2 Samuel 22:1

David Sings to the Lord

22:1 ¹ David sang ²  to the Lord the words of this song when ³  the Lord rescued him from the power ⁴  of all his enemies, including Saul. ⁵ 

2 Samuel 22:38-41

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; ⁶ 

you make my foes kneel before me. ⁷ 

22:41 You make my enemies retreat; ⁸ 

I destroy those who hate me.

[22:1]  ¹ sn In this long song of thanks, David affirms that God is his faithful protector. He recalls in highly poetic fashion how God intervened in awesome power and delivered him from death. His experience demonstrates that God vindicates those who are blameless and remain loyal to him. True to his promises, God gives the king victory on the battlefield and enables him to subdue nations. A parallel version of the song appears in Ps 18.

[22:1]  ² tn Heb “spoke.”

[22:1]  ³ tn Heb “in the day,” or “at the time.”

[22:1]  ⁴ tn Heb “hand.”

[22:1]  ⁵ tn Heb “and from the hand of Saul.”

[22:40]  ⁶ tn Heb “you clothed me with strength for battle.”

[22:40]  ⁷ tn Heb “you make those who rise against me kneel beneath me.”

[22:41]  ⁸ 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.