2 Samuel 22:4

22:4 I called ¹  to the Lord, who is worthy of praise, ² 

and I was delivered from my enemies.

2 Samuel 22:20

22:20 He brought me out into a wide open place;

he delivered me because he was pleased with me. ³ 

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¹ tn In this song of thanksgiving, where David recalls how the Lord delivered him, the prefixed verbal form is best understood as a preterite indicating past tense (cf. CEV “I prayed”), not an imperfect (as in many English versions).

² tn Heb “worthy of praise, I cried out [to] the Lord.” Some take מְהֻלָּל (mÿhullal, “worthy of praise”) with what precedes and translate, “the praiseworthy one,” or “praiseworthy.” However, the various epithets in vv. 1-2 have the first person pronominal suffix, unlike מְהֻלָּל. If one follows the traditional verse division and takes מְהֻלָּל with what follows, it is best understood as substantival and as appositional to יְהוָה (yÿhvah, “Yahweh”), resulting in “[to the] praiseworthy one I cried out, [to the] Lord.”

³ tn Or “delighted in me” (so KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV).