Psalms 17:9

Psa 17:9 From the wicked that oppress me, [from] my deadly enemies, [who] compass me about.

Ver. 9. From the wicked that oppress me] Heb. that waste me, i. e. that cast me out into banishmeat, despoiled of all. This hard usage of his enemies drove David into God’s blessed bosom; as children misused abroad run home to their parents.

From my deadly enemies] Heb. my enemies against the soul, i. e. the life at least, if not the soul, which they would gladly destroy. Some malice is so mischievous, that it would ruin body and soul together; as that monster of Milan, the enemies of John Huss, and Jerome of Prague, whose bodies they delivered to the fire, and their souls to the devil. David elsewhere complaineth of his enemies, that they did Satanically hate him, Psa 55:4. "Beware of men," saith our Saviour, Mat 10:17, for one man is a devil to another.

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.

9. (Psa 17:9) From the face of the wicked who have wasted me; mine enemies to the soul will surround me. The preceding sentence is continued, with a more particular description of the objects of his dread. "Thou wilt hide me from the face, sight, or presence of the wicked." Wasted, desolated, destroyed, with allusion perhaps to the siege of a town or the invasion of a country. The same term is applied to a dead man in Jdg 5:27. The enemies of the last clause are identical with the wicked of the first. Enemies in soul may mean cordial haters, or enemies who seek the soul or life, called deadly enemies in the English version. Or it may be construed: surround me eagerly (with craving appetite); or surround me against my soul or life, i.e. with a view to take it.—The future form suggests that the danger which the first clause had described as past, was still present, and likely to continue. As if he had said, "from my wicked foes who have already wasted me, and will no doubt still continue to surround me." In this description present danger is included, whereas if we substitute the present form, we lose the obvious allusion to the future and the past.

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

For their cruelty cannot be satisfied but with my death.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

compass me--(compare Psa 118:10-12).

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 9. From my deadly enemies, who compass me about.] This is a metaphor taken from huntsmen, who spread themselves around a large track of forest, driving in the deer from every part of the circumference, till they are forced into the nets or traps which they have set for them in some particular narrow passage. The metaphor is carried on in the following verses.

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

9. From the face of the ungodly. The Psalmist, by again accusing his enemies, intends to set forth his own innocence, as an argument for his obtaining the favor of God. At the same time, he complains of their cruelty, that God may be the more inclined to aid him. First, he says that they burn with an enraged desire to waste and to destroy him; secondly, he adds, that they besiege him in his soul, by which he means, that they would never rest satisfied until they had accomplished his death. The greater, therefore, the terror with which we are stricken by the cruelty of our enemies, the more ought we to be quickened to ardor in prayer. God, indeed, does not need to receive information and incitement from us; but the use and the end of prayer is, that the faithful, by freely declaring to God the calamities and sorrows which oppress them, and in disburdening them, as it were, into his bosom, may be assured beyond all doubt that he has a regard to their necessities.

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(9) Deadly.—Literally, with the soul, or life, or better, as in the Syriac, “against the life,” and so deadly. Others take it adverbially with the verb, “eagerly compass.”

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

9. that oppress me] R.V., that spoil me. Cp. Psa_12:5. (R.V.).

my deadly enemies] Nothing but his life will satisfy them. Cp. 1Sa_24:11. This is the sense, whether the exact meaning is enemies in soul, i.e. with murderous intent (Psa_27:12; Psa_41:2), or enemies against (my) soul.

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.

From the wicked that oppress me,.... Or "waste" or "destroy" (g); as wild beasts do a field or vineyard when they get into it; and such havoc do persecutors and false teachers make of the church and people of God, when they are suffered to get in among them, Psa 80:13; wherefore from such wicked and unreasonable men protection is desired, Th2 3:2;

from my deadly enemies; enemies against his soul or life, who sought to take it away, nothing would satisfy them but this;

who compass me about; on all sides, in order to obtain their desire; such were the enemies of Christ, and so they are described, Psa 22:12.

(g) "quid vastant", Vatablus, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator; "qui vastaverunt", Pagninus, Montanus, Cocceius, Michaelis.

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

From the wicked that oppress me - Margin, “That waste me.” The margin expresses the sense of the Hebrew. The idea is that of being wasted, desolated, destroyed, as a city or country is by the ravages of war. The psalmist compares himself in his troubles with such a city or country. The “effect” of the persecutions which he had endured had been like cities and lands thus laid waste by fire and sword.

From my deadly enemies - Margin, “My enemies against the soul.” The literal idea is, “enemies against my life.” The common translation expresses the idea accurately. The sense is, that his enemies sought his life.

Who compass me about - Who surround me on every side, as enemies do who besiege a city.

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

From the wicked; or, because of the wicked. From my deadly enemies; Heb. from those who are mine enemies in, or for, or against my (which pronoun is easily supplied out of the foregoing word, where it is expressed) soul or life, i.e. whom nothing but my blood and life will satisfy.

Who compass me about; which shows both their extreme malice and his great danger.

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

Ver. 9. From the wicked that oppress me, from my deadly enemies, who compass me about. The foes from whom David sought to be rescued were

wicked men. It is hopeful for us when our enemies are God's enemies. They were

deadly enemies, whom nothing but his death would satisfy. The foes of a believer's soul are mortal foes most emphatically, for they who war against our faith aim at the very life of our life. Deadly sins are deadly enemies, and what sin is there which hath not death in its bowels? These foes oppressed David, they laid his spirit waste, as invading armies ravage a country, or as wild beasts desolate a land. He likens himself to a besieged city, and complains that his foes

compass him about. It may well quicken our business upward, when all around us, every road, is blockaded by deadly foes. This is our daily position, for all around us dangers and sins are lurking. O God, do thou protect us from them all.

Ver. 9. From the wicked: as though he had said, "They are equally enemies to thee and me; not more opposite to me by their cruelty, than by their wickedness they are to thee. Vindicate then, at once, thyself, and deliver me." John Howe.

None.

Psalms 17:10*

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

From the wicked that oppress me; or, lay me waste treat me as invaders treat an enemy"s territory. (see Isa_15:1) From my deadly enemies, who compass me about; literally, my enemies in soul those who in heart and mind are wholly set against me. When hunted by Saul upon the mountains, David was often "compassed about" with foes. (1Sa_23:14, 1Sa_23:15, 26 26:20)

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

who have robbed me Because of this: my enemies, who encompass me to take my life, rob me.

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.

From the wicked that spoil me: – Keep me from the enemies who spoil me. The word זוּ is in meaning the same as אשר; and so (we find): “He against whom (זוּ) we have sinned” (Isaiah 42:24).

My soul's enemies that compass me about: – Keep me from my enemies who encompass and surround me against my soul, meaning, “to take my life.”

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.