Lectionary Calendar
Sunday, July 27th, 2025
the Week of Proper 12 / Ordinary 17
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Read the Bible

New Century Version

Psalms 17:8

Protect me as you would protect your own eye. Hide me under the shadow of your wings.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Afflictions and Adversities;   Thompson Chain Reference - Battle of Life;   God;   Hiding Place;   Protector, Divine;   Wings, God's;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Affliction, Prayer under;   Protection;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Shadow;   Charles Buck Theological Dictionary - Future State;   Easton Bible Dictionary - Apple;   Black;   Fausset Bible Dictionary - Apple of the Eye;   Hen (2);   Pentateuch;   Ruth;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Apple of the Eye;   Imagery;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Apocalyptic Literature;   Apple of the Eye;   English Versions;   Greek Versions of Ot;   Prayer;   Psalms;   Sin;   Morrish Bible Dictionary - Apple of the Eye;   Wings;   People's Dictionary of the Bible - Psalms the book of;   Wilson's Dictionary of Bible Types - Apple;   Eye;   Hide;   Wing;  

Encyclopedias:

- International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Apple of the Eye;   Belly;   Eschatology of the Old Testament (with Apocryphal and Apocalyptic Writings);   Eye;   Psalms, Book of;   Shade;   Wings;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Benedictions;   Eye;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
Protect me as the pupil of your eye;hide me in the shadow of your wings
Hebrew Names Version
Keep me as the apple of your eye; Hide me under the shadow of your wings,
King James Version
Keep me as the apple of the eye, hide me under the shadow of thy wings,
English Standard Version
Keep me as the apple of your eye; hide me in the shadow of your wings,
New English Translation
Protect me as you would protect the pupil of your eye! Hide me in the shadow of your wings!
Amplified Bible
Keep me [in Your affectionate care, protect me] as the apple of Your eye; Hide me in the [protective] shadow of Your wings
New American Standard Bible
Keep me as the apple of the eye; Hide me in the shadow of Your wings
World English Bible
Keep me as the apple of your eye; Hide me under the shadow of your wings,
Geneva Bible (1587)
Keepe me as the apple of the eye: hide me vnder the shadowe of thy wings,
Legacy Standard Bible
Keep me as the apple of the eye;Hide me in the shadow of Your wings
Berean Standard Bible
Keep me as the apple of Your eye; hide me in the shadow of Your wings
Contemporary English Version
Protect me as you would your very own eyes; hide me in the shadow of your wings.
Complete Jewish Bible
Protect me like the pupil of your eye, hide me in the shadow of your wings
Darby Translation
Keep me as the apple of the eye, hide me under the shadow of thy wings,
Easy-to-Read Version
Protect me like the pupil of your eye. Hide me in the shadow of your wings.
George Lamsa Translation
Keep me as the apple of the eye; protect me under the shadow of thy wings,
Good News Translation
Protect me as you would your very eyes; hide me in the shadow of your wings
Lexham English Bible
Keep me as the apple of your eye. Hide me in the shadow of your wings
Literal Translation
Keep me as the pupil, the daughter of the eye; hide me in the shadow of Your wings,
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Kepe me as the apple of an eye, defende me vnder the shadowe of thy wynges.
American Standard Version
Keep me as the apple of the eye; Hide me under the shadow of thy wings,
Bible in Basic English
Keep me as the light of your eyes, covering me with the shade of your wings,
JPS Old Testament (1917)
Keep me as the apple of the eye, hide me in the shadow of Thy wings,
King James Version (1611)
Keepe me as the apple of the eye: hide mee vnder the shadowe of thy wings,
Bishop's Bible (1568)
Kepe me as the apple of an eye, hyde me vnder the shadowe of thy wynges: from the face of the vngodly that go about to destroy me, [from] myne enemies that compasse me rounde about to take away my soule.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
Keep me as the apple of the eye from those that resist thy right hand: thou shalt screen me by the covering of thy wings,
English Revised Version
Keep me as the apple of the eye, hide me under the shadow of thy wings,
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Kepe thou me as the appil of the iye; fro `men ayenstondynge thi riyt hond. Keuere thou me vndur the schadewe of thi wyngis;
Update Bible Version
Keep me as the apple of the eye; Hide me under the shadow of your wings,
Webster's Bible Translation
Keep me as the apple of the eye, hide me under the shade of thy wings.
New King James Version
Keep me as the apple of Your eye; Hide me under the shadow of Your wings,
New Living Translation
Guard me as you would guard your own eyes. Hide me in the shadow of your wings.
New Life Bible
Keep me safe as You would Your own eye. Hide me in the shadow of Your wings,
New Revised Standard
Guard me as the apple of the eye; hide me in the shadow of your wings,
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Guard me, as the pupil of the eye, - Under the shadow of thy wings, wilt thou hide me:
Douay-Rheims Bible
(16-8) From them that resist thy right hand keep me, as the apple of thy eye. Protect me under the shadow of thy wings.
Revised Standard Version
Keep me as the apple of the eye; hide me in the shadow of thy wings,
Young's Literal Translation
Keep me as the apple, the daughter of the eye; In shadow of Thy wings thou dost hide me.
THE MESSAGE
Keep your eye on me; hide me under your cool wing feathers From the wicked who are out to get me, from mortal enemies closing in.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
Keep me as the apple of the eye; Hide me in the shadow of Your wings

