Psalms 59:6 - Ellicott's Commentary On The Whole Bible

Bible Comments

A dog. — This comparison to the gaunt half-starved wild dogs of an Eastern town has met us before (Psalms 22:16). The verbs should be rendered as futures here and in Psalms 59:15.

Make a noise. — Better, howl. (See Note Psalms 55:7.) An English traveller has described the noise made by the dogs of Constantinople: “The noise I heard then I shall never forget. The whole city rang with one vast riot. Down below me at Tophane; over about Stamboul; far away at Scutari; the whole 60,000 dogs that are said to overrun Constantinople appeared engaged in the most active extermination of each other without a moment’s cessation. The yelping, howling, barking, growling, and snarling were all merged into one uniform and continuous even sound” (Albert Smith, A Month at Constantinople, quoted from Spurgeon’s Treasury of David).

Psalms 59:6

6 They return at evening: they make a noise like a dog, and go round about the city.