Amsal 1:17

1:17 Surely it is futile to spread ¹  a net

in plain sight of ²  any bird, ³ 

Mazmur 11:1

Psalm 11 ⁴ 

For the music director; by David.

11:1 In the Lord I have taken shelter. ⁵ 

How can you say to me, ⁶ 

“Flee to a mountain like a bird! ⁷ 

Mazmur 124:7

124:7 We escaped with our lives, ⁸  like a bird from a hunter’s snare.

The snare broke, and we escaped.

[1:17]  ¹ tn Heb “for the net to be spread out.” The Pual participle of זָרָה (zarah) means “to be spread” (HALOT 280 s.v. I זרה pu.1). The subject of this verbal use of the participle is the noun הָרָשֶׁת (harashet, “the net”). It is futile for the net to be spread out in plain view of birds.

[1:17]  ² tn Heb “in the eyes of.”

[1:17]  sn This means either: (1) Spreading a net in view of birds is futile because birds will avoid the trap; but the wicked are so blind that they fail to see danger; or (2) it does not matter if a net is spread because birds are so hungry they will eat anyway and be trapped; the wicked act in a similar way.

[1:17]  ³ tn Heb “all of the possessors of wings.”

[11:1]  ⁴ 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.

[11:1]  ⁵ tn The Hebrew perfect verbal form probably refers here to a completed action with continuing results.

[11:1]  ⁶ tn The pronominal suffix attached to נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) is equivalent to a personal pronoun. See Ps 6:3.

[11:1]  ⁷ 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.

[124:7]  ⁸ tn Heb “our life escaped.”