אַקִיפוּן לִי הֵיךְ זְבוּרְיָתָא דָלְקִין הֵיךְ אֶשְׁתָּא בְּכוּבִין בְּשׁוּם מֵימְרָא דַייָ רַחֲצֵית אֲרוּם אֶתְּשִׁנוּן.
1. They surrounded me | סַבּוּנִי – This is the third consecutive verse to open with this verb. Many commentators suggest that the repetition is for emphasis, or to highlight how the event occurred again and again (Ibn Ezra). Abarbanel suggests that each mention refers to a different time period and enemy: the Assyrians, Babylonians, and Persians-Medes.
2. were extinguished... fire among thorns | דֹּעֲכוּ כְּאֵשׁ קוֹצִים – Or perhaps: "like a fire of thorns". The connotation is that just as a fire which finds thorns might blaze momentarily, but will very quickly be extinguished, so too the psalmist's enemies were quickly consumed (Ibn Ezra, Radak, Sforno). Cf. Metzudat David and Netziv who read "דֹּעֲכוּ" as an active rather than passive verb, suggesting that it describes what the enemies did to Israel/the psalmist and not vice versa. According to them, the phrase connects to the first clause of the verse rather than the last.