2 Samuel 22:2

22:2 He said:

“The Lord is my high ridge, ¹  my stronghold, ²  my deliverer.

Mazmur 3:3

3:3 But you, Lord, are a shield that protects me; ³ 

you are my glory ⁴  and the one who restores me. ⁵ 

Mazmur 21:1

Psalm 21 ⁶ 

For the music director; a psalm of David.

21:1 O Lord, the king rejoices in the strength you give; ⁷ 

he takes great delight in the deliverance you provide. ⁸ 

Mazmur 48:3

48:3 God is in its fortresses;

he reveals himself as its defender. ⁹ 

Mazmur 89:26

89:26 He will call out to me,

‘You are my father, ¹⁰  my God, and the protector who delivers me.’ ¹¹ 

Mazmur 91:2

91:2 I say this about the Lord, my shelter and my stronghold,

my God in whom I trust –

Mazmur 144:10

144:10 the one who delivers ¹²  kings,

and rescued David his servant from a deadly ¹³  sword.

[22:2]  ¹ tn Traditionally “is my rock”; CEV “mighty rock”; TEV “is my protector.” This metaphor pictures God as a rocky, relatively inaccessible summit, where one would be able to find protection from enemies. See 1 Sam 23:25, 28.

[22:2]  ² tn Traditionally “my fortress”; TEV “my strong fortress”; NCV “my protection.”

[22:2]  sn My stronghold. David often found safety in such strongholds. See 1 Sam 22:4-5; 24:22; 2 Sam 5:9, 17; 23:14.

[3:3]  ³ tn Heb “a shield round about me.”

[3:3]  ⁴ tn Heb “my glory,” or “my honor.” The psalmist affirms that the Lord is his source of honor, i.e., the one who gives him honor in the sight of others. According to BDB 459 s.v. II כָּבוֹד 7, the phrase refers to God as the one to whom the psalmist gives honor. But the immediate context focuses on what God does for the psalmist, not vice-versa.

[3:3]  ⁵ tn Heb “[the one who] lifts my head.” This phrase could be understood to refer to a general strengthening of the psalmist by God during difficult circumstances. However, if one takes the suggestion of the superscription that this is a Davidic psalm written during the revolt of Absalom, the phrase “lift the head” could refer to the psalmist’s desire for restoration to his former position (cf. Gen 40:13 where the same phrase is used). Like the Hebrew text, the present translation (“who restores me”) can be understood in either sense.

[21:1]  ⁶ sn Psalm 21. The psalmist praises the Lord for the way he protects and blesses the Davidic king.

[21:1]  ⁷ tn Heb “in your strength.” The translation interprets the pronominal suffix as subjective, rather than merely descriptive (or attributive).

[21:1]  ⁸ tn Heb “and in your deliverance, how greatly he rejoices.”

[48:3]  ⁹ tn Heb “he is known for an elevated place.”

[89:26]  ¹⁰ 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.

[89:26]  ¹¹ tn Heb “the rocky summit of my deliverance.”

[144:10]  ¹² tn Heb “grants deliverance to.”

[144:10]  ¹³ tn Heb “harmful.”