Psalm 11 Overview
Trapped birds
Psalm 11
Welcome to the Overview of Psalm 11
This page will introduce and provide orientation to Psalm 11 as a whole. It includes the following sections:
Introduction to Psalm 11
Author
- David
Book
- Book 1 of the Psalter (Chapters 1–41)
Psalm 11: A Brief Summary
"Trapped birds" This title is a memorable phrase that helps remember the unique character and content of this psalm.
Purpose The Purpose was the psalmist's probable intent or reason for writing this psalm.
- To rebuke and exhort those who doubt YHWH's righteous rule.
Content The Content is a concise summary of the whole psalm's content.
- "Flee," they say, "because we are under attack, and YHWH will not protect us, the righteous." But I have sought refuge in YHWH, because YHWH is righteous, and he will protect the righteous.
Message The Message is the main idea the psalmist probably wanted the audience to remember upon or after hearing the psalm.
- "YHWH is righteous" (v. 7a).
Psalm 11 At-a-Glance
These sections divide the content of the psalm into digestible pieces, and are determined based on information from many of our layers, including Semantics, Poetics, and Discourse. The columns, left to right, contain: the verse numbers; the main title of the section; a brief summary of the content of that section (quote marks indicate the text is taken directly from the English text of the psalm (as per our Close-but-Clear translation); and an icon to visually represent and remember the content.
Background Orientation for Psalm 11
Following are the common-ground assumptionsCommon-ground assumptions include information shared by the speaker and hearers. In our analysis, we mainly use this category for Biblical/Ancient Near Eastern background. which are the most helpful for making sense of the psalm.
- A trapped bird is an image for a besieged king (cf. ANET 288; Quine 2017).
- Bows were a critical offensive weapon in a siege (see e.g., the 8th-7th century BC relief of the Assyrian siege of Lachish; cf. Eph'al 2013, 87; Schwartz 2018, 509).
- Cities are protected by fortifications (e.g., walls and towers), which have foundations (e.g., Mic 1:6), and a besieging army might attempt to destroy the foundations of these fortifications (cf. Josephus, The Wars of the Jews, 6.15ff; Yadin 1963, 16-20).
- Metals are subjected to intense heat ("tested" בחן) both for the purpose of examining their quality and for the purpose of refining them (cf. Keel 1997, 184).
Background Situation for Psalm 11
The background situation is the series of events leading up to the time in which the psalm is spoken. These are taken from the story triangle – whatever lies to the left of the star icon.
Participants in Psalm 11
There are 6 participants/characters in Psalm 11:
Profile List
| David (v. 1abc) |
| David and his entourage (v. 1d) |
| "Birds" (v. 1d) |
| YHWH (vv. 1b, 4-7) |
| Advisors (v. 1c) |
| The righteous (vv. 3b, 5a) |
| The upright/The upright in heart (vv. 2c, 7c) |
| The wicked (vv. 2, 3a, 5b, 6) |
| "Who loves violence" (v. 5b) |
Profile Notes
- The psalmist is identified as David in the superscription. He seeks refuge in YHWH. David and his entourage (=his people) are called "birds"[1] and advised to flee (v. 1). By calling David and his entourage "birds," the advisors imply that David and his people are about to be trapped like birds in a cage, an image of a king and his entourage under siege. David, however, will not flee; he declares that his refuge is in YHWH.
- YHWH is presented as enthroned in heaven, with his eyes observing and his eyelids testing humans (v. 4). YHWH loves and refines the righteous (v. 5). By contrast, he does not refine the wicked; instead, he hates them (v. 5). YHWH is further described as righteous and as one who loves righteous acts (v. 7).
- The identity of the group being quoted is not made explicit. However, their presence is implied by the 2mp verb in v. 1c (תֹּאמְר֣וּ), and they occur only in the direct speech addressed to David and his entourage (vv. 1d-3). It seems likely that they are David’s military advisors, who have gathered military intelligence and concluded that the best course of action is for David to flee. [2] Their counsel portrays David and his entourage as vulnerable birds about to be trapped.
- The righteous in Psalm 11 are identified as the upright in heart whom YHWH refines (vv. 2 and 5). They are also described as the ones who will look upon YHWH’s face (v. 7). This designation most likely refers to righteous people generally, including David and his people (cf. note on v. 5).
- The wicked in Psalm 11 are described as those who bend the bow and put their arrows on the string to shoot in darkness at the upright in heart (v. 2). They stand in contrast to the righteous, for YHWH does not refine them. They love violence, and YHWH hates them (v. 5).
- ↑ Verse 1 presents multiple textual and grammatical issues, including the interpretation of the vocative צִפּוֹר ("bird/birds"). For an in-depth discussion, see The Text, Grammar, and Meaning of Psalm 11:1d.
- ↑ "Surveillance and reconnaissance were also conducted by the ancient Israelites to determine the number, location, and movements of enemy soldiers" (Schwartz 2018, 511).