Charles Ellicott Commentary Psalms 17

Hear the right. —Or (see margin), justice. Some ancient versions read, Hear, Lord of righteousness. Others make it concrete: Hear me, the righteous; but the Authorised Version has the true sense.

Let my sentence — i.e., let my cause be tried before Your tribunal, where it is sure of success, since I am innocent and You are just. The second clause is better in the present, Thine eyes behold, etc.

The things that are equal. —Hebrew, meysharîm, which may be either abstract, rectitude, or concrete, the just (Song of Solomon 1:4, Note), or adverbial, justly.

In the night ()—This refers to the time of calm reflection and self-examination. Some, however, taking this verse in connection with Psalm 17:15, think the poem was composed at night.

I am purposed.—The Hebrew word presents a difficulty. It is better to take it as a noun—counsels, and here, as generally, evil counsels—and join it to the preceding words, not (as in the Authorized Version) the following words.

“You have proved my heart,
You have visited me in the night,
You have found no malice in me,
My mouth does not transgress, or
It (malice) does not pass my mouth.”

“I offend”—that is, “neither in thought nor word.” The Septuagint, Vulgate, Syriac, Chaldean, and Arabic versions support this arrangement.

Concerning the works of men — that is, regarding the actions of men, or in ordinary human actions; for the expression, compare Job 31:33 and Hosea 6:7, where the margin has Adam.

By the word of thy lips. — Some take this clause closely with the foregoing and interpret it as “against the word,” and so on, but the Authorised Version is better. The Divine standard for action, not the human or worldly, influences the writer.

I have kept me. — Literally, I for my part have observed ways of violence. But usage (Proverbs 2:20) almost compels us to understand this as, “I have kept ways of violence,” which is impossible here. Hence we must either give the verb the unusual sense “guard against,” or suppose an error in the text.

Hold up. —Not, as in the Authorized Version, imperative, which is directly opposed to the context. The psalmist still asserts his innocence. Render:—

My course kept close in your tracks,
My footsteps have not wavered.

(Psalms 41:12.)

Paths. —Literally, wheel-tracks.