, in which, as in a mirror, a person sees his own image reflected in miniature. This comparison is found in several languages. The word occurs in the Old Testament only in Deu 32:10; Psa 17:8; Pro 7:2; where it is rendered apple; in Pro 7:9, where it is rendered black; and in Pro 20:20, where it is rendered obscure. The other expression in the Hebrew – the daughter of the eye – is derived from a usage of the Hebrew word daughter, as denoting that which is dependent on, or connected with (Gesenius, Lexicon), as the expression daughters of a city denotes the small towns or villages lying around a city, and dependent on its jurisdiction, Num 21:25, Num 21:32; Num 32:42; Jos 17:11. So the expression daughters of song, Ecc 12:4. The idea here is, that the little image is the child of the eye; that it has its birth or origin there. The prayer of the psalmist here is, that God would guard him, as one guards his sight – an object so dear and valuable to him.
Hide me under the shadow of thy wings – Another image denoting substantially the same thing. This is taken from the care evinced by fowls in protecting their young, by gathering them under their wings. Compare Mat 23:37. Both of the comparisons used here are found in Deu 32:10-12; and it is probable that the psalmist had that passage in his eye – He instructed him, he kept him as the apple of his eye; as an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her wings; so the Lord alone did lead him. Compare also Psa 36:7; Psa 57:1; Psa 61:4; Psa 63:7; Psa 91:1, Psa 91:4.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Psa 17:8
Keep me as the apple of the eye.
The plea for Divine protection
The world is no friend to righteousness; its spirit cannot endure the restraints that holiness imposes upon its workings. Hence the worlds hostility to all those who live truly godly lives. To understand the full force of keeping one as the apple of the eye it is necessary to consider first, how the whole eye is protected, sheltered by bones and sinews, opening and closing doors, light-softening and dust-excluding curtains, and then, that the pupil of the eye, located farther in, is protected by guardians equally wonderful and peculiarly its own. There is no other part of the human body so wonderfully protected, and no other part that, when endangered, we so instinctively try to shelter from harm. And so God guards His people as tenderly as we guard the pupil of our eye; yea, as tenderly as He guards the pupil of His own eye. (David Caldwell, A. M.)
The eye, a similitude
The man knows something of himself who sincerely offers this plaintive petition, Keep me. Is there not a sorrowful confession implied? But it implies knowledge of God too. What He is and will do. The keeping desired is that with which men guard the eye. It means, therefore–
I. Keep me with many guards and protections. The eye is kept by eye bones, eyelashes, eyelids, which serve as outworks, fences and barricades to protect the pupil of the eye, God has bestowed extraordinary pains upon all that concerns the eye. Sentries keep ward lest it should be imperilled. Whenever it is threatened, with agility so brisk that it seems almost involuntary, the arm is lifted up and the hand is raised to screen it. All the members of the body may be regarded as a patrol for the wardship of the eye. So should we pray to be kept with many protections–providence, grace ordinances, the Holy Spirit, the angels.
II. With constancy, unintermitting continuance. The eye is always guarded. Without our thinking of it. If a grain of dust enter, forthwith a watery burnout is exuded to carry it away or to dissolve it. The pain is a mercy, for it makes you restless until you get relief. When you fall asleep the curtains fall, the blinds, as it were, drop down, and the windows are shut up securely with lash and lid. So, and in yet other ways, doth the parable of the eye suggest the prayer of the text. Evermore, O Lord, watch over me. Remark here, that at no season is a Christian more in danger than when he has just been in communion with God. The footpads in olden time did not meddle with the farmers as they went to market; it was when they were coming home, and bringing back their money bags full. Our ships of war attacked the Spanish galleons not on their way to but from America, when they knew them to be laden to the Waters edge with silver and gold. You need keeping, then, always.
III. From little evils, the dust and grit of this world. Your eye needs not to be guarded so much from beams as motes. Be this your prayer, Keep me from what the world calls little sins. To one, a Puritan, who was offered great preferment if he would but comply with the government demands, it was said, Others have made long gashes in their consciences: could not you make a little nick in yours? But those little nicks swiftly run to the rending of the conscience from top to bottom. There was an officer who kept in his house a tame leopard which had been born in the house. It had grown up as harmless as a domestic cat. But one day when its master was asleep it gently licked his hand. The creatures tongue passed over a slight but recent wound. A little blood oozed out. The taste roused the demon spirit of the beast at once, and had it not been promptly shot its masters life would have been its victim. When the thief cannot break in at the door himself he puts a boy through the window, and then the great door is speedily opened.
IV. Sensitive, tender in heart, as the apple of the eye. God has made it thus sensitive for its own protection. The conscience should be a real indicator: if in good keeping it would be a wonderful tell-tale. It will startle you from your lethargy, it will arouse you as with an alarm.
V. As the eye ought to be kept. It should be single, clear, far-seeing. As an ornament, for the beauty of the countenance is in the eye. So should we adorn the doctrine and the Church of God. Useful, a genuine Christian will pray to be useful, not like a glass eye, a mere counterfeit. And then, though the remark may seem strange and quaint, I would entreat the Lord to keep me in the head. Solomon has made the shrewd remark, The wise mans eyes are in his head, but the fool walketh in darkness. I would give this a spiritual turn, and ask to be kept in Christ Jesus. Of what use were the eye of a man if not in the head? And what we, apart from Christ? There are some to whom this prayer is, nothing, for they are not Christs. Let your prayer be, Lord, save me, or I perish. Once saved, you may pray to be kept. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Two Bible emblems
Gods Word and works, the two great sources of our knowledge of God. When we want to get clear and vivid conception of any truth we employ analogy and institute comparison, and say it is as or like some object in nature. Text an illustration of this. It means–
I. That the royal Psalmist prays to be Divinely protected. He did not possess all our modern knowledge of the anatomy of the eye, but he must have known much or he could not have penned this prayer. Of all the organs of the body the eye is the most delicate and precious, and is protected by the most wonderful and elaborate contrivances. The eyes are the sentinels of the body, and keep constant guard over it. They are the windows through which the soul looks out upon all things within its range. They are closely connected with the brain, and by a mysterious telegraphy of nerves convey to the brain knowledge of what is passing in the outer world. The eyes are like citizens within the entrenchments of a fortified town, surrounded by outworks, fences, and barricades. And the arms are like two warders to defend them. Note some of their protections. A protruding socket, like a wall around it: with overhanging brow to carry off drops of perspiration; with eyelashes to guard against dust and insects; with lids that automatically close at the approach of danger; with glands which secrete tears that clean and lubricate the ball of the eye; with beds, cushion like for their softness, upon which they repose and revolve with safety. All these and many more show how carefully God keeps the apple of the eye, and help us to see how David desired that God would keep him.
II. And he would be Divinely preserved. Hide me under the shadow of Thy wings. This emblem, like the former, is exceedingly suggestive. There may be reference to the wings of the cherubim which were the symbol of Gods presence in the tabernacle of old. David had ardent love for the house of God, he even envied the sparrows that built their nests near Gods altar. In the time of trouble he would be hidden in Gods pavilion, in the secret place of the tabernacle; and there, hiding as under the wings of the cherubim, he would find a shelter and a home. (F. W. Brown.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 8. Keep me as the apple of the eye] Or, as the black of the daughter of eye. Take as much care to preserve me now by Divine influence, as thou hast to preserve my eye by thy good providence. Thou hast entrenched it deeply in the skull; hast ramparted it with the forehead and cheek-bones; defended it by the eyebrow, eyelids, and eyelashes; and placed it in that situation where the hands can best protect it.
Hide me under the shadow of thy wings] This is a metaphor taken from the hen and her chickens. See it explained at large in the note on Mt 23:37. The Lord says of his followers, Zec 2:8: “He that toucheth you, toucheth the apple of mine eye.” How dear are our eyes to us! how dear must his followers be to God!
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
The apple of the eye; which God hath marvellously fenced on every side, and men use their utmost care and diligence to keep.
