תהלים, פרק ל״ה, פסוק ז׳

A desperate cry against injustice unfolds through vivid hunting imagery, painting a picture of an innocent person relentlessly pursued by enemies. These foes use every possible trick and hidden trap to bring about a physical downfall, despite having suffered no wrong from their target [רד״ק].

The pursuit is marked by a complete lack of provocation. The primary approach among commentators is that the enemies chase their victim without any justified reason, acting against someone who has done them absolutely no harm. Conversely, this lack of provocation also serves to justify the victim's harsh response. The resulting outcry is not born of malice or baseless anger. Instead, it is a completely justified reaction to being hunted for nothing [רד״ק, מאירי].

To capture their prey, the attackers employ the tools of a hunter, specifically deep pits and hidden snares [רש״י, מצודת ציון]. There are different ways to understand how these traps are set. One perspective is that they form a single, elaborate trap. In this method, the enemies dig a deep hole and carefully disguise the opening with a net covered in dirt. The goal is for the victim to walk over it, sense no danger, and plunge inside [רד״ק, מלבי״ם, ביאור שטיינזלץ]. This complex setup highlights the intense effort and deep scheming invested in the ambush [רד״ק].

Alternatively, the threats might be entirely separate, with the enemies both laying out nets to entangle their target and digging pits for a sudden fall [רד״ק, מצודת ציון, מאירי]. Another view suggests that the concepts of pits and nets are simply different ways of describing the exact same type of deadly snare [רד״ק, מאירי]. Ultimately, all these hidden dangers and excavations are aimed directly at the physical body [רד״ק, מצודת דוד]. The traps are designed to inflict real, physical harm and ensure a complete downfall.