Discovery Box2 Samuel 22:17-20 
Context22:17 He reached down from above and grabbed me; 1
he pulled me from the surging water. 2
22:18 He rescued me from my strong enemy, 3
from those who hate me,
for they were too strong for me.
22:19 They confronted 4 me in my day of calamity,
but the Lord helped me. 5
22:20 He brought me out into a wide open place;
he delivered me because he was pleased with me. 6
1 tn Heb “stretched.” Perhaps “his hand” should be supplied by ellipsis (see Ps 144:7). In this poetic narrative context the three prefixed verbal forms in this verse are best understood as preterites indicating past tense, not imperfects.
2 tn Heb “mighty waters.” The waters of the sea symbolize the psalmist’s powerful enemies, as well as the realm of death they represent (see v. 5 and Ps 144:7).
3 tn The singular refers either to personified death or collectively to the psalmist’s enemies. The following line, which refers to “those [plural] who hate me,” favors the latter.
4 tn The same verb is translated “trapped” in v. 6. In this poetic narrative context the prefixed verbal form is best understood as a preterite indicating past tense, not imperfect. Cf. NAB, NCV, TEV, NLT “attacked.”
5 tn Heb “became my support.”
6 tn Or “delighted in me” (so KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV).