Under the shadow of thy Wings; as a hen doth her chickens.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
8. Similar figures, denoting thepreciousness of God’s people in His sight, in Deu 32:10;Deu 32:11; Mat 23:37.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Keep me as the apple of the eye,…. Which is weak and tender, and is hurt and put to pain, and made uneasy by every little thing that annoys it, and than which nothing is more dear to a man, or he is more careful of preserving from being hurt; and fitly represents the weak estate and condition of God’s people, his affection for them, and tender care of them; who as he has provided tunics for the eye, and guarded it with eyebrows, so he has taken care for the safety of his dear children, De 32:10;
hide me under the shadow of thy wings; alluding either to the wings of the cherubim over the mercy seat, where God granted his presence; so the Targum paraphrases it,
“under the shadow of thy Shechinah hide me;”
or to birds, who cover their young ones with their wings to save them from birds of prey; see Ps 91:1. From such passages perhaps the Heathens had their notion of presenting their gods with wings f.
f Vid. Cuperi Apotheos. Homer. p. 169, &c.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
The covenant relationship towards Himself in which Jahve has placed David, and the relationship of love in which David stands to Jahve, fully justified the oppressed one in his extreme request. The apple of the eye, which is surrounded by the iris, is called , the man (Arabic insan ), or in the diminutive and endearing sense of the termination on: the little man of the eye, because a picture in miniature of one’s self is seen, as in a glass, when looking into another person’s eye. either because it is as if born out of the eye and the eye has, as it were, concentrated itself in it, or rather because the little image which is mirrored in it is, as it were, the little daughter of the eye (here and Lam 2:18). To the Latin pupilla ( pupula ), Greek , corresponds most closely , Zec 2:12, which does not signify the gate, aperture, sight, but, as shows, the little boy, or more strictly, the little girl of the eye. It is singular that here has the feminine as the expression in apposition to it. The construction might be genitival: “as the little man of the apple of the eye,” inasmuch as the saint knows himself to be so near to God, that, as it were, his image in miniature is mirrored in the great eye of God. But (1) the more ozdinary name for the pupil of the eye is not , but ; and (2) with that construction the proper point of the comparison, that the apple of the eye is an object of the most careful self-preservation, is missed. There is, consequently, a combination of two names of the pupil or apple of the eye, the usual one and one more select, without reference to the gender of the former, in order to give greater definition and emphasis to the figure. The primary passage for this bold figure, which is the utterance of loving entreaty, is Deu 32:10, where the dazzling anthropomorphism is effaced by the lxx and other ancient versions;
(Note: Vid., Geiger, Urschrift und Ueberstezungen der Bibel, S. 324.)
cf. also Sir. 17:22. Then follows another figure, taken from the eagle, which hides its young under its wings, likewise from Deut 32, viz., Psa 17:11, for the figure of the hen (Mat 23:37) is alien to the Old Testament. In that passage, Moses, in his great song, speaks of the wings of God; but the double figure of the shadow of God’s wings (here and in Psa 36:8; Psa 57:2; Psa 63:8) is coined by David. “God’s wings” are the spreadings out, i.e., the manifestations of His love, taking the creature under the protection of its intimate fellowship, and the “shadow” of these wings is the refreshing rest and security which the fellowship of this love affords to those, who hide themselves beneath it, from the heat of outward or inward conflict.
From Psa 17:9 we learn more definitely the position in which the psalmist is placed. signifies to use violence, to destroy the life, continuance, or possession of any one. According to the accentuation is to be connected with , not with , and to be understood according to Eze 25:6: “enemies with the soul” are those whose enmity is not merely superficial, but most deep-seated (cf. , Eph 6:6; Col 3:23). The soul (viz., the hating and eagerly longing soul, Psa 27:12; Psa 41:3) is just the same as if is combined with the verb, viz., the soul of the enemies; and would therefore not be more correct, as Hitzig thinks, than , but would have a different meaning. They are eager to destroy him ( perf. conatus ), and form a circle round about him, as ravenous ones, in order to swallow him up.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
| Prayer for Protecting Mercy; Character of David’s Enemies. | |
8 Keep me as the apple of the eye, hide me under the shadow of thy wings, 9 From the wicked that oppress me, from my deadly enemies, who compass me about. 10 They are inclosed in their own fat: with their mouth they speak proudly. 11 They have now compassed us in our steps: they have set their eyes bowing down to the earth; 12 Like as a lion that is greedy of his prey, and as it were a young lion lurking in secret places. 13 Arise, O LORD, disappoint him, cast him down: deliver my soul from the wicked, which is thy sword: 14 From men which are thy hand, O LORD, from men of the world, which have their portion in this life, and whose belly thou fillest with thy hid treasure: they are full of children, and leave the rest of their substance to their babes. 15 As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness.
We may observe, in these verses,
I. What David prays for. Being compassed about with enemies that sought his life, he prays to God to preserve him safely through all their attempts against him, to the crown to which he was anointed. This prayer is both a prediction of the preservation of Christ through all the hardships and difficulties of his humiliation, to the glories and joys of his exalted state, and a pattern to Christians to commit the keeping of their souls to God, trusting him to preserve them to his heavenly kingdom. He prays,
1. That he himself might be protected (v. 8): “Keep me safe, hide me close, where I may not be found, where I may not be come at. Deliver my soul, not only my mortal life from death, but my immortal spirit from sin.” Those who put themselves under God’s protection may in faith implore the benefit of it.
(1.) He prays that God would keep him, [1.] With as much care as a man keeps the apple of his eye with, which nature has wonderfully fenced and teaches us to guard. If we keep God’s law as the apple of our eye (Prov. vii. 2), we may expect that God will so keep us; for it is said concerning his people that whoso touches them touches the apple of his eye, Zech. ii. 8. [2.] With as much tenderness as the hen gathers her young ones under her wings with; Christ uses the similitude, Matt. xxiii. 37. “Hide me under the shadow of thy wings, where I may be both safe and warm.” Or, perhaps, it rather alludes to the wings of the cherubim shadowing the mercy-seat: “Let me be taken under the protection of that glorious grace which is peculiar to God’s Israel.” What David here prays for was performed to the Son of David, our Lord Jesus, of whom it is said (Isa. xlix. 2) that God hid him in the shadow of his hand, hid him as a polished shaft in his quiver.
(2.) David further prays, “Lord, keep me from the wicked, from men of the world,” [1.] “From being, and doing, like them, from walking in their counsel, and standing in their way, and eating of their dainties.” [2.] “From being destroyed and run down by them. Let them not have their will against me; let them not triumph over me.”
2. That all the designs of his enemies to bring his either into sin or into trouble might be defeated (v. 13): “Arise, O Lord! appear for me, disappoint him, and cast him down in his own eyes by the disappointment.” While Saul persecuted David, how often did he miss his prey, when he thought he had him sure! And how were Christ’s enemies disappointed by his resurrection, who thought they had gained their point when they had put him to death!
II. What he pleads for the encouraging of his own faith in these petitions, and his hope of speeding. He pleads,
1. The malice and wickedness of his enemies: “They are such as are not fit to be countenanced, such as, if I be not delivered from them by the special care of God himself, will be my ruin. Lord, see what wicked men those are that oppress me, and waste me, and run me down.” (1.) “They are very spiteful and malicious; they are my deadly enemies, that thirst after my blood, my heart’s blood–enemies against the soul,” so the word is. David’s enemies did what they could to drive him to sin and drive him away from God; they bade him go serve other gods (1 Sam. xxvi. 19), and therefore he had reason to pray against them. Note, Those are our worst enemies, and we ought so to account them, that are enemies to our souls. (2.) “They are very secure and sensual, insolent and haughty (v. 10): They are enclosed in their own fat, wrap themselves, hug themselves, in their own honour, and power, and plenty, and then make light of God, and set his judgments at defiance, Psa 73:7; Job 15:27. They wallow in pleasure, and promise themselves that to-morrow shall be as this day. And therefore with their mouth they speak proudly, glorying in themselves, blaspheming God, trampling upon his people, and insulting them.” See Rev 13:5; Rev 13:6. “Lord, are not such men as these fit to be mortified and humbled, and made to know themselves? Will it not be for thy glory to look upon these proud men and abase them?” (3.) “They are restless and unwearied in their attempts against me: They compass me about, v. 9. They have now in a manner gained their point; they have surrounded us, they have compassed us in our steps, they track us wherever we go, follow us as close as the hound does the hare, and take all advantages against us, being both too many and too quick for us. And yet they pretend to look another way, and set their eyes bowing down to the earth, as if they were meditating, retired into themselves, and thinking of something else;” or (as some think), “They are watchful and intent upon it, to do us a mischief; they are down-looked, and never let slip any opportunity of compassing their design.” (4.) “The ringleader of them (that was Saul) is in a special manner bloody and barbarous, politic and projecting (v. 12), like a lion that lives by prey and is therefore greedy of it.” It is as much the meat and drink of a wicked man to do mischief as it is of a good man to do good. He is like a young lion lurking in secret places, disguising his cruel designs. This is fitly applied to Saul, who sought David on the rocks of the wild goats (1 Sam. xxiv. 2) and in the wilderness of Ziph (Ps. xxvi. 2), where lions used to lurk for their prey.
