תהלים 17:8

Hebrew Modern Translation

שמרני כאישון בת עין בצל כנפיך תסתירני׃

Parallel Translations

Hebrew Aleppo Codex
כאישון בת-עין בצל כנפיך תסתירני

Biblia Hebrica Stuttgartensia (1967/77)
שָׁ֭מְרֵנִי כְּאִישֹׁ֣ון בַּת־עָ֑יִן בְּצֵ֥ל כְּ֝נָפֶ֗יךָ תַּסְתִּירֵֽנִי ׃

Westminster Leningrad Codex
מְרֵנִי כְּאִישׁוֹן בַּת־עָיִן בְּצֵל כְּנָפֶיךָ תַּסְתִּירֵֽנִי ׃

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

apple: Deuteronomy 32:10, Proverbs 7:2, Zechariah 2:8

hide: Psalms 36:7, Psalms 57:1, Psalms 61:4, Psalms 63:7, Psalms 91:1, Psalms 91:4, Ruth 2:12, Matthew 23:37, Luke 13:34

Reciprocal: Psalms 16:1 - Preserve Psalms 25:20 - O Psalms 31:15 - deliver Psalms 36:11 - hand Psalms 64:1 - preserve Psalms 71:4 - out of the Psalms 140:4 - Keep me Psalms 140:5 - The proud Isaiah 18:1 - shadowing Isaiah 26:20 - hide John 17:11 - keep

Gill's Notes on the 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, Deuteronomy 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 Psalms 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.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

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 - אישׁון 'ı̂yshôn - 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 Deuteronomy 32:10; Psalms 17:8; Proverbs 7:2; where it is rendered “apple;” in Proverbs 7:9, where it is rendered “black;” and in Proverbs 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, Numbers 21:25, Numbers 21:32; Numbers 32:42; Joshua 17:11. So the expression “daughters of song,” Ecclesiastes 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 Matthew 23:37. Both of the comparisons used here are found in Deuteronomy 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 Psalms 36:7; Psalms 57:1; Psalms 61:4; Psalms 63:7; Psalms 91:1, Psalms 91:4.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Psalms 17:8. 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 Matthew 23:37. The Lord says of his followers, Zechariah 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!