As a snail which melteth, let every one of them pass away: like the untimely birth of a woman, that they may not see the sun.

Let them be as a snail which melteth and passeth away, Like the untimely birth of a woman, that hath not seen the sun.

Like wax that melteth they shall be taken away: fire hath fallen on them, and they shall not see the sun.

As a snail which melts, let every one of them pass away: like the untimely birth of a woman, that they may not see the sun.

Let them be like an after-birth which is turned to water and comes to an end; like the fruit of a woman who gives birth before her time, let them not see the sun.

Let them melt away as water that runneth apace; When he aimeth his arrows, let them be as though they were cut off.

Let him vanish like a snail, which melts away The two comparisons in this verse are introduced with the same design as the first, expressing his desire that his enemies might pass away quietly, and prove as things in their own nature the most evanescent. He likens them to snails, [1] and it might appear ridiculous in David to use such contemptible figures when speaking of men who were formidable for their strength and influence, did we not reflect that he considered God as able in a moment, without the slightest effort, to crush and annihilate the mightiest opposition. Their power might be such as encouraged them, in their vain-confidence, to extend their schemes into a far distant futurity, but he looked upon it with the eye of faith, and saw it doomed in the judgment of God to be of short continuance. He perhaps alluded to the suddenness with which the wicked rise into power, and designed to dash the pride which they are apt to feel from such an easy advance to prosperity, by reminding them that their destruction would be equally rapid and sudden. There is the same force in the figure employed in the end of the verse where they are compared to an abortion. If we consider the length of time to which they contemplate in their vain-confidence that their life shall extend, [2] they may be said to pass out of this world before they have well begun to live, and to be dragged back, as it were, from the very goal of existence.

Footnotes

1 - The original word for snail occurs only in this instance in the whole Bible. The LXX. render it hosei keros, as wax, and the Syriac and Vulgate follow them. But the Chaldee reads "as a reptile," interpreting the word as meaning some creeping thing, which affords an eminent example of melting, and this seems to apply to the snail, which, in its progress from its shell, leaves a slime in its track till it altogether melts away and dies. Comp. Job 3:16

2 - "Si reputamus quantum temporis inani fiducia devorent," etc. Literally, "If we consider how much time they devour in their vain-confidence," etc. The French version adheres to this translation of the mere words. "Si nous regardons combien ils devorent de temps par leur vaine confiance." We have hazarded the more free translation given in the text, because this seems one of those instances where the brevity of the Latin idiom demands explanation, in order that the idea may be intelligible in any other language.

As a snail which melteth, let every one of them pass away - Or rather, As the snail which melteth as it goes; that is, which leaves a slimy trail as it moves along, and thus melts away the more as it advances, until at length it dies. Gesenius, Lexicon. The allusion is to what seems to occur to the snail; it seems to melt or to be dissolved as it moves along; or seems to leave a part of itself in the slime which flows from it.
Like the untimely birth of a woman - The Hebrew word means literally "that which falls from a woman;" and hence, the word is used to denote an abortion. The prayer is, that they might utterly pass away; that they might become like those who never had real life; that their power might wholly disappear.
That they may not see the sun - May not be among the living. Compare the notes at Job 3:16.

As a snail which melteth - The Chaldee reads the verse thus: "They shall melt away in their sins as water flows off; as the creeping snail that smears its track; as the untimely birth and the blind mole, which do not see the sun."
The original word שבלול shablul, a snail, is either from שביל shebil, a path, because it leaves a shining path after it by emitting a portion of slime, and thus glaring the ground; and therefore might be emphatically called the pathmaker; or from ישב yashab to dwell, ב be, in, לול lul, a winding or spiral shell, which is well known to be its house, and which it always inhabits; for when it is not coiled up within this shell, it carries it with it wheresoever it goes. See Bochart. These figures need no farther explanation.

As a snail which melteth, let everyone of them pass away,.... As a snail when it comes out of its shell liquefies, drops its moisture, and with it makes a "path", from whence it has its name in the Hebrew language; and so the Targum here,
"as the snail moistens its way;''
which moistness it gradually exhausts, and melts away, and dies: so the psalmist prays that everyone of his enemies might die in like manner. Some think reference is had to the snail's putting out its horns to no purpose when in danger, and apply it to the vain threatenings of the wicked; a strange difference this, between a roaring young lion, Psalm 58:6, and a melting snail. The Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, and all the Oriental versions, render it, "as wax which melteth": see Psalm 68:2;
like the untimely birth of a woman, that they may not see the sun; see Job 3:16. The Targum is,
"as an abortive and a mole, which are blind and see not the sun.''
So Jarchi renders it a "mole", agreeably to the Talmud (g). Or, "let them not see the sun" (h); let them die, and never see the sun in the firmament any more; Christ, the sun of righteousness; nor enjoy the favour of God, and the light of his countenance; nor have the light of life, or eternal glory and happiness; see Psalm 49:19.
(g) T. Bab. Moed Katon, fol. 6. 2. (h) "ne videant solem", Pagninus, Montanus.

Other figures of this utter ruin; the last denoting rapidity. In a shorter time than pots feel the heat of thorns on fire--

Melteth - Which is quickly dissolved.