2 Samuel 22:27

22:27 You prove to be reliable ¹  to one who is blameless,

but you prove to be deceptive ²  to one who is perverse. ³ 

2 Samuel 6:22

6:22 I am willing to shame and humiliate myself even more than this! ⁴  But with the slave girls whom you mentioned let me be distinguished!”

2 Samuel 12:3

12:3 But the poor man had nothing except for a little lamb he had acquired. He raised it, and it grew up alongside him and his children. ⁵  It used to ⁶  eat his food, ⁷  drink from his cup, and sleep in his arms. ⁸  It was just like a daughter to him.

2 Samuel 21:4

21:4 The Gibeonites said to him, “We ⁹  have no claim to silver or gold from Saul or from his family, ¹⁰  nor would we be justified in putting to death anyone in Israel.” David asked, ¹¹  “What then are you asking me to do for you?”

[22:27]  ¹ tn Or “blameless.”

[22:27]  ² tc The translation follows two medieval Hebrew mss in reading תִּתְפַּתָּל (titpattal, from the root פתל, “to twist”) rather than the MT תִּתַּפָּל (tittappal, from the root תפל, “to be tasteless,” “behave silly”; cf. KJV “unsavoury”). See as well the parallel passage in Ps 18:26. The verb פָתַל (patal) is used in only three other texts. In Gen 30:8 it means literally “to wrestle,” or “to twist.” In Job 5:13 it refers to devious individuals, and in Prov 8:8 to deceptive words. Cf. NAB, NASB “astute”; NIV “shrewd”; NRSV “perverse”; TEV, NLT “hostile.”

[22:27]  ³ tn The adjective עִקֵּשׁ (’iqqesh) has the basic nuance “twisted; crooked,” and by extension refers to someone or something that is morally perverse. It appears frequently in Proverbs, where it is used of evil people (22:5), speech (8:8; 19:1), thoughts (11:20; 17:20) and life styles (2:15; 28:6). A righteous king opposes such people (Ps 101:4). Verses 26-27 affirm God’s justice. He responds to people in accordance with their moral character. His response mirrors their actions. The faithful and blameless find God to be loyal and reliable in his dealings with them. But deceivers discover he is able and willing to use deceit to destroy them. For a more extensive discussion of the theme of divine deception in the OT, see R. B. Chisholm, “Does God Deceive?” BSac 155 (1998): 11-28.

[6:22]  ⁴ tn Heb “and I will shame myself still more than this and I will be lowly in my eyes.”

[12:3]  ⁵ tn Heb “his sons.”

[12:3]  ⁶ tn The three Hebrew imperfect verbal forms in this sentence have a customary nuance; they describe past actions that were repeated or typical.

[12:3]  ⁷ tn Heb “from his morsel.”

[12:3]  ⁸ tn Heb “and on his chest [or perhaps, “lap”] it would lay.”

[21:4]  ⁹ tc The translation follows the Qere and several medieval Hebrew mss in reading לָנוּ (lanu, “to us”) rather than the MT לִי (li, “to me”). But for a contrary opinion see S. R. Driver, Notes on the Hebrew Text and the Topography of the Books of Samuel, 53, 350.

[21:4]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “house.”

[21:4]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and he said”; the referent (David) has been specified in the translation for clarity.