Chapter 17 is a prayer of David divided into three stages: in the first part, David recounts his righteousness before the Holy One, blessed be He; from here onward, he begins to complain about his enemies and the harm they inflict upon him - which corresponds to his opening plea, "Hearken to my cry"; and in the third part, he transitions into outright prayer and supplication. In this lesson, we will focus on the second and third parts, from verse 6 through the end of the chapter, following the commentary of the Malbim.
"Hear my speech" - Hearing beyond what is spoken
אֲנִי קְרָאתִיךָ כִּי תַעֲנֵנִי אֵל הַט אׇזְנְךָ לִי שְׁמַע אִמְרָתִי׃ - I have called upon You, for You will answer me, O God; incline Your ear to me, hear my speech.
David says: Master of the Universe, rescue me from my enemies, and I know that You will answer me. Yet I am not merely asking that You fulfill my explicit request, but rather "incline Your ear to me, hear my speech" - in the manner of a beloved, who does not merely hear what the petitioner asks for, but reads between the lines to perceive what else he needs. As we explained, the term "hearing" (shemi'ah) represents the higher, more intimate level, just as he opened with "Hear, Hashem, righteousness." Therefore I ask: hear my speech, listen between my words and perceive how desperately I need Your help - an extraordinary hearing, divine providence of the highest degree.
To illustrate: a man once came to the Rav and asked whether he could fulfill the obligation of the four cups at the Seder with milk. Anyone hearing this understands that the man had no wine, otherwise he would never ask such a question. The Rav understood immediately and handed him a very substantial sum of money. The Rebbetzin saw this and wondered: wine does not cost anywhere near that much, even three hundred shekels would have taken care of him nicely - why such a large amount? The Rav answered her: I heard beyond what you heard. I heard that he also has nothing to eat. She asked: how did you hear that? He replied: if he wants to drink the fourth cup with milk, that means he is not eating meat at the meal, since one cannot drink milk after meat - so meat is entirely out of the question for him. Therefore, I gave him enough to cover all the needs of the meal and the festival, not just the wine. This is David's intent according to the Malbim: with a beloved, not only is his request fulfilled, but one listens to all his words, infers from them the additional things he lacks, and gives whole-heartedly. One does not say to him, "This is what you asked for, and this is what I gave," but rather understands that his need is far greater.
"Distinguish Your lovingkindness" - A clear separation between those who take refuge and those who rise up
הַפְלֵה חֲסָדֶיךָ מוֹשִׁיעַ חוֹסִים מִמִּתְקוֹמְמִים בִּימִינֶךָ׃ - Distinguish Your lovingkindness, You Who save those who seek refuge from those who rise up against Your right hand.
"Distinguish Your lovingkindness" - make a clear distinction and separation, and grant me great, supernatural kindnesses. And why? Because of those who rise up "against Your right hand," meaning ostensibly with Your help: there are those who present themselves as righteous and rise against me, claiming that the right hand of Hashem is allegedly aiding them in their battle against me. Thus said David's enemies: "God has forsaken him," "God pursues him... there is no salvation for him in God forever" - it is over, Hashem is no longer with him, evidently David is a sinner. And when the episode of Batsheva occurred, the enemies received a massive sword to thrust into him: look, you see that David is wicked, here is what we have been saying all along, that David is flawed and corrupt. David himself testifies, "Those who hate me without cause are more numerous than the hairs of my head" - he had many pursuers. They even boasted that persecuting him was the will of Hashem, and that they were consequently receiving divine assistance. Therefore, David pleads: distinguish Your lovingkindness, make an unmistakable distinction so that it is evident that Your kindness is with me and not with them, and through this, save the one who takes refuge in You, so that they recognize the falsehood of their path.
"Guard me like the apple of the eye" - Two types of enemies
שׇׁמְרֵנִי כְּאִישׁוֹן בַּת עָיִן בְּצֵל כְּנָפֶיךָ תַּסְתִּירֵנִי׃ - Guard me like the apple of the eye; hide me in the shadow of Your wings.
מִפְּנֵי רְשָׁעִים זוּ שַׁדּוּנִי אֹיְבַי בְּנֶפֶשׁ יַקִּיפוּ עָלָי׃ - From the wicked who have despoiled me, my deadly enemies who surround me.
The Malbim explains that the clauses here are structured in parallel, which is why we read these two verses together: there are four clauses here, where the continuation of the first is the third, and the continuation of the second is the fourth. David's enemies were of two types. There were those who sought to cause him to sin and lead him astray from the fear of Hashem, and regarding them he says: "Guard me like the apple of the eye - from the wicked who have despoiled me." "Shadduni" comes from the word for plunder (shod), meaning that they seek to plunder the apple of my eye - to blind my vision and divert me from the path of light onto the path of darkness. And there was a second type - deadly enemies who sought to take his actual life, and regarding them he says: "Hide me in the shadow of Your wings - from my deadly enemies who surround me." That is to say: guard me both from those who would cause me to sin and from those who seek to take my life.
