17:8 apple of the eye. This phrase (meaning “pupil of the eye”) is also used in Deuteronomy 32:10 (see note); Proverbs 7:2; Lamentations 2:18; Zechariah 2:8.

17:8 shadow of thy wings. This is the first of twelve references in the Bible to God’s “shadow” as a type of His guarding presence. The “shadow of thy wings” is also noted in Psalm 36:7; 57:1; 63:7. Isaiah speaks of His presence as “the shadow of a great rock in a weary land” (Isaiah 32:2), “the shadow of His hand,” (Isaiah 49:2; 51:16). Note also Isaiah 4:6; 25:4,5; and Psalm 91:1. The final reference is in Lamentations 4:20, speaking of God’s “anointed” (that is, Christ) abiding with His people as prisoners exiled in an alien land, “under His shadow.”