Psalms 71:3

Be thou my strong habitation Better as R.V., Be thou to me a rock of habitation. God is called our habitationin Psalms 90:1; and the phrase may be an intentional modification of the words a rock of strongholdin Psalms 31:2. But some Heb. MSS., the LXX, Symm., and Targ., read strongholdhere also, and the word mâ- ôn(מעון) so closely resembles mâ- ôz(מעוז) that the variation is probably due to accident.

thou hast given commandment Cp. Psalms 44:4; Psalms 68:28. To the three Heb. words rendered whereunto I may continually resort: thou hast given commandmentcorrespond two words in Psalms 31:2, meaning for a fortress-house. The curious similarity of the consonants in the Heb. suggests that the reading of the Massoretic Text here is a restoration of partially obliterated or faded letters: and the LXX translators, though they give a different rendering, appear to have found the same reading here as in Psalms 31:2, or a closely similar one. The other Versions agree with the Massoretic Text.

my rock My cliff: a different word from that in the first line, recalling the -cliff" (sela) where David had been so unexpectedly delivered from Saul (1 Samuel 23:25 ff.). On the metaphors see note on Psalms 18:2.