12:13 Then David exclaimed to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord!” Nathan replied to David, “Yes, and the Lord has forgiven 6 your sin. You are not going to die.
22:1 10 David sang 11 to the Lord the words of this song when 12 the Lord rescued him from the power 13 of all his enemies, including Saul. 14
22:21 The Lord repaid 15 me for my godly deeds; 16
he rewarded 17 my blameless behavior. 18
22:51 He gives his chosen king magnificent victories; 19
he is faithful to his chosen ruler, 20
to David and to his descendants forever!”
1 tn The words “what to do” are not in the Hebrew text.
2 tn The words “this time” are not in the Hebrew text.
3 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the
4 tn Some translate as “balsam trees” (cf. NASB, NIV, NRSV, NJB, NLT); cf. KJV, NKJV, ASV “mulberry trees”; NAB “mastic trees”; NEB, REB “aspens.” The exact identification of the type of tree or plant is uncertain.
5 tn Heb “house,” both here and in v. 12.
6 tn Heb “removed.”
7 tn Heb “said.”
8 tn Heb “Who knows?”
9 sn The name Jedidiah means “loved by the
10 sn In this long song of thanks, David affirms that God is his faithful protector. He recalls in highly poetic fashion how God intervened in awesome power and delivered him from death. His experience demonstrates that God vindicates those who are blameless and remain loyal to him. True to his promises, God gives the king victory on the battlefield and enables him to subdue nations. A parallel version of the song appears in Ps 18.
11 tn Heb “spoke.”
12 tn Heb “in the day,” or “at the time.”
13 tn Heb “hand.”
14 tn Heb “and from the hand of Saul.”
15 tn In this poetic narrative context the prefixed verbal form is best understood as a preterite indicating past tense, not imperfect.
16 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.
17 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.
18 tn Heb “according to the purity of my hands he repaid to me.” Hands suggest activity and behavior.
19 tc The translation follows the Kethib and the ancient versions in reading מַגְדִּיל (magdil, “he magnifies”) rather than the Qere and many medieval Hebrew
20 tn Heb “[the one who] does loyalty to his anointed one.”