2 Samuel 22:36

You give me ¹  your protective shield; ²  your willingness to help enables me to prevail. ³ 

You give me your shield of victory; you stoop down to make me great.

"You have also given me the shield of Your salvation, And Your help makes me great.

You have given me the shield of your salvation; your help has made me great.

You protect me with salvation-armor; you touch me and I feel ten feet tall.

You have given me the breastplate of your salvation, and your mercy has made me great.

You have given me the shield of your salvation, and your help has made me great.

"You have also given me the shield of Your salvation; Your gentleness has made me great.

You give me ¹  your protective shield; ²  your willingness to help enables me to prevail. ³ 

¹ tn Another option is to translate the prefixed verb with vav consecutive with a past tense, “you gave me.” Several prefixed verbal forms with vav consecutive also appear in vv. 38-44. The present translation understands this section as a description of what generally happened when the author charged into battle, but another option is to understand the section as narrative and translate accordingly.

² tc Ps 18:35 contains an additional line following this one, which reads “your right hand supports me.” It may be omitted here due to homoioarcton. See the note at Ps 18:35.

tn Heb “and you give me the shield of your deliverance”; KJV, ASV “the shield of thy (your NRSV, NLT) salvation”; NIV “your shield of victory.” Ancient Near Eastern literature often refers to a god giving a king special weapons. See R. B. Chisholm, “An Exegetical and Theological Study of Psalm 18/2 Samuel 22” (Th.D. diss., Dallas Theological Seminary, 1983), 260-61.

³ tn Heb “your answer makes me great.” David refers to God’s willingness to answer his prayer.