2. The power God had over them, to control and restrain them. He pleads, (1.) “Lord, they are thy sword; and will any father suffer his sword to be drawn against his own children?” As this is a reason why we should patiently bear the injuries of men, that they are but the instruments of the trouble (it comes originally from God, to whose will we are bound to submit), so it is an encouragement to us to hope both that their wrath shall praise him and that the remainder thereof he will restrain, that they are God’s sword, which he can manage as he pleases, which cannot move without him, and which he will sheathe when he has done his work with it. (2.) “They are thy hand, by which thou dost chastise thy people and make them feel thy displeasure.” He therefore expects deliverance from God’s hand because from God’s hand the trouble came. Una eademque manus vulnus opemque tulit–The same hand wounds and heals. There is no flying from God’s hand but by flying to it. It is very comfortable, when we are in fear of the power of man, to see it dependent upon and in subjection to the power of God; see Isa 10:6; Isa 10:7; Isa 10:15.
3. Their outward prosperity (v. 14): “Lord, appear against them, for,” (1.) “They are entirely devoted to the world, and care not for thee and thy favour. They are men of the world, actuated by the spirit of the world, walking according to the course of this world, in love with the wealth and pleasure of this world, eager in the pursuits of it (making them their business) and at ease in the enjoyments of it–making them their bliss. They have their portion in this life; they look upon the good things of this world as the best things, and sufficient to make them happy, and they choose them accordingly, place their felicity in them, and aim at them as their chief good; they rest satisfied with them, their souls take their ease in them, and they look no further, nor are in any care to provide for another life. These things are their consolation (Luke vi. 24), their good things (Luke xvi. 25), their reward (Matt. vi. 5), the penny they agreed for, Matt. xx. 13. Now, Lord, shall men of this character be supported and countenanced against those who honour thee by preferring thy favour before all the wealth in this world, and taking thee for their portion?” Ps. xvi. 5. (2.) They have abundance of the world. [1.] They have enlarged appetites, and a great deal wherewith to satisfy them: Their bellies thou fillest with thy hidden treasures. The things of this world are called treasures, because they are so accounted; otherwise, to a soul, and in comparison with eternal blessings, they are but trash. They are hidden in the several parts of the creation, and hidden in the sovereign disposals of Providence. They are God’s hidden treasures, for the earth is his and the fulness thereof, though the men of the world think it is their own and forget God’s property in it. Those that fare deliciously every day have their bellies filled with these hidden treasures; and they will but fill the belly (1 Cor. vi. 13); they will not fill the soul; they are not bread for that, nor can they satisfy, Isa. lv. 2. They are husks, and ashes, and wind; and yet most men, having no care for their souls, but all for their bellies, take up with them. [2.] They have numerous families, and a great deal to leave to them: They are full of children, and yet their pasture is not overstocked; they have enough for them all, and leave the rest of their substance to their babes, to their grand-children; and this is their heaven, it is their bliss, it is their all. “Lord,” said David, “deliver me from them; let me not have my portion with them. Deliver me from their designs against me; for, they having so much wealth and power, I am not able to deal with them unless the Lord be on my side.”
