Charles Ellicott Commentary Psalms 57:6

"They have prepared a net for my steps; My soul is bowed down: They have digged a pit before me; They are fallen into the midst thereof themselves. Selah" — Psalms 57:6 (ASV)

A net. For this image, so common in Hebrew hymns, see Psalm 9:15 and following, and for that of the pit, see Psalm 7:15 and following.

My soul is bowed down. The verb rendered this way is transitive everywhere else. Therefore, the Septuagint and Vulgate have here, And have pressed down my soul. Despite the grammar, Ewald alters “my soul” to “their soul.” But no conjecture of this kind restores the parallelism, which is hopelessly lost here. We expect:

They have prepared a net for my steps;
They are caught in it themselves.