Contextual Overview

8 Protect me as you would protect your own eye. Hide me under the shadow of your wings. 9 Keep me from the wicked who attack me, from my enemies who surround me. 10 They are selfish and brag about themselves. 11 They have chased me until they have surrounded me. They plan to throw me to the ground. 12 They are like lions ready to kill; like lions, they sit in hiding. 13 Lord , rise up, face the enemy, and throw them down. Save me from the wicked with your sword. 14 Lord , save me by your power from those whose reward is in this life. They have plenty of food. They have many sons and leave much money to their children. 15 Because I have lived right, I will see your face. When I wake up, I will see your likeness and be satisfied.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

apple: Deuteronomy 32:10, Proverbs 7:2, Zechariah 2:8

hide: Psalms 36:7, Psalms 57:1, Psalms 61:4, Psalms 63:7, Psalms 91:1, Psalms 91:4, Ruth 2:12, Matthew 23:37, Luke 13:34

Reciprocal: Psalms 16:1 - Preserve Psalms 25:20 - O Psalms 31:15 - deliver Psalms 36:11 - hand Psalms 64:1 - preserve Psalms 71:4 - out of the Psalms 140:4 - Keep me Psalms 140:5 - The proud Isaiah 18:1 - shadowing Isaiah 26:20 - hide John 17:11 - keep

Cross-References

Genesis 13:15
All this land that you see I will give to you and your descendants forever.
Genesis 13:17
Get up! Walk through all this land because I am now giving it to you."
Genesis 17:7
And I will make an agreement between me and you and all your descendants from now on: I will be your God and the God of all your descendants.
Genesis 17:16
I will bless her and give her a son, and you will be the father. She will be the mother of many nations. Kings of nations will come from her."
Genesis 17:17
Abraham bowed facedown on the ground and laughed. He said to himself, "Can a man have a child when he is a hundred years old? Can Sarah give birth to a child when she is ninety?"
Genesis 17:21
But I will make my agreement with Isaac, the son whom Sarah will have at this same time next year."
Genesis 23:4
"I am only a stranger and a foreigner here. Sell me some of your land so that I can bury my dead wife."
Genesis 28:4
May he give you and your descendants the blessing of Abraham so that you may own the land where you are now living as a stranger, the land God gave to Abraham."
Genesis 48:4
He said to me, ‘I will give you many children. I will make you the father of many peoples, and I will give your descendants this land forever.'
Exodus 6:7
I will make you my own people, and I will be your God. You will know that I am the Lord your God, the One who saves you from the hard work the Egyptians force you to do.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Keep me as the apple of the eye,.... Which is weak and tender, and is hurt and put to pain, and made uneasy by every little thing that annoys it, and than which nothing is more dear to a man, or he is more careful of preserving from being hurt; and fitly represents the weak estate and condition of God's people, his affection for them, and tender care of them; who as he has provided tunics for the eye, and guarded it with eyebrows, so he has taken care for the safety of his dear children, Deuteronomy 32:10;

