Commentaries

Mizmor 017, Verse 008

שׇׁ֭מְרֵנִי כְּאִישׁ֣וֹן בַּת־עָ֑יִן בְּצֵ֥ל כְּ֝נָפֶ֗יךָ תַּסְתִּירֵֽנִי

shomreyniy keʾiyshon bas–ʿoyin betzeyl kenofeycho tastiyreyniy

Keep me as the apple of the eye, hide me in the shadow of Your wings,

RADAK

1.
Keep me as the pupil (אישׁון) of the ball of the eye:
As a man guards the pupil of his eye – that is, the black part through which the light (passes). It is called the אישׁון (lit. little man), because the image of a man is seen in it; and the waw and nun mark the diminutive, because the image is diminutive;

Rabbi HIRSCH

1.
[אִישׁוֹן] (ishon)
Derived from [ישן]
is “old”, “dull”, “black”, “dark”, or “that which is dark.”

WORDS