2 Samuel 22:14

22:14 The Lord thundered ¹  from the sky;

the sovereign One ²  shouted loudly. ³ 

2 Samuel 22:19

22:19 They confronted ⁴  me in my day of calamity,

but the Lord helped me. ⁵ 

2 Samuel 22:21-22

22:21 The Lord repaid ⁶  me for my godly deeds; ⁷ 

he rewarded ⁸  my blameless behavior. ⁹ 

22:22 For I have obeyed the Lord’s commands; ¹⁰ 

I have not rebelled against my God. ¹¹ 

2 Samuel 22:25

22:25 The Lord rewarded me for my godly deeds; ¹² 

he took notice of my blameless behavior. ¹³ 

2 Samuel 22:29

22:29 Indeed, ¹⁴  you are my lamp, ¹⁵  Lord.

The Lord illumines ¹⁶  the darkness around me. ¹⁷ 

2 Samuel 22:42

22:42 They cry out, ¹⁸  but there is no one to help them; ¹⁹ 

they cry out to the Lord, ²⁰  but he does not answer them.

2 Samuel 22:47

22:47 The Lord is alive! ²¹ 

My protector ²²  is praiseworthy! ²³ 

The God who delivers me ²⁴  is exalted as king! ²⁵ 

2 Samuel 22:50

22:50 So I will give you thanks, O Lord, before the nations! ²⁶ 

I will sing praises to you. ²⁷ 

2 Samuel 23:2

23:2 The Lord’s spirit spoke through me;

his word was on my tongue.

2 Samuel 24:19

24:19 So David went up as Gad instructed him to do, according to the Lord’s instructions.

[22:14]  ¹ tn The shortened theme vowel indicates that the prefixed verbal form is a preterite.

[22:14]  ² tn Heb “the Most High.” This divine title (עֶלְיוֹן, ’elyon) pictures God as the exalted ruler of the universe who vindicates the innocent and judges the wicked. See especially Ps 47:2.

[22:14]  ³ tn Heb “offered his voice.” In this poetic narrative context the prefixed verbal form is best understood as a preterite indicating past tense, not an imperfect. Note the preterite form in the preceding line. The text of Ps 18:13 adds at this point, “hail and coals of fire.” These words are probably accidentally added from v. 12b; they do not appear in 2 Sam 22:14.

[22:19]  ⁴ tn The same verb is translated “trapped” in v. 6. In this poetic narrative context the prefixed verbal form is best understood as a preterite indicating past tense, not imperfect. Cf. NAB, NCV, TEV, NLT “attacked.”

[22:19]  ⁵ tn Heb “became my support.”

[22:21]  ⁷ tn In this poetic narrative context the prefixed verbal form is best understood as a preterite indicating past tense, not imperfect.

[22:21]  ⁸ tn Heb “according to my righteousness.” As vv. 22-25 make clear, David refers here to his unwavering obedience to God’s commands. He explains that the Lord was pleased with him and willing to deliver him because he had been loyal to God and obedient to his commandments. Ancient Near Eastern literature contains numerous parallels. A superior (a god or king) would typically reward a subject (a king or the servant of a king, respectively) for loyalty and obedience. See R. B. Chisholm, “An Exegetical and Theological Study of Psalm 18/2 Samuel 22” (Th.D. diss., Dallas Theological Seminary, 1983), 211-13.

[22:21]  ⁹ tn The unreduced Hiphil prefixed verbal form appears to be an imperfect, in which case the psalmist would be generalizing. However, both the preceding and following contexts (see especially v. 25) suggest he is narrating his experience. Despite its unreduced form, the verb is better taken as a preterite. For other examples of unreduced Hiphil preterites, see Pss 55:14a; 68:9a, 10b; 80:8a; 89:43a; 107:38b; 116:6b.

[22:21]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “according to the purity of my hands he repaid to me.” Hands suggest activity and behavior.

[22:22]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “for I have kept the ways of the Lord.” The phrase “ways of the Lord” refers here to the “conduct required” by the Lord (see HALOT 232 s.v. דֶרֶךְ). In Ps 25 the Lord’s “ways” are associated with his covenantal demands (see vv. 4, 9-10). See also Ps 119:3 (cf. vv. 1, 4), as well as Deut 8:6; 10:12; 11:22; 19:9; 26:17; 28:9; 30:16.

[22:22]  ¹¹ tn Heb “I have not acted wickedly from my God.” The statement is elliptical, the idea being, “I have not acted wickedly and, in so doing, departed from my God.”

[22:25]  ¹³ tn Heb “according to my righteousness.” See v. 21.

[22:25]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “according to my purity before his eyes.”

[22:29]  ¹⁶ tn Or “for.” The translation assumes that כִּי (ki) is asseverative here.

[22:29]  ¹⁷ tc Many medieval Hebrew mss, some LXX mss, and the Syriac Peshitta support reading תָּאִיר (ta’ir, “you cause to shine”) before the words “my lamp.” See Ps 18:28. The metaphor, which likens the Lord to a lamp or light, pictures him as the psalmist’s source of life. For other examples of “lamp” used in this way, see Job 18:6; 21:17; Prov 13:9; 20:20; 24:20. For other examples of “light” as a symbol for life, see Job 3:20; 33:30; Ps 56:13.

[22:29]  ¹⁸ tc The Lucianic Greek recension and Vulgate understand this verb to be second person rather than third person as in the MT. But this is probably the result of reading the preceding word “Lord” as a vocative under the influence of the vocative in the first part of the verse.

[22:29]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “my darkness.”

[22:42]  ¹⁹ 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.

[22:42]  ²⁰ tn Heb “but there is no deliverer.”

[22:42]  ²¹ 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.

[22:47]  ²² 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.

[22:47]  ²³ tn Heb “my rocky cliff,” which is a metaphor for protection.

[22:47]  ²⁴ tn Or “blessed [i.e., praised] be.”

[22:47]  ²⁵ 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.”

[22:47]  ²⁶ 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).

[22:50]  ²⁵ 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.

[22:50]  ²⁶ 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).