Why specifically "like the apple of the eye" (ishon bat ayin)? Because the eye is the most protected place in the human body. First, it is recessed within a socket, unlike the prominent nose - when a person falls, the first place struck is the nose (incidentally, there is a hint in this: lower your nose, so it does not stick out too far!). When someone falls and gets a "black eye", the eyeball itself remains unharmed. Beyond this, the Holy One, blessed be He, endowed it with additional layers of protection: the eyelids, the eyelashes, and the eyebrows. David therefore pleads: just as You guard the pupil, the apple of the eye, guard my pure soul so that it does not stumble into sin.
What Is "Ishon"?
Rashi explains that *ishon* is the black pupil of the eye, named from the root of darkness - "in the dark (be-ishon) night and gloom." The black center of the eye is darkness, yet through it one sees, and the Holy One, blessed be He, provided it with eyelashes that constantly cover it so it remains guarded. Radak, on the other hand, explains that *ishon* is a diminutive form: an adult man is an *ish*, a miniature man is an *ishon* - because when you gaze into the face of someone standing opposite you, you see your own small reflection in the pupil of his eye. He cites examples where the letters *vav* and *nun* serve as a diminutive or intensification: *shemesh* - *Shimshon*; *Shabbat* - *Shabbaton* (an addition of sanctity); and similarly the letter *yud* can diminish, as in Amnon - "Aminon", where a *yud* was inserted to speak of him disparagingly. According to Radak, "ishon bat ayin" forms a single phrase: "bat ayin" is the noun - the eyeball from which sight originates - and "ishon" is its descriptive adjective.
"Zu Shadduni" - Additional Interpretations
We have seen the Malbim's explanation, according to which "from the wicked who plunder me (zu shadduni)" refers back to the apple of the eye. Yet there is another explanation found in Radak and Rashi, and similarly with a slight variation in Ibn Ezra: he is asking for protection from the enemies who have robbed him. Ibn Ezra interprets "shadduni" as related to surrounding - the enemies who encircle me. And what does "zu" mean? Radak and Rashi understand it as "who" (*asher*): from the wicked who have robbed me or who encircle me. Ibn Ezra interprets "zu" as "these": from these wicked people who have plundered me. "My enemies who compass me about for my soul" - Radak and Rashi explain that they surround him to take his life, whereas Ibn Ezra explains that they surround him with all their soul's desire, that is, they act against him with full passion and malice.
"Chelbamo Sagru" - The Fat Speaking from Their Mouths
חֶלְבָּמוֹ סָּגְרוּ פִּימוֹ דִּבְּרוּ בְגֵאוּת׃ - They have shut up their own fat; with their mouth they speak arrogantly.
The Malbim explains: their fat has sealed their mouths, and it is their layers of fat that speak with arrogance. The verse depicts them as having fat blocking their mouths, so that their words seem to emerge not from the mouth itself, but from the fat sealing it, as if the fat were speaking haughtily. "Fat" symbolizes gross indulgence, wealth, and the smug complacency born of their easy circumstances - their wealth and success have gone to their heads, and that is why they act and plot all this against me.
"Ashureinu Attah Sevavunu" - What the Fat Says
אַשֻּׁרֵינוּ עַתָּה סְבָבוּנוּ עֵינֵיהֶם יָשִׁיתוּ לִנְטוֹת בָּאָרֶץ׃ - They have now surrounded our steps; they set their eyes to cast us down to the ground.
The Malbim notes that this continues the previous verse: we said that the fat seemingly speaks from their mouths - and what does it say? "Our happiness has now been surrounded (ashureinu attah sevavunu)." These are the words of Shaul and his men who pursued David: until now we were fortunate and content, we had no troubles and everything was secure, but now our happiness has been hemmed in - by whom? By "those who set their eyes to spread across the land", those whose gaze is ever fixed on how to extend their influence over the land, how to seize royal power and dominion, prowling across the realm. In other words: David threatens our well-being, his sole aim is to usurp the monarchy from us, and therefore we must wage war against him.
"Like a Lion" and "Like a Young Lion" - Two Stages of Pursuit
דִּמְיֹנוֹ כְּאַרְיֵה יִכְסוֹף לִטְרֹף וְכִכְפִיר יֹשֵׁב בְּמִסְתָּרִים׃ - He is like a lion longing to tear prey, like a young lion lurking in hidden places.
Through this, David says, they issued a death sentence against me. Yichsof means yearns or craves - his desire is to tear and kill me. Notice that the verse mentions both an aryeh (mature lion) and a kefir (young lion), and the Malbim in several places distinguishes between them: an aryeh is full-grown, while a kefir is young. A young lion does not yet have the strength and might to go out and hunt animals across long distances to bring prey back to its lair. Therefore, it crouches at the entrance of its den, and when an animal passes by, it pounces and drags it inside - it lacks the strength to embark on hunting expeditions. Here, Shaul is likened to a mature lion that goes out and pursues across great distances, and on the other hand, to a young lion lurking in hiding in its den, waiting for prey to pass by - that is, seeking to strike me in secret and waiting for me to pass his way.
The deeper meaning is this: At first, Shaul tried to kill David in secret, inside his own home - hurling the spear at him while David escaped at the last second, as we learn in Sefer Shmuel. Later, when that kefir matured into an aryeh, he pursued him into the Judean desert and to every place he thought David might be found, like a lion stalking far afield, hungering for prey. But why did the verse open with the aryeh and conclude with the kefir? In chronological order, should the young lion not come first? The Malbim does not address this directly, but the straightforward explanation seems to be that David speaks first of the present and then looks back to the past. In the present - "He is like a lion longing to tear prey" - today he goes out and hunts me everywhere; but it began in the past, when David was younger, when Shaul was "like a young lion lurking in hidden places," attempting to strike him down within his home.
"Rescue my soul from the wicked, who is Your sword"
קוּמָה יְהֹוָה קַדְּמָה פָנָיו הַכְרִיעֵהוּ פַּלְּטָה נַפְשִׁי מֵרָשָׁע חַרְבֶּךָ׃ - Arise, Hashem, confront him, bring him to his knees; rescue my soul from the wicked, who is Your sword.
Here David moves to the third phase of the chapter - the prayer. He asks that Hashem arise and confront the enemy before he tears him apart and destroys him. "Bring him to his knees" (hachrieihu) - let him collapse where he stands rather than set out in pursuit. "Rescue my soul from the wicked, who is Your sword" (mêrasha charbecha) - save my soul from the wicked person who serves as Your sword. The explanation is this: When the Holy One, blessed be He, wishes to settle an account with a person, He does not typically send down a bolt of lightning from heaven or rain down hailstones; rather, He dispatches a wicked person to execute judgment and harm him. Certainly, no person has the power to harm another unless it has been decreed from Heaven; rather, megalgelim chovah al yedei chayav - liability is brought about through the guilty. Because the harmer is guilty, the harm is funneled through him, while the recipient receives what was decreed from Heaven. David therefore pleads: Save me from the wicked man who acts as Your sword, so that he may not harm me.
"From men who are Your hand" - How Hashem Governs His World
מִמְתִים יָדְךָ יְהֹוָה מִמְתִים מֵחֶלֶד חֶלְקָם בַּחַיִּים וּצְפוּנְךָ תְּמַלֵּא בִטְנָם יִשְׂבְּעוּ בָנִים וְהִנִּיחוּ יִתְרָם לְעוֹלְלֵיהֶם׃ - From men who are Your hand, Hashem, from men of the world whose portion is in this life, and whose belly You fill with Your hidden treasure; they are sated with sons, and leave their abundance to their babes.
Metim means people, as in "every city of men (metim)" - not referring to a city of corpses, but to living human beings; the word metim connotes human frailty. The Holy One, blessed be He, guides and builds His world through ordinary, fragile people: all mundane affairs - construction, plowing, sowing, harvesting, civilizing the world - are carried out by them. Ordinary folk are defined as weak, neither bullies nor ruthless warriors who spread terror across the land; and they are, as it were, "Hashem's hand." Yet there is also a need to punish wrongdoers, the corrupt, and the destructive - and for this purpose the tyrant, the wicked, and the violent oppressor serve, acting as a "sword," as seen in the phrase "from the wicked, who is Your sword." Thus, Hashem builds His world through decent, ordinary people - categorized as metim - and settles accounts with wrongdoers through the wicked.
"From men of the world (mêcheled)" - which people are these? Those absorbed in cheled, an expression for the material, temporal world; they are the dwellers of the earth, the majority of mankind. "Whose portion is in this life, and whose belly You fill with Your hidden treasure" - the Malbim explains that they fill their bellies from both portions prepared for them: there is a portion in this world, and there is a portion hidden away for the World to Come. But they do nothing for the life of the World to Come; everything is directed toward this world, as Chazal remarked, "All of man's labor is for his mouth." "Their portion is in this life" - their entire preoccupation is with mundane living: livelihood, physical comforts, homes, traveling abroad. The realm of the World to Come, the "hidden treasure" (tzafun), does not interest them in the least; their sole focus is "fill their belly" - stuffing themselves here. In fact, they even consume their portion of the World to Come right here, as Chazal said: the wicked consume their reward for the World to Come in this world; if they are owed reward for a few mitzvot, the Holy One, blessed be He, pays them in full here. Thus, whatever Hashem bestows and channels to them, they direct entirely into this physical world.
And the second thing they pursue: "They are sated with sons, and leave their abundance to their babes" - they desire children to perpetuate the species and carry on the next generation, and whatever remains after enjoying everything they could acquire here, they leave as surplus to their infants. In other words, they leave nothing for eternity; everything is either consumed here or left behind for their children here.
And what does it mean to "take something with you"? This was discussed in the lessons on the Pele Yoetz, under the entry Yerushah (Inheritance). The Pele Yoetz writes: When a person divides his estate - how many children do you have? Four? Divide the inheritance into five parts (assuming there is no firstborn, for if there is a firstborn, one must allocate an extra share, as the firstborn takes a double portion). Each child receives a share, and what about the fifth share? Tell them: "This one is for me. Do I not deserve a share too?" And where are you taking it - into the grave? There is no need to take it to the grave, says the Pele Yoetz; rather, seek out a place of Torah, seek out the needy. Are you going to leave everything behind here? What will pave your way to the World to Come? At the very least, tell your children: "Each of you received a share in the estate; give me a share as well, just like an ordinary heir." Then dedicate that portion to eternal life, to tzedakah, to mitzvot, and to good deeds, and that is what will endure for you. But here the verse describes those who leave their surplus to their infants: such a person does not truly believe in eternity, and so whatever remains, he leaves entirely behind to his children. He seeks only worldly pleasures, satiety, children, livelihood, and material abundance, taking nothing with him into eternal life - and after death, nothing of it remains for him.
"As for me, in righteousness I shall behold Your face" - An Entirely Different Satiation
אֲנִי בְּצֶדֶק אֶחֱזֶה פָנֶיךָ אֶשְׂבְּעָה בְהָקִיץ תְּמוּנָתֶךָ׃ - As for me, in righteousness I shall behold Your face; I shall be satisfied upon awakening with Your likeness.
David HaMelech concludes: I am different from those "mortals of the world." I do not occupy myself with material matters and bodily concerns that perish and pass away. Rather, my entire focus is on righteousness - on matters of integrity and charity, as David testifies about himself that he performed charity and justice. And toward what is this aspiration directed? "I shall be satisfied upon awakening with Your likeness." I am not satisfied as they are: their satisfaction is coarse and earthly, the fullness of the belly and the fullness of children here in this world; but I seek to behold the light of Hashem and His eternal countenance.
The Malbim explains that "Your likeness" (*temunatecha*) refers to the image of Hashem within man - for "in the image of God He created man," and *temunah* is synonymous with *tzelem* (image), as in "You shall not make for yourself... any likeness," an image of a thing. This divine image resides within man, and it is the human soul, a portion of God from Above - and that is what occupies me. They are preoccupied with the body, its pleasures, and its materiality, whereas I am engaged with the divine portion within me, with my soul, which is, as it were, an image of the Holy One, blessed be He, an enduring and eternal entity.
At present, however, this soul is seemingly asleep and not readily discernible; what a person sees is merely the functioning body. Some people are not even aware that they possess a soul, and even someone who is aware does not feel it so keenly, feeling instead the concerns of the body, its cravings, and its desires. Yet a stage will come when the body dies and decomposes, and then who will be awake and active? The soul. This is the meaning of "I shall be satisfied upon awakening with Your likeness" - when the soul awakens and is aroused, when the body ceases to exist, then that divine image within me will awaken, and I will be privileged in the World of Truth to behold the eternal countenance of Hashem and His light. By contrast, the wicked, those "mortals of the world" who consume in this world even what is hidden away for them for the World to Come - they will not merit to behold Your face. But I will indeed merit to behold Your face and to be satisfied when Your likeness awakens, when my soul awakens to the life of the World to Come, and I will merit all of the treasured goodness. And because I am fundamentally different from them, I pray: Please, Hashem, rescue me from the enemies who rise up against me.
In summary:
In this section of the psalm, David transitions from recounting his righteousness to voicing his complaint regarding his enemies and offering prayer. He requests the attentive listening of a beloved, who understands even what remains unsaid; he asks for a wondrous display of loving-kindness that will prove that Hashem's right hand is with him and not with his adversaries; he seeks protection like the pupil of the eye from those who would lead him into sin, and concealment in the shadow of Hashem's wings from those who seek his life. He describes his enemies whose callous fat speaks from their mouths with arrogance, like a lion eager to tear its prey and a young lion lurking in secret ambushes - corresponding to Shaul, who first hurled a spear at him in his house and later pursued him in the wilderness. From there, he turns to prayer that Hashem rescue him from the wicked man who serves as a sword in Hashem's hand, contrasting himself completely with the "mortals of the world" whose entire portion is in this life, who consume everything here and leave the rest to their children: "As for me, in righteousness I shall behold Your face" - my occupation is with righteousness and with the divine portion within me, and my satisfaction will come when the soul awakens to eternal life.