Psalms 17:12

Psa 17:12 Like as a lion [that] is greedy of his prey, and as it were a young lion lurking in secret places.

Ver. 12. Like as a lion that is greedy, &c.] Cruelty and craft are conjoined in the Church’s enemies; as the ape never wandereth alone, they say, without his companion. David here pointeth out some one special enemy (Saul likely), who should have been a shepherd, but proved a lion.

As a young lion lurking] Therefore as we tender our safety, keep close to God, out of whose hands none can take us, no, not the roaring lion of hell.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

12. (Psa 17:12) His likeness (is) as a lion; he is craving to tear; and as a young lion sitting in secret places. The singular suffix refers to the enemy as an ideal person. The future means that he is just about to feel or gratify the appetite for blood. To tear in pieces, as a wild beast does his prey before devouring it.—Sitting, lurking, lying in wait, with special reference to the patient promptness of the wild beast in such cases.—The comparison is the same as in Psa 10:8-10.

Joseph Addison Alexander, The Psalms Translated and Explained (1850) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The figure made more special by that of a lion lurking.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 12. Like as a lion that is greedy of his prey] I believe the word lion is here used to express Saul in his strength, kingly power, and fierce rapacity. See the observations at the end of the Psalm. See Clarke on Ps 17:15.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(12) Young lion.—Heb., kephir. The Hebrew has seven different names for the lion. Milton’s description of Satan naturally recurs to the reader—

“About them round

A lion now he stalks with fiery glare.”

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

12. Like as a lion &c.] Lit., He is like a lion that is greedy to raven. (Psa_22:13). One of the pursuers (Saul, if the singer is David) is conspicuous for ferocity and craftiness. Cp. Psa_7:2; Psa_10:8-9.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Like as a lion that is greedy of his prey,.... Or "the likeness of him is as a lion" (i); meaning Saul, as Kimchi interprets it; or everyone of them that compassed them about, as Aben Ezra observes; sometimes wicked and persecuting princes are compared to lions, for their strength and cruelty; see Pro 28:15; so the devil is called a roaring lion, Pe1 5:8; and the antichristian beast is said to have the mouth of a lion, Rev 13:2;

and as it were a young lion lurking in secret places; to leap upon its prey, and seize it at once, as it has opportunity; this denotes the secret and insidious method which the enemies of Christ take to do mischief; see Psa 10:9.

(i) "similitudo ejus, vel cujusque est tanquam leonis", Pagninus, Montanus, Junius & Tremellius; so Musculus, Gejerus, Michaelis.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Like as a lion - Margin, “The likeness of him” (that is, “of every one of them”) is “as a lion that desireth to ravin.” The meaning is plain. They were like a lion intent on securing his prey. They watched the object narrowly; they were ready to spring upon it.

That is greedy of his prey - “He is craving to tear.” Prof. Alexander. - The Hebrew word rendered “is greedy,” means “to pine, to long after, to desire greatly.” The Hebrew word rendered “of his prey,” is a verb, meaning “to pluck, to tear, to rend in pieces.” The reference is to the lion that desires to seize his victim, and to rend it in pieces to devour it.

And, as it were, a young lion - Hebrew, “And like a young lion.”

Lurking in secret places - Margin, as in Hebrew, “sitting.” The allusion is to the lion crouching, or lying in wait for a favorable opportunity to pounce upon his prey. See the notes at Psa 10:8-10. There is no special emphasis to be affixed to the fact that the “lion” is alluded to in one member of this verse, and the “young lion” in the other. It is in accordance with the custom of parallelism in Hebrew poetry where the same idea, with some little variation, is expressed in both members of the sentence. See the introduction to Job, Section 5.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Like a lion that is greedy of his prey; when he is hungry, and therefore cruel. See Psa 7:2; 10:8-10.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Ver. 12. Lions are not more greedy, nor their ways more cunning than are Satan and his helpers when engaged against the children of God. The blood of souls the adversary thirsts after, and all his strength and craft are exerted to the utmost to satisfy his detestable appetite. We are weak and foolish like sheep; but we have a shepherd wise and strong, who knows the old lion's wiles, and is more than a match for his force; therefore will we not fear, but rest in safety in the fold. Let us beware, however, of our lurking foe; and in those parts of the road where we feel most secure, let us look about us lest, peradventure, our foe should leap upon us.

Ver. 12. Like a lion, etc. In "Paradise Lost, "we have a fine poetical conception of the arch enemy prowling around our first parents when he first beheld their happiness, and resolved to ruin them.

About them round A lion now, he stalks with fiery glare; Then, as a tiger, who by chance hath spied In some purlieu, two gentle fawns at play, Straight crouches close, then rising, changes oft His couchant watch, as one who chose his ground, Whence rushing he might surest seize them both, Gripped in each paw.

John Milton.

Ver. 12. We were consulting as to the best means of getting at a rhinoceros cow which we saw standing at some distance under a tree, when a troop of impalas came charging down, with a fine old lioness after them. We went and saw her lying down, but so flat to the ground, head and all, that no man could shoot with any certainty; and she never for a moment took her eyes from us. When we got up to her, she was lying down flat as a plate to the ground; but her head might have been on a pivot, as her watchful eye glared on us all round, without appearing to move her body, as we decreased the circle, in the hopes she would stand up and give us a fair chance of a shot behind the shoulder... I looked for a tree to climb up, near enough to make tolerably sure of my shot, and was just getting up one, when the lioness made off. William Charles Baldwin, F.R.G.S., in "African Hunting, "1863.

None.

Psalms 17:13*

Charles H. Spurgeon's The Treasury of David (1869–1885) — public domain. Psalms only. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

12. Like as a lion—Literally, He is like a lion, etc. The sudden change from the plural, in Psa_17:11, to the singular, in this, suggests that the singular be taken distributively. The likeness of him—that is, of every one of them—is as a lion, etc.; or, the singular may represent the body of the wicked collectively.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Like as a lion that is greedy of his prey; literally, his likeness is as a lion that is greedy to rend. (comp. Psa_7:2 Psa_10:9 Psa_57:4) And as it were a young lion (kephir , "a lion in the first burst of youthful vigour") lurking in secret places; rather, crouching. The attitude of the lieu when he is just preparing to spring.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

which yearns Heb. יכסף, yearns, as (in Gen. 31:30): “for you yearned (נכסף נכספתי).”

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.

He is like a lion that is greedy of his prey, As it were a young lion lurking in secret places: – He is like, singular, of Saul. He says, as he said of him in the Psalm Concerning the words of Cush, a Benjamite (7:3): “Lest he tear my soul like a lion.”

Radak on the Tanakh — English translations: “Sefaria Community Translation” (CC0 1.0 (public-domain dedication)); “Eliyahu Munk, HaChut Hameshulash” (CC BY 4.0); “Rabbi Mike Feuer, Jerusalem Anthology” (CC BY 4.0); and “R. David Kimhi on the first book of Psalms, Translated by R.G. Finch, London, 1919” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.