Charles Ellicott Commentary Psalms 44:19

"That thou hast sore broken us in the place of jackals, And covered us with the shadow of death." — Psalms 44:19 (ASV)

In the place of dragons. —This expression evidently means a wild desert place, from comparison with Jeremiah 9:11, Jeremiah 10:22, and Jeremiah 49:33. So Aquila has “an uninhabitable place.”

The rendering dragons for tannim arose from its resemblance to tannîn (sea monster). The tan must be a wild beast, since it is connected with ostriches (Isaiah 34:13) and wild asses, whom it resembles in snuffing up the wind (Jeremiah 14:6), and is described as uttering a mournful howl (Isaiah 43:20, Micah 1:8, and Job 30:29). The jackal is the animal that best answers these requirements. The Septuagint and Vulgate, which give various different renderings for the word, have here, “in the place of affliction.”

Shadow of death. —See Note, Psalms 23:4.