Psalms 11:1 - Ellicott's Commentary On The Whole Bible

Bible Comments

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

Flee as a bird. — Literally, flee ye a bird. The plural verb, with the singular noun, offers a difficulty which is not obviated 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 ye 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!”

Psalms 11:1

1 In the LORD put I my trust: how say ye to my soul, Flee as a bird to your mountain?