hide me under the shadow of thy wings; alluding either to the wings of the cherubim over the mercy seat, where God granted his presence; so the Targum paraphrases it,

"under the shadow of thy Shechinah hide me;''

or to birds, who cover their young ones with their wings to save them from birds of prey; see Psalms 91:1. From such passages perhaps the Heathens had their notion of presenting their gods with wings f.

f Vid. Cuperi Apotheos. Homer. p. 169, &c.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Keep me as the apple of the eye - Preserve me; guard me; defend me, as one defends that which is to him most precious and valuable. In the original there is a remarkable strength of expression, and at the same time a remarkable confusion of gender in the language. The literal translation would be, “Keep me as the little man - the daughter of the eye.” The word “apple” applied to the eye means the pupil, the little aperture in the middle of the eye, through which the rays of light pass to form an image on the retina (“Johnson, Webster”); though “why” it is called the “apple” of the eye the lexicographers fail to tell us. The Hebrew word - אישׁון 'ı̂yshôn - means properly, “a little man,” and is given to the apple or pupil of the eye, “in which, as in a mirror, a person sees his own image reflected in miniature.” This comparison is found in several languages. The word occurs in the Old Testament only in Deuteronomy 32:10; Psalms 17:8; Proverbs 7:2; where it is rendered “apple;” in Proverbs 7:9, where it is rendered “black;” and in Proverbs 20:20, where it is rendered “obscure.” The other expression in the Hebrew - “the daughter of the eye” - is derived from a usage of the Hebrew word “daughter,” as denoting that which is dependent on, or connected with (Gesenius, Lexicon), as the expression “daughters of a city” denotes the small towns or villages lying around a city, and dependent on its jurisdiction, Numbers 21:25, Numbers 21:32; Numbers 32:42; Joshua 17:11. So the expression “daughters of song,” Ecclesiastes 12:4. The idea here is, that the little image is the “child” of the eye; that it has its birth or origin there. The prayer of the psalmist here is, that God would guard him, as one guards his sight - an object so dear and valuable to him.

Hide me under the shadow of thy wings - Another image denoting substantially the same thing. This is taken from the care evinced by fowls in protecting their young, by gathering them under their wings. Compare Matthew 23:37. Both of the comparisons used here are found in Deuteronomy 32:10-12; and it is probable that the psalmist had that passage in his eye - “He instructed him, he kept him as the apple of his eye; as an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her wings; so the Lord alone did lead him.” Compare also Psalms 36:7; Psalms 57:1; Psalms 61:4; Psalms 63:7; Psalms 91:1, Psalms 91:4.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Psalms 17:8. Keep me as the apple of the eye — Or, as the black of the daughter of eye. Take as much care to preserve me now by Divine influence, as thou hast to preserve my eye by thy good providence. Thou hast entrenched it deeply in the skull; hast ramparted it with the forehead and cheek-bones; defended it by the eyebrow, eyelids, and eyelashes; and placed it in that situation where the hands can best protect it.

Hide me under the shadow of thy wings — This is a metaphor taken from the hen and her chickens. See it explained at large in the note on Matthew 23:37. The Lord says of his followers, Zechariah 2:8: "He that toucheth you, toucheth the apple of mine eye." How dear are our eyes to us! how dear must his followers be to God!


 
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