2 Samuel 5:7

5:7 But David captured the fortress of Zion (that is, the city of David).

2 Samuel 6:22

6:22 I am willing to shame and humiliate myself even more than this! ¹  But with the slave girls whom you mentioned let me be distinguished!”

2 Samuel 15:32

15:32 When David reached the summit, where he used to worship God, Hushai the Arkite met him with his clothes torn and dirt on his head.

2 Samuel 22:3

22:3 My God ²  is my rocky summit where I take shelter, ³ 

my shield, the horn that saves me, ⁴  my stronghold,

my refuge, my savior. You save me from violence! ⁵ 

2 Samuel 22:49

22:49 He delivers me from my enemies; ⁶ 

you snatch me away ⁷  from those who attack me; ⁸ 

you rescue me from violent men.

2 Samuel 23:1

David’s Final Words

23:1 These are the final words of David:

“The oracle of David son of Jesse,

the oracle of the man raised up as

the ruler chosen by the God of Jacob, ⁹ 

Israel’s beloved ¹⁰  singer of songs:

2 Samuel 23:5

23:5 My dynasty is approved by God, ¹¹ 

for he has made a perpetual covenant with me,

arranged in all its particulars and secured.

He always delivers me,

and brings all I desire to fruition. ¹² 

[6:22]  ¹ tn Heb “and I will shame myself still more than this and I will be lowly in my eyes.”

[22:3]  ² tc The translation (along with many English versions, e.g., NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT) follows the LXX in reading אֱלֹהִי (’elohi, “my God”) rather than MT’s אֱלֹהֵי (’elohe, “the God of”). See Ps 18:2.

[22:3]  ³ tn Or “in whom.”

[22:3]  ⁴ tn Heb “the horn of my salvation,” or “my saving horn.”

[22:3]  sn Though some see “horn” as referring to a horn-shaped peak of a hill, or to the “horns” of an altar where one could find refuge, it is more likely that the horn of an ox underlies the metaphor (see Deut 33:17; 1 Kgs 22:11; Ps 92:10). The horn of the wild ox is frequently a metaphor for military strength; the idiom “exalt the horn” signifies military victory (see 1 Sam 2:10; Pss 89:17, 24; 92:10; Lam 2:17). In the ancient Near East powerful warrior-kings would sometimes compare themselves to a goring bull that uses its horns to kill its enemies. For examples, see P. Miller, “El the Warrior,” HTR 60 (1967): 422-25, and R. B. Chisholm, “An Exegetical and Theological Study of Psalm 18/2 Samuel 22” (Th.D. diss., Dallas Theological Seminary, 1983), 135-36. 2 Sam 22:3 uses the metaphor of the horn in a slightly different manner. Here the Lord himself is compared to a horn. He is to the psalmist what the horn is to the ox, a source of defense and victory.

[22:3]  ⁵ tn The parallel version of the song in Ps 18 does not include this last line.

[22:49]  ⁶ tn Heb “and [the one who] brings me out from my enemies.”

[22:49]  ⁷ tn Heb “you lift me up.” In light of the preceding and following references to deliverance, the verb רוּם (rum) probably here refers to being rescued from danger (see Ps 9:13). However, it could mean “exalt; elevate” here, indicating that the Lord has given him victory over his enemies and forced them to acknowledge the psalmist’s superiority.

[22:49]  ⁸ tn Heb “from those who rise against me.”

[23:1]  ⁹ tn Heb “the anointed one of the God of Jacob.”

[23:1]  ¹⁰ tn Or “pleasant.”

[23:5]  ¹¹ tn Heb “For not thus [is] my house with God?”

[23:5]  ¹² tn Heb “for all my deliverance and every desire, surely does he not make [it] grow?”