2 Samuel 22:2

22:2 He said:

“The Lord is my high ridge, ¹  my stronghold, ²  my deliverer.

2 Samuel 22:36

22:36 You give me ³  your protective shield; ⁴ 

your willingness to help enables me to prevail. ⁵ 

2 Samuel 22:41

22:41 You make my enemies retreat; ⁶ 

I destroy those who hate me.

[22:2]  ¹ 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]  ² tn Traditionally “my fortress”; TEV “my strong fortress”; NCV “my protection.”

[22:36]  ³ tn Another option is to translate the prefixed verb with vav consecutive with a past tense, “you gave me.” Several prefixed verbal forms with vav consecutive also appear in vv. 38-44. The present translation understands this section as a description of what generally happened when the author charged into battle, but another option is to understand the section as narrative and translate accordingly.

[22:36]  ⁴ tc Ps 18:35 contains an additional line following this one, which reads “your right hand supports me.” It may be omitted here due to homoioarcton. See the note at Ps 18:35.

[22:36]  ⁵ tn Heb “your answer makes me great.” David refers to God’s willingness to answer his prayer.

[22:41]  ⁵ 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.