4. He pleads his own dependence upon God as his portion and happiness. “They have their portion in this life, but as for me (v. 15) I am none of them, I have but little of the world. Nec habeo, nec careo, nec curo–I neither have, nor need, nor care for it. It is the vision and fruition of God that I place my happiness in; that is it I hope for, and comfort myself with the hopes of, and thereby distinguish myself from those who have their portion in this life.” Beholding God’s face with satisfaction may be considered, (1.) As our duty and comfort in this world. We must in righteousness (clothed with Christ’s righteousness, having a good heart and a good life) by faith behold God’s face and set him always before us, must entertain ourselves from day to day with the contemplation of the beauty of the Lord; and, when we awake every morning, we must be satisfied with his likeness set before us in his word, and with his likeness stamped upon us by his renewing grace. Our experience of God’s favour to us, and our conformity to him, should yield us more satisfaction than those have whose belly is filled with the delights of sense. 2. As our recompence and happiness in the other world. With the prospect of that he concluded the foregoing psalm, and so this. That happiness is prepared and designed only for the righteous that are justified and sanctified. They shall be put in possession of it when they awake, when the soul awakes, at death, out of its slumber in the body, and when the body awakes, at the resurrection, out of its slumber in the grave. That blessedness will consist in three things:– [1.] The immediate vision of God and his glory: I shall behold thy face, not, as in this world, through a glass darkly. The knowledge of God will there be perfected and the enlarged intellect filled with it. [2.] The participation of his likeness. Our holiness will there be perfect. This results from the former (1 John iii. 2): When he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. [3.] A complete and full satisfaction resulting from all this: I shall be satisfied, abundantly satisfied with it. There is no satisfaction for a soul but in God, and in his face and likeness, his good-will towards us and his good work in us; and even that satisfaction will not be perfect till we come to heaven.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
The two similitudes which David has subjoined in the following verse, respecting the apple of the eye, and the little birds which the mother keeps under her wings, (363) are introduced for illustrating the same subject. God, to express the great care which he has of his own people, compares himself to a hen and other fowls, which spread out their wings to cherish and cover their young, and declares them to be no less dear to him than the apple of the eye, which is the tenderest part of the body, is to man; it follows, therefore, that whenever men rise up to molest and injure the righteous, war is waged against him. As this form of prayer was put into the mouth of David by the Holy Spirit, it is to be regarded as containing in it a promise. We have here presented to our contemplation a singular and an astonishing proof of the goodness of God, in humbling himself so far, and in a manner so to speak, transforming himself, in order to lift up our faith above the conceptions of the flesh.
(363) “ Et des petis oiseaux que la mere tient sous ses ailes.” — Fr.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(8) Apple of the eye.Literally, little man, daughter of the eye. The mannikin is, of course, the reflection seen in the pupil. Daughter is either a contraction of a word meaning cavity, or is the common Hebrew idiom which by son or daughter of expresses relation, as sons of the bow = arrows. In fact, the curious Hebrew phrase is substantially like the Greek and Latin pupa, or pupilla, even to the gender.
Hide me under the shadow of thy wings.The figure of the sheltering wings of the parent bird, so common in Hebrew literature, generally refers to the eagle or vulture, as in Deu. 32:10-11, the source of both the beautiful images of the text. Our Lords use of the figure is made more tender by the English rendering, hen (Mat. 23:37). (See Note New Testament Commentary.)
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
8. As the apple of the eye The pupil, or centre of the eye, a beautiful phrase, denoting a place of great safety, carefully guarded. The Hebrew reads: “Keep me as the little man, the daughter of the eye,” called so because the miniature picture of the man is seen in the door, or opening, of the eye. Mendelssohn reads, “The offspring of the eye;” and Kimchi, “The dark part of the eye, because there is seen in it the image of a man.” (See Deu 32:10; Lam 2:18; Zec 2:8.)
