16:20 Then Absalom said to Ahithophel, “Give us your advice. What should we do?”
22:36 You give me 1 your protective shield; 2
your willingness to help enables me to prevail. 3
22:40 You give me strength for battle; 4
you make my foes kneel before me. 5
1 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.
2 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.
tn Heb “and you give me the shield of your deliverance”; KJV, ASV “the shield of thy (your NRSV, NLT) salvation”; NIV “your shield of victory.” Ancient Near Eastern literature often refers to a god giving a king special weapons. See R. B. Chisholm, “An Exegetical and Theological Study of Psalm 18/2 Samuel 22” (Th.D. diss., Dallas Theological Seminary, 1983), 260-61.
3 tn Heb “your answer makes me great.” David refers to God’s willingness to answer his prayer.
4 tn Heb “you clothed me with strength for battle.”
5 tn Heb “you make those who rise against me kneel beneath me.”