How long will ye imagine mischief against a man?.... Against a good man, as the Targum; or against any Israelite, as Kimchi; or rather he means himself, a single man, a weak man, and an innocent one; which aggravated their sin, in devising his hurt, and contriving ways to take away his life, as did Saul and his courtiers; and, Absalom, and those that were with him.
R. Jonah, from the Arabic language, interprets the word here used of putting or drawing out the tongue to a great length; that is, multiplying words, as lies and calumnies, in agreement with Ps 62:4; but Jarchi, Aben Ezra, and Kimchi, explain it as we do, of devising mischief.
The Targum is,"how long do ye rage against a good man?''Ye shall be slain all of you; this is a further aggravation of their folly, since it would issue in their own ruin; the mischief they devised for him would fall upon themselves.
Some understand thishlpt Krd, "by way of prayer"; as Aben Ezra, Kimchi, and Ben Melech,"may ye be slain all of you:''there is a double reading of these words; Ben Napthali, who is followed by the eastern Jews, reads them actively, "ye shall slay"; with which agree the Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, and all the Oriental versions; and so the Targum,"ye shall become murderers all of you.'