2 Samuel 22:1-3

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  22:2 He said:

“The Lord is my high ridge, ⁶  my stronghold, ⁷  my deliverer.

22:3 My God ⁸  is my rocky summit where I take shelter, ⁹ 

my shield, the horn that saves me, ¹⁰  my stronghold,

my refuge, my savior. You save me from violence! ¹¹ 

[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.”

[22:2]  ⁶ tn Traditionally “is my rock”; CEV “mighty rock”; TEV “is my protector.” This metaphor pictures God as a rocky, relatively inaccessible summit, where one would be able to find protection from enemies. See 1 Sam 23:25, 28.

[22:2]  ⁷ tn Traditionally “my fortress”; TEV “my strong fortress”; NCV “my protection.”

[22:3]  ¹¹ tc The translation (along with many English versions, e.g., NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT) follows the LXX in reading אֱלֹהִי (’elohi, “my God”) rather than MT’s אֱלֹהֵי (’elohe, “the God of”). See Ps 18:2.

[22:3]  ¹² tn Or “in whom.”

[22:3]  ¹³ tn Heb “the horn of my salvation,” or “my saving horn.”

[22:3]  ¹⁴ tn The parallel version of the song in Ps 18 does not include this last line.