Text -- 2 Samuel 22:34-51 (NET)

22:34 He gives me the agility of a deer; he enables me to negotiate the rugged terrain. 22:35 He trains my hands for battle; my arms can bend even the strongest bow. 22:36 You give me your protective shield; your willingness to help enables me to prevail. 22:37 You widen my path; my feet do not slip. 22:38 I chase my enemies and destroy them; I do not turn back until I wipe them out. 22:39 I wipe them out and beat them to death; they cannot get up; they fall at my feet. 22:40 You give me strength for battle; you make my foes kneel before me. 22:41 You make my enemies retreat; I destroy those who hate me. 22:42 They cry out, but there is no one to help them; they cry out to the Lord, but he does not answer them. 22:43 I grind them as fine as the dust of the ground; I crush them and stomp on them like clay in the streets. 22:44 You rescue me from a hostile army; you preserve me as a leader of nations; people over whom I had no authority are now my subjects. 22:45 Foreigners are powerless before me; when they hear of my exploits, they submit to me. 22:46 Foreigners lose their courage; they shake with fear as they leave their strongholds. 22:47 The Lord is alive! My protector is praiseworthy! The God who delivers me is exalted as king! 22:48 The one true God completely vindicates me; he makes nations submit to me. 22:49 He delivers me from my enemies; you snatch me away from those who attack me; you rescue me from violent men. 22:50 So I will give you thanks, O Lord, before the nations! I will sing praises to you. 22:51 He gives his chosen king magnificent victories; he is faithful to his chosen ruler, to David and to his descendants forever!”

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: 2Sa 22:34

¹ tc Heb “[the one who] makes his feet like [those of] a deer.” The translation follows the Qere and many medieval Hebrew mss in reading רַגְלַי (raglai, “my feet”) rather than the MT רַגְלָיו (raglav, “his feet”). See as well Ps 18:33.

² tn Heb “and on my high places he makes me walk.” The imperfect verbal form emphasizes God’s characteristic provision. The psalmist compares his agility in battle to the ability of a deer to negotiate rugged, high terrain without falling or being injured. Habakkuk uses similar language to describe his faith during difficult times. See Hab 3:19.

NET Notes: 2Sa 22:35

¹ tn Heb “teaches.”

² tn The psalmist attributes his skill with weapons to divine enabling. Egyptian reliefs picture gods teaching the king how to shoot a bow. See O. Keel, Symbolism of the Biblical World, 265.

³ tn Heb “and a bow of bronze is bent by my arms.” The verb נָחֵת (nakhet) apparently means “to pull back; to bend” here (see HALOT 692 s.v. נחת). The bronze bow referred to here was probably laminated with bronze strips, or a purely ceremonial or decorative bow made entirely from bronze. In the latter case the language is hyperbolic, for such a weapon would not be functional in battle.

NET Notes: 2Sa 22:36

¹ tn Another option is to translate the prefixed verb with vav consecutive with a past tense, “you gave me.” Several prefixed verbal forms with vav consecutive also appear in vv. 38-44. The present translation understands this section as a description of what generally happened when the author charged into battle, but another option is to understand the section as narrative and translate accordingly.

² tc Ps 18:35 contains an additional line following this one, which reads “your right hand supports me.” It may be omitted here due to homoioarcton. See the note at Ps 18:35.

tn Heb “and you give me the shield of your deliverance”; KJV, ASV “the shield of thy (your NRSV, NLT) salvation”; NIV “your shield of victory.” Ancient Near Eastern literature often refers to a god giving a king special weapons. See R. B. Chisholm, “An Exegetical and Theological Study of Psalm 18/2 Samuel 22” (Th.D. diss., Dallas Theological Seminary, 1983), 260-61.

³ tn Heb “your answer makes me great.” David refers to God’s willingness to answer his prayer.

NET Notes: 2Sa 22:37

¹ tn Heb “step.” “Step” probably refers metonymically to the path upon which the psalmist walks. Another option is to translate, “you widen my stride.” This would suggest that God gives him the capacity to run quickly.

² tn Heb “lower legs.” On the meaning of the Hebrew noun, which occurs only here, see H. R. Cohen, Biblical Hapax Legomena (SBLDS), 112. A cognate Akkadian noun means “lower leg.”

NET Notes: 2Sa 22:40

¹ tn Heb “you clothed me with strength for battle.”

² tn Heb “you make those who rise against me kneel beneath me.”

NET Notes: 2Sa 22:41

¹ tn Heb “and [as for] my enemies, you give to me [the] back [or “neck” ].” The idiom “give [the] back” means “to cause [one] to turn the back and run away.” See Exod 23:27 and HALOT 888 s.v. II ערף.

NET Notes: 2Sa 22:42

¹ tc The translation follows one medieval Hebrew ms and the ancient versions in reading the Piel יְשַׁוְּעוּ (yÿshavvÿ’u, “they cry for help”) rather than the Qal of the MT יִשְׁעוּ (yish’u, “they look about for help”). See Ps 18:41 as well.

² tn Heb “but there is no deliverer.”

