How long will ye imagine mischief against a man? ye shall be slain all of you: as a bowing wall shall ye be, and as a tottering fence.
How long will ye imagine mischief against a man? The Septuagint and Vulgate translate, 'do ye make an attack upon a man?' х howteet (H2050), from haatah (H2050), the Poel conjunction.] So Gesenius from the Arabic 'to break,' 'to break in upon.'
Ye shall be slain all of you - in contrast to "a man" Almost all conspire against the one David (Psalms 2:2-3). [The reading of the eastern Jews and Jacob Ben Naphthali is tªtatsªchuw. That of the Western Jews and Aaron Ben Asher (1037 AD) is tªraatsªchuw (H7523). The latter is our text. The former is the usual form; for which Hengstenberg thinks the latter form stands, the rare Pihel, in which the absent dagesh (an internal dot) is compensated for by the lengthened vowel.] Hengstenberg translates actively, 'all of you murder him (a man).' So the ancient versions. But the English version accords best with our text, which Pual or passive.
As a bowing wall (shall ye be) - an image of the ultimate end of the ungodly (Ezekiel 12:13-14; Isaiah 30:13). This confirms the English version, "ye shall be slain," rather than 'all of you slay him,' which would make David to, be the bowing wall.
(As) a tottering fence - or 'a fence violently struck' (Psalms 118:13).