Shadow of thy wings The figure changes, but the idea of complete safety is preserved. Psa 91:4; Mat 23:37
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘Keep me as the apple of the eye;
Hide me under the shadow of your wings,
From the unrighteous who oppress (spoil) me,
My deadly enemies, who encompass me about.’
The apple of the eye is the pupil. It represented the precious gift of sight. Thus it is above all things what a man guards, and it is protected by the eyelid. Thus the psalmist wants God to protect him as a man would protect his eyesight, indeed he wants him to be as an eyelid to him. The second illustration is that of the bird which takes its young under its wing for protection. Thus the psalmist claims dual protection.
The reason that he needs such protection is then given. The unrighteous, those who do not heed the voice of God, are oppressing him and seeking to despoil him. His deadly enemies are surrounding him, those who seek his death. They may have been internal enemies like Saul. They may have been external enemies. But the need is the same. The writer seeks protection from them all because he is YHWH’s, because he is righteous and does observe YHWH’s Law and YHWH’s will.
Those whose trust is in God can look to God with confidence when unbelievers press in for He will be their eyelid to protect His precious eye, He will take them under His wings to protect His young.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Psa 17:8. Hide me under the shadow of thy wings This is a figurative expression, say some, taken from hens, who with great carefulness hide their chickens under their wings to protect them from birds of prey: see Mat 23:37. But it appears to me much more probable, that the idea is taken from the wings of the cherubim which overshadowed the mercy-seat. See Psalms 57; Psalms 1.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
By comparing this verse with what the prophet Isaiah predicted of Jesus, a beautiful light is thrown upon both scriptures, and we are led to see to whom both refer. In the one Jesus is spoken of, under the spirit of prophecy, as praying to be kept and hid: and in the other, as of the thing done, when he saith, the Lord hath called me from the womb; and in the shadow of his hand hath he hid me. Isa 49:1-2 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Psa 17:8 Keep me as the apple of the eye, hide me under the shadow of thy wings,
Ver. 8. Keep me as the apple of the eye ] Heb. As the black of the apple of the eye, two words to the same sense, for more vehemence, q.d. Serva me studiosissime. The apple of the eye, that little man in the eye (as the Hebrew word importeth, the girl, , as the Greeks for like cause call it), is the tenderest piece of the tenderest part, the eye; which is kept most diligently, and strongly guarded by nature with tunicles. David therefore fitly prayeth to be so kept. ( Huc pertinet locus Cicer. De Nat. Deor.).
Hide me under the shadow of thy wing
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
as. Figure of speech Simile. App-6.
apple. . . eye . . . wings. Figure of speech Anthropopatheia.
Hide = Thou wilt hide.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
apple: Deu 32:10, Pro 7:2, Zec 2:8
hide: Psa 36:7, Psa 57:1, Psa 61:4, Psa 63:7, Psa 91:1, Psa 91:4, Rth 2:12, Mat 23:37, Luk 13:34
Reciprocal: Psa 16:1 – Preserve Psa 25:20 – O Psa 31:15 – deliver Psa 36:11 – hand Psa 64:1 – preserve Psa 71:4 – out of the Psa 140:4 – Keep me Psa 140:5 – The proud Isa 18:1 – shadowing Isa 26:20 – hide Joh 17:11 – keep
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Psa 17:8-9. Keep me as the apple of the eye Which thou hast marvellously fenced on every side, and which men use their utmost care and diligence to preserve. Hide me under the shadow of thy wings Protect me from my enemies, visible and invisible, as a hen protects her chickens from birds of prey. There seems also to be an allusion to the wings of the cherubim, overshadowing the mercy-seat. From the wicked Or, Because of the wicked. From my deadly enemies Hebrew, Mine enemies in, for, or, against my soul, or, life, whom nothing but my blood or life will satisfy. Who compass me about And thereby show both their extreme malice and my danger.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
The apple of the eye evidently refers to the pupil, the source of sight. With this figure, David was asking God to keep him in the center of His vision, not to let him out of His sight but to keep His eye on him. David also expressed his need for God’s careful protection, using the image of a bird protecting its young under its wings (cf. Deu 32:10-11; Rth 2:12; Mat 23:37).