Discovery Box2 Samuel 3:9 
Context3:9 God will severely judge Abner 1 if I do not do for David exactly what the Lord has promised him, 2
2 Samuel 5:10
Context5:10 David’s power grew steadily, for the Lord God 3 who commands armies 4 was with him. 5
2 Samuel 15:29
Context15:29 So Zadok and Abiathar took the ark of God back to Jerusalem and remained there.
2 Samuel 22:30
Context22:30 Indeed, 6 with your help 7 I can charge 8 against an army; 9
by my God’s power 10 I can jump over a wall. 11
2 Samuel 22:33
Context22:33 The one true God 12 is my mighty refuge; 13
he removes 14 the obstacles in my way. 15
2 Samuel 22:48
Context22:48 The one true God completely vindicates me; 16
he makes nations submit to me. 17
1 tn Heb “So will God do to Abner and so he will add to him.”
2 tc Heb “has sworn to David.” The LXX, with the exception of the recension of Origen, adds “in this day.”
3 tc 4QSama and the LXX lack the word “God,” probably due to harmonization with the more common biblical phrase “the
4 tn Traditionally, “the
5 tn The translation assumes that the disjunctive clause is circumstantial-causal, giving the reason for David’s success.
6 tn Or “for.” The translation assumes that כִּי (ki) is asseverative here.
7 tn Heb “by you.”
8 tn Heb “I will run.” The imperfect verbal forms in v. 30 indicate the subject’s potential or capacity to perform an action. Though one might expect a preposition to follow the verb here, this need not be the case with the verb רוּץ (ruts; see 1 Sam 17:22). Some emend the Qal to a Hiphil form of the verb and translate, “I put to flight [literally, “cause to run”] an army.”
9 tn More specifically, the noun refers to a raiding party or to a contingent of troops (see HALOT 177 s.v. II גְדוּד). The picture of a divinely empowered warrior charging against an army in almost superhuman fashion appears elsewhere in ancient Near Eastern literature. See R. B. Chisholm, “An Exegetical and Theological Study of Psalm 18/2 Samuel 22” (Th.D. diss., Dallas Theological Seminary, 1983), 228.
10 tn Heb “by my God.”
11 tn David uses hyperbole to emphasize his God-given military superiority.
12 tn Heb “the God.” See the note at v. 31.
13 tc 4QSama has מְאַזְּרֵנִי (mÿ’azzÿreni, “the one girding me with strength”) rather than the MT מָעוּזִּי (ma’uzzi, “my refuge”). See as well Ps 18:32.
14 tn The prefixed verbal form with vav consecutive here carries along the generalizing tone of the preceding line.
15 tn Heb “and he sets free (from the verb נָתַר, natar) [the] blameless, his [Kethib; “my” (Qere)] way.” The translation follows Ps 18:32 in reading “he made my path smooth.” The term תָּמִים (tamim, “smooth”) usually carries a moral or ethical connotation, “blameless, innocent.” However, in Ps 18:33 it refers to a pathway free of obstacles. The reality underlying the metaphor is the psalmist’s ability to charge into battle without tripping (see vv. 33, 36).
16 tn Heb “The God is the one who grants vengeance to me.” The plural form of the noun “vengeance” indicates degree here, suggesting complete vengeance or vindication. In the ancient Near East military victory was sometimes viewed as a sign that one’s God had judged in favor of the victor, avenging and/or vindicating him. See, for example, Judg 11:27, 32-33, 36.
17 tn Heb “and [is the one who] brings down nations beneath me.”
