For the music director; by David.
11:1 In the Lord I have taken shelter. 2
How can you say to me, 3
“Flee to a mountain like a bird! 4
15:21 “I will deliver you from the power of the wicked.
I will free you from the clutches of violent people.”
1 sn Psalm 11. The psalmist rejects the advice to flee from his dangerous enemies. Instead he affirms his confidence in God’s just character and calls down judgment on evildoers.
2 tn The Hebrew perfect verbal form probably refers here to a completed action with continuing results.
3 tn The pronominal suffix attached to נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) is equivalent to a personal pronoun. See Ps 6:3.
4 tc The MT is corrupt here. The Kethib (consonantal text) reads: “flee [masculine plural!] to your [masculine plural!] mountain, bird.” The Qere (marginal reading) has “flee” in a feminine singular form, agreeing grammatically with the addressee, the feminine noun “bird.” Rather than being a second masculine plural pronominal suffix, the ending כֶם- (-khem) attached to “mountain” is better interpreted as a second feminine singular pronominal suffix followed by an enclitic mem (ם). “Bird” may be taken as vocative (“O bird”) or as an adverbial accusative of manner (“like a bird”). Either way, the psalmist’s advisers compare him to a helpless bird whose only option in the face of danger is to fly away to an inaccessible place.
5 tn Heb “be afraid of them.” The antecedent is the “whomever” in v. 7.
6 tn Heb “rescue.”