“surround.” The idea is that the wicked surround the righteous and intimidate them (cp. NET, “intimidate”), to the end that justice is not carried out. To the righteous, the wicked seem everywhere, and they threaten in such a way that the righteous feel they have no way out of the situation except to do what the wicked suggest. That righteous people are intimidated into not standing up for what is right is an ongoing problem. Habakkuk encountered it some 2,600 years ago.