³ tn The words “they cry out” are not in the Hebrew text. This reference to the psalmists’ enemies crying out for help to the Lord suggests that the psalmist refers here to enemies within the covenant community, rather than foreigners. However, the militaristic context suggests foreign enemies are in view. Ancient Near Eastern literature indicates that defeated enemies would sometimes cry out for mercy to the god(s) of their conqueror. See R. B. Chisholm, “An Exegetical and Theological Study of Psalm 18/2 Samuel 22” (Th.D. diss., Dallas Theological Seminary, 1983), 271.

NET Notes: 2Sa 22:43

¹ tn Or “mud” (so NAB, NIV, CEV). See HALOT 374 s.v. טִיט.

NET Notes: 2Sa 22:44

¹ tn Heb “from the strivings of my people.” In this context רִיב (riv, “striving”) probably has a militaristic sense (as in Judg 12:2; Isa 41:11), and עַם (’am, “people”) probably refers more specifically to an army (for other examples, see the verses listed in BDB 766 s.v. עַם 2.d). The suffix “my” suggests David is referring to attacks by his own countrymen, the “people” being Israel. However, the parallel text in Ps 18:43 omits the suffix.

² tn Heb “a people whom I did not know serve me.” In this context the verb “know” (יָדַע, yada’) probably refers to formal recognition by treaty. People who were once not under the psalmist’s authority now willingly submit to his rulership to avoid being conquered militarily (see vv. 45-46). The language may recall the events recorded in 2 Sam 8:9-10 and 10:19.

NET Notes: 2Sa 22:45

¹ tn For the meaning “to be weak; to be powerless” for the verb כָּחַשׁ (kakhash), see Ps 109:24. Verse 46, which also mentions foreigners, favors this interpretation. Another option is to translate “cower in fear” (see Deut 33:29; Pss 66:3; 81:15).

² tn Heb “at a report of an ear they submit to me.” The report of David’s exploits is so impressive that those who hear it submit to his rulership without putting up a fight.

NET Notes: 2Sa 22:46

¹ tn Heb “wither, wear out.”

² tc The translation assumes a reading וְיַחְרְגוּ (vÿyakhrÿgu, “and they quaked”) rather than the MT וְיַחְגְּרוּ (vÿyakhgÿru, “and they girded themselves”). See the note at Ps 18:45.

³ tn Heb “from.”

⁴ tn Heb “prisons.” Their besieged cities are compared to prisons.

NET Notes: 2Sa 22:47

¹ tn Elsewhere the construction חַי־יְהוָה (khay-yÿhvah) as used exclusively as an oath formula, but this is not the case here, for no oath follows. Here the statement is an affirmation of the Lord’s active presence and intervention. In contrast to pagan deities, he demonstrates that he is the living God by rescuing and empowering the psalmist.

² tn Heb “my rocky cliff,” which is a metaphor for protection.

³ tn Or “blessed [i.e., praised] be.”

⁴ tn Heb “the God of the rock of my deliverance.” The term צוּר (tsur, “rock”) is probably accidentally repeated from the previous line. The parallel version in Ps 18:46 has simply “the God of my deliverance.”

⁵ tn The words “as king” are supplied in the translation for clarification. In the Psalms the verb רוּם (rum, “be exalted”) when used of God, refers to his exalted position as king (Pss 99:2; 113:4; 138:6) and/or his self-revelation as king through his mighty deeds of deliverance (Pss 21:13; 46:10; 57:5, 11).

NET Notes: 2Sa 22:48

¹ tn Heb “The God is the one who grants vengeance to me.” The plural form of the noun “vengeance” indicates degree here, suggesting complete vengeance or vindication. In the ancient Near East military victory was sometimes viewed as a sign that one’s God had judged in favor of the victor, avenging and/or vindicating him. See, for example, Judg 11:27, 32-33, 36.

² tn Heb “and [is the one who] brings down nations beneath me.”

NET Notes: 2Sa 22:49

¹ tn Heb “and [the one who] brings me out from my enemies.”

² tn Heb “you lift me up.” In light of the preceding and following references to deliverance, the verb רוּם (rum) probably here refers to being rescued from danger (see Ps 9:13). However, it could mean “exalt; elevate” here, indicating that the Lord has given him victory over his enemies and forced them to acknowledge the psalmist’s superiority.

³ tn Heb “from those who rise against me.”

NET Notes: 2Sa 22:50

¹ sn This probably alludes to the fact that David will praise the Lord in the presence of the defeated nations when they, as his subjects, bring their tribute payments. Ideally God’s chosen king was to testify to the nations of God’s greatness. See J. Eaton, Kingship and the Psalms (SBT), 182-85.

² tn Heb “to your name.” God’s “name” refers metonymically to his divine characteristics as suggested by his name, in this case “Lord,” the primary name of Israel’s covenant God which suggests his active presence with his people (see Exod 3:12-15).

NET Notes: 2Sa 22:51

¹ tc The translation follows the Kethib and the ancient versions in reading מַגְדִּיל (magdil, “he magnifies”) rather than the Qere and many medieval Hebrew mss of the MT which read מִגְדּוֹל (migdol, “tower”). See Ps 18:50.

² tn Heb “[the one who] does loyalty to his anointed one.”