Text -- 2 Samuel 23:1-7 (NET)

David’s Final Words

23:1 These are the final words of David: “The oracle of David son of Jesse, the oracle of the man raised up as the ruler chosen by the God of Jacob, Israel’s beloved singer of songs: 23:2 The Lord’s spirit spoke through me; his word was on my tongue. 23:3 The God of Israel spoke, the protector of Israel spoke to me. The one who rules fairly among men, the one who rules in the fear of God, 23:4 is like the light of morning when the sun comes up, a morning in which there are no clouds. He is like the brightness after rain that produces grass from the earth. 23:5 My dynasty is approved by God, for he has made a perpetual covenant with me, arranged in all its particulars and secured. He always delivers me, and brings all I desire to fruition. 23:6 But evil people are like thorns– all of them are tossed away, for they cannot be held in the hand. 23:7 The one who touches them must use an iron instrument or the wooden shaft of a spear. They are completely burned up right where they lie!”

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: 2Sa 23:1

¹ tn Heb “the anointed one of the God of Jacob.”

² tn Or “pleasant.”

NET Notes: 2Sa 23:3

¹ tn Heb “rock,” used as a metaphor of divine protection.

NET Notes: 2Sa 23:5

¹ tn Heb “For not thus [is] my house with God?”

² tn Heb “for all my deliverance and every desire, surely does he not make [it] grow?”

NET Notes: 2Sa 23:7

¹ tn Heb “and with fire they are completely burned up in [the place where they] remain.” The infinitive absolute is used before the finite verb to emphasize that they are completely consumed by the fire.