Discovery Box2 Samuel 22:17-27
Context22:17 He reached down from above and grabbed me; 1
he pulled me from the surging water. 2
22:18 He rescued me from my strong enemy, 3
from those who hate me,
for they were too strong for me.
22:19 They confronted 4 me in my day of calamity,
but the Lord helped me. 5
22:20 He brought me out into a wide open place;
he delivered me because he was pleased with me. 6
22:21 The Lord repaid 7 me for my godly deeds; 8
he rewarded 9 my blameless behavior. 10
22:22 For I have obeyed the Lord’s commands; 11
I have not rebelled against my God. 12
22:23 For I am aware of all his regulations, 13
and I do not reject his rules. 14
22:24 I was blameless before him;
I kept myself from sinning. 15
22:25 The Lord rewarded me for my godly deeds; 16
he took notice of my blameless behavior. 17
22:26 You prove to be loyal 18 to one who is faithful; 19
you prove to be trustworthy 20 to one who is innocent. 21
[22:17] 1 tn Heb “stretched.” Perhaps “his hand” should be supplied by ellipsis (see Ps 144:7). In this poetic narrative context the three prefixed verbal forms in this verse are best understood as preterites indicating past tense, not imperfects.
[22:17] 2 tn Heb “mighty waters.” The waters of the sea symbolize the psalmist’s powerful enemies, as well as the realm of death they represent (see v. 5 and Ps 144:7).
[22:18] 3 tn The singular refers either to personified death or collectively to the psalmist’s enemies. The following line, which refers to “those [plural] who hate me,” favors the latter.
[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.”
[22:20] 6 tn Or “delighted in me” (so KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV).
[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] 11 tn Heb “for I have kept the ways of the
[22:22] 12 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.”
[22:23] 13 tn Heb “for all his regulations are before me.” The term מִשְׁפָּטָו (mishpatav, “his regulations”) refers to God’s covenantal requirements, especially those which the king is responsible to follow (cf Deut 17:18-20). See also Pss 19:9 (cf vv. 7-8); 89:30; 147:20 (cf v. 19), as well as the numerous uses of the term in Ps 119.
[22:23] 14 tn Heb “and his rules, I do not turn aside from it.” Ps 18:22 reads, “and his rules I do not turn aside from me.” The prefixed verbal form is probably an imperfect; David here generalizes about his loyalty to God’s commands. The
[22:24] 15 tn Heb “from my sin,” that is, from making it my own in any way. Leading a “blameless” life meant that the king would be loyal to God’s covenant, purge the government and society of evil and unjust officials, and reward loyalty to the
[22:25] 16 tn Heb “according to my righteousness.” See v. 21.
[22:25] 17 tn Heb “according to my purity before his eyes.”
[22:26] 18 tn The imperfect verbal forms in vv. 26-30 draw attention to God’s characteristic actions. Based on his experience, the psalmist generalizes about God’s just dealings with people (vv. 26-28) and about the way in which God typically empowers him on the battlefield (vv. 29-30). The Hitpael stem is used in vv. 26-27 in a reflexive resultative (or causative) sense. God makes himself loyal, etc. in the sense that he conducts or reveals himself as such. On this use of the Hitpael stem, see GKC 149-50 §54.e.
[22:26] 19 tn Or “to a faithful follower.” A חָסִיד (khasid, “faithful follower”) is one who does what is right in God’s eyes and remains faithful to God (see Pss 4:3; 12:1; 16:10; 31:23; 37:28; 86:2; 97:10).
[22:26] 21 tc Heb “a warrior of innocence.” The parallel text in Ps 18:25 reads, probably correctly, גֶּבֶר (gever, “man”) instead of גִּבּוֹר (gibor, “warrior”).
[22:27] 23 tc The translation follows two medieval Hebrew
[22:27] 24 tn The adjective עִקֵּשׁ (’iqqesh) has the basic nuance “twisted; crooked,” and by extension refers to someone or something that is morally perverse. It appears frequently in Proverbs, where it is used of evil people (22:5), speech (8:8; 19:1), thoughts (11:20; 17:20) and life styles (2:15; 28:6). A righteous king opposes such people (Ps 101:4). Verses 26-27 affirm God’s justice. He responds to people in accordance with their moral character. His response mirrors their actions. The faithful and blameless find God to be loyal and reliable in his dealings with them. But deceivers discover he is able and willing to use deceit to destroy them. For a more extensive discussion of the theme of divine deception in the OT, see R. B. Chisholm, “Does God Deceive?” BSac 155 (1998): 11-28.
