Wherefore do I take my flesh in my teeth, and put my life in mine hand?
A proverb for, 'Why should I anxiously desire to save my life?' (Eichorn). The image in the first clause is that of a wild beast, which, in order to preserve his prey, carries it in his teeth. That in the second refers to men who hold in the hand what they want to keep secure. But Maurer takes the second clause without interrogation: 'Why should I take my flesh in my teeth' (i:e., be so keen about preserving my life)? I will even put my life in mine hand - i:e., expose my life to the most imminent danger. Judges 12:3; 1 Samuel 19:5; 1 Samuel 28:21; Psalms 119:109, favour this view. His danger lay in his venturing to ask God to come (Exodus 33:20).