89:20 I have discovered David, my servant.
With my holy oil I have anointed him as king. 1
89:26 He will call out to me,
‘You are my father, 2 my God, and the protector who delivers me.’ 3
1 tn The words “as king” are supplied in the translation for clarification, indicating that a royal anointing is in view.
2 sn You are my father. The Davidic king was viewed as God’s “son” (see 2 Sam 7:14; Ps 2:7). The idiom reflects ancient Near Eastern adoption language associated with covenants of grant, by which a lord would reward a faithful subject by elevating him to special status, referred to as “sonship.” Like a son, the faithful subject received an “inheritance,” viewed as an unconditional, eternal gift. Such gifts usually took the form of land and/or an enduring dynasty. See M. Weinfeld, “The Covenant of Grant in the Old Testament and in the Ancient Near East,” JAOS 90 (1970): 184-203, for general discussion and some striking extra-biblical parallels.
3 tn Heb “the rocky summit of my deliverance.”