Charles Ellicott Commentary Psalms 11:1

"In Jehovah do I take refuge: How say ye to my soul, Flee [as] a bird to your mountain;" — Psalms 11:1 (ASV)

Put I my trust. —Better, as in Psalms 7:1, I find my refuge.

Flee as a bird. —Literally, Flee, you, a bird. The plural verb, with the singular noun, offers a difficulty which is not resolved by the reading which changes the verb to the singular, since your mountain has the plural suffix. We may supply the sign of comparison, as elsewhere sometimes omitted (Psalms 22:14); “Flee, you, like a bird;” or we may, with Ewald, take the noun as collective— a flock of birds. The idea of trepidation is conveyed in the original by the verb, which suggests the hurried flap of wings. Dr. Thomson, in The Land and the Book, finds in the habits of the dove an illustration of the passage; and compares Psalms 55:6, Oh that I had